>Home>News Center>World
         
 

Iraq edges closer to open civil warfare
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-15 09:22

Iraqi authorities discovered at least 87 corpses 錕斤拷 men shot to death execution-style 錕斤拷 as Iraq edged closer to open civil warfare. Twenty-nine of the bodies, dressed only in underwear, were dug out of a single grave Tuesday in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad.

The bloodshed appeared to be retaliation for a bomb and mortar attack in the Sadr City slum that killed at least 58 people and wounded more than 200 two days earlier.


An Iraqi woman walks past the bodies of Iraqis killed during sectarian violence, at a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 14, 2006. Iraqi police reported Tuesday they had found the bodies of at least 75 men killed by gunshots, most bound hand and foot, in a gruesome wave of apparent sectarian killing over the past 24 hours. [AP]

Iraq's Interior Minister Bayan Jabr, meanwhile, told The Associated Press security officials had foiled a plot that would have put hundreds of al-Qaida men at critical guard posts around Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the U.S. and other foreign embassies, as well as the Iraqi government.

A senior Defense Ministry official said the 421 al-Qaida fighters were recruited to storm the U.S. and British embassies and take hostages. Several ranking Defense Ministry officials have been jailed in the plot, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

Police began unearthing bodies early Monday, although the discoveries were not immediately reported. The gruesome finds continued throughout the day Tuesday, police said, marking the second wave of sectarian retribution killings since bombers destroyed an important Shiite shrine last month.

In the mayhem after the golden dome atop the Askariya shrine in Samarra was destroyed on Feb. 22, more than 500 people have been killed, many of them Sunni Muslims and their clerics. Dozens of mosques were damaged or destroyed.

Underlining the unease in the capital, Interior Ministry officials announced another driving ban, from 8 p.m. Wednesday to 4 p.m. Thursday to protect against car and suicide bombs while the Iraqi parliament meets for the first session since the Dec. 15 election.

After the driving ban was announced, the Cabinet said Thursday would be a holiday in the capital, presumably because residents would not be able to get to work. Restrictions on movement also had been put in place on the two weekends after the Samarra bombing in an attempt to quell the violence.

The most gruesome find Tuesday 錕斤拷 the 29 bodies dressed only in underwear 錕斤拷 was made after police, acting on a tip, discovered an 18-by-24-foot grave in an empty field in Kamaliyah, a mostly Shiite east Baghdad suburb, Interior Ministry official Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohammedawi said. He estimated the victims were killed about three days ago 錕斤拷 before the Sadr City attack Sunday evening.

Residents watched, some covering their eyes in horror, others offering scarves and newspapers to cover the bodies as they were pulled from the grave.

An abandoned minibus containing 15 other bodies was found earlier on the main road between two mostly Sunni west Baghdad neighborhoods 錕斤拷 not far from where another minibus containing 18 bodies was discovered last week, al-Mohammedawi said.

At least 40 more bodies were recovered elsewhere in Baghdad, in both Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods, al-Mohammedawi said. Police found three other corpses dumped in the northern city of Mosul.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. military reported the deaths of two more soldiers in fighting in Anbar province. The soldiers, assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, were killed Monday, bringing the number of U.S. military members killed to at least 2,310 since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld hinted Tuesday that U.S. troop levels may increase slightly in Iraq in the coming days because of pilgrimages connected to the holiday of Ashura. The holiday, which ends March 20, includes pilgrimages to holy sites in Najaf and Karbala. Increased attacks marked the celebration during 2004 and 2005.

Rumsfeld said Gen. George Casey, the top U.S. military officer in Iraq, "may decide he wants to bulk up slightly for the pilgrimage." He did not elaborate.

Scores of frightened Shiite families have fled predominantly Sunni parts of Baghdad in recent weeks, some at gunpoint. More than 100 families arrived between Monday and Tuesday alone in Wasit province, in the southern Shiite heartland, said Haitham Ajaimi Manie, an official with the provisional migration directorate.

More than 300 Baghdad families 錕斤拷 1,818 people 錕斤拷 have taken shelter in the province after fleeing the capital, he said.

North of the capital, a roadside bomb exploded Tuesday among Shiite pilgrims headed on foot to the holy city of Karbala, killing one person near Baqouba, police said.

The sectarian violence has complicated negotiations for Iraq's first permanent, post-invasion government. A caretaker government has been in charge since the December elections and U.S. and Iraqi officials fear the vacuum in authority has fueled the bloodshed.

Once parliament meets Thursday, it has 60 days under the new constitution to elect a president and approve the nomination of Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and his Cabinet.

After members of all the major Iraqi political blocs met Tuesday with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, no breakthrough was reported on solving the deadlock over the nomination of al-Jaafari to head a new government.

But in an interview with Fox television, US Embassy Political Counselor Robert Ford seemed guardedly optimistic.

"I can't say that we've had a breakthrough, but we had good talks today," Ford said.

But Iraqis in the meeting said the sides were still so far apart that major Sunni politicians were again pressing for the new constitution be thrown out, despite its adoption late last summer and approval in a subsequent national plebiscite.

Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Iraqi forces and civilians, as well as coalition forces, need to provide stability to allow the new government to do its work.

"The Iraqi people themselves are standing at a crossroads," Pace said Monday night in a speech at the Baltimore Council on Foreign Affairs, "and they are making critical decisions for their country right now about which road they'll take."



Arroyo meets with New Zealand PM Clark
Chile's new president sworn in
Terror bombings kill at least 20 in India
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Wen: We're keeping close eye on secessionist moves

 

   
 

Premier rules out RMB one-off surprise rise

 

   
 

NPC endorses shift in economic policy

 

   
 

Communication channel with Dalai Lama open

 

   
 

Iraq edges closer to open civil warfare

 

   
 

Minister: Stay away from wild birds

 

   
  U.N. Council faces impasse on Iran crisis
   
  Baghdad police find 65 bodies in 24 hour
   
  London bombings payments hit 錕斤拷7m
   
  Thousands march on Thai prime minister's office
   
  Fatah faces US cutoff if joins Hamas govt
   
  UN HR forum suspends meeting amid reform
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国内精品伊人久久久久妇| 日韩精品欧美亚洲高清有无| 午夜无码国产理论在线| 黄网站在线观看高清免费| 国产精品综合一区二区| a级毛片免费看| 成人动漫在线免费观看| 久久久无码精品亚洲日韩按摩 | 亚洲AV色香蕉一区二区三区蜜桃| 污视频免费网站| 免费久久一级欧美特大黄| 色多多视频免费网站下载| 国产成人欧美一区二区三区| 18日本xxxxxxxxx视频| 国自产精品手机在线观看视频| 一个人免费视频观看在线www| 成年女人免费观看视频| 久久久一本精品99久久精品88 | 亚洲va在线va天堂成人| 欧美日韩亚洲国产千人斩| 亚洲精品成人片在线观看精品字幕| 看看黄色一级片| 免费能直接在线观看黄的视频 | 动漫触手被吸乳羞羞动漫| 色噜噜狠狠色综合日日| 国产亚洲女在线精品| 麻豆国产在线不卡一区二区| 国产成人精品999在线观看| 色综合67194| 国产精品VA在线观看无码不卡| 55夜色66夜色国产精品视频| 国模视频一区二区| 99久久久精品免费观看国产| 在线观着免费观看国产黄| 99精品国产成人一区二区| 天堂俺去俺来也WWW色官网| yy6080影院| 女大学生沙龙室3| jizz中国jizz欧洲/日韩在线| 女性无套免费网站在线看| √天堂资源最新版中文种子|