Palestine gets total control of Gaza, West Bank territories after Israel's pullout.

 DAMASCUS, Syria. On Saturday Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has signed a decree on the situation in Palestinian territories in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which are witnessing the withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlements. The decree gives the Palestinian government total control over all lands and assets left behind by Israeli troops. The government will manage all property in these territories before a relevant decision is made. Israel started evacuating 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements on the West Bank on August 15. The settlements will pass under the Palestinian authority within four weeks. The Palestinian government promised earlier to make every effort to prevent clashes during the pullout. Palestinians hope that the withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlements will mark the first step toward the implementation of the Middle East road map and formation of an independent Palestinian state.

Iraq's Sunnis stunned by Shia autonomy demands. BAGHDAD --  Iraq's ousted Sunni Arab elite expressed alarm on Friday after the country's Shia majority made a surprise move towards Kurdish-style autonomy, just days before a crucial deadline for agreement on a new constitution.

Photo: SHOCK AND AWE: Shia leader Abdel Aziz Al Hakim’s demand that the majority Shias be given autonomy in parts of Iraq has surprised and angered Sunni leaders who say it could derail the entire political process.

Thursday's call from leading Shia politician Abdel Aziz Al Hakim for autonomy in Shia areas of south and central Iraq angered Sunni Arab leaders who said it could derail the entire political process. "We are shocked and scared by the demand for autonomy as expressed by my Shia brothers," said Salah Al Motlag, a key Sunni member of the constitutional drafting committee. "The timing of the demand is wrong with just three days left to go for the deadline. Such demands can delay the constitution and Iraq could be without a constitution for another year." Some Shia politicians have previously made calls for autonomy in the south and center of the country, but it was the first time that Hakim, a former exile in Iran who headed the victorious Shia alliance in January elections, had lent such explicit support. His comments came after meetings in Najaf on Wednesday with Shia spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and radical leader Moqtada Al Sadr, who led his outlawed militia in a six-month uprising against the US-led coalition last year. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said last week that Sistani was not opposed to federalism. Sunni politicians denounced Hakim's comments as aiming to derail a constitutional agreement, while Sunni religious leaders strongly condemned the proposal of a Shia autonomous zone. "That Iraq is divided into cantons is what the Jews and our enemies want," said Sheikh Mehdi Al Sulaimi, a member of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars, during Friday prayers at the group's main mosque in Baghdad. Sunnis are fearful the creation of federally-autonomous zones will prevent them taking an equal share of the Iraq's lucrative oil reserves, predominantly located in the country's Kurdish north and Shia south. "We call for reason from those clamoring to break up (Iraq) ... we, in the center of the country, do not want an autonomous zone," Sulaimi said. The emerging consensus between Kurds and Shias on a federal constitution leaves only the Sunni Arabs at odds on one of the key sticking points in the drafting of the new charter. Opposition from the Sunnis could still scupper the new constitution as the interim rules stipulate the charter can be rejected by a two-thirds majority in any three provinces. Three -- Al Anbar, Tamim and Salaheddin -- are predominately Sunni. Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush cranked up the pressure for Iraq's leaders to agree on a constitution before the August 15 deadline, provoking criticism from a major US newspaper. "We believe that constitution can be, and will be, agreed upon by August 15. I'm operating on the assumption that it will be," Bush said Thursday. The document would be "a critical step on the path to Iraqi self-reliance" and a withdrawal of US-led troops, he added. But the New York Times said Friday that if the US wants a balanced and lasting document, it should stop insisting Iraqis keep to schedule and produce a draft constitution by Monday. "Since this constitution will help determine whether Iraq holds together and whether the ultimate result of American military intervention will be freedom and democracy or a new religious tyranny, it would have been wiser to allow time for compromise and consensus," the Times said in an editorial. As the constitutional crisis raged, the US military said an Apache helicopter crashed Friday morning near Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, injuring two soldiers. US forces have faced an upsurge in insurgent attacks with some 50 troops killed in the past three weeks, bringing the US military death toll in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to 1,840 as of Thursday, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures. In persistent violence on the ground, seven Iraqis were killed and several wounded in insurgent attacks on Friday, security sources said. In Baghdad, the group of Sadr freed two Lebanese, one Syrian and an Iraqi hostage, while police in northern Mosul said that three members of an Al Qaeda cell were shot dead. By Sed Walker.

Gunmen kidnap senior Iraqi official in Baghdad; 5 more Americans killed

Photo: Sisters of Muthana Ahmed mourn at the sight of his coffin during a funeral procession for him and two others Wednesday in Baghdad, Iraq. The three were gunned down by unknown attackers Tuesday on their way to the Sunni al-Yaman mosque in Baghdad.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen kidnapped a senior Interior Ministry official in the heart of the Iraqi capital Wednesday, and the U.S. military reported that five more American soldiers had been killed. The latest violence came as Iraqi politicians intensified talks to try to meet a Monday deadline for finalizing a constitution. Brig. Gen. Khudayer Abbas, chief of the administrative affairs office in the Interior Ministry, was dragged from his car on Andalus Square and spirited away in another vehicle, according to police Maj. Abbas Mohammed Salman. No group claimed responsibility. The Interior Ministry supervises police and elite paramilitary units that are at the forefront of the fight against insurgents. Four U.S. soldiers were killed shortly before midnight Tuesday when insurgents attacked their 10-member patrol as it investigated explosions near Beiji, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad. A fifth American soldier assigned to the 2nd Marine Division was killed Tuesday by small arms fire near Habaniyah, 80 kilometres west of Baghdad. The Beiji attack was launched when insurgents detonated a roadside bomb, then poured rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire on the American unit, the U.S. command said. Five soldiers and a U.S. civilian contractor were wounded. Late Wednesday, five Iraqi soldiers were killed and two were wounded when insurgents attacked a checkpoint about 20 kilometres south of Beiji, police said. Gunmen also killed police Capt. Mahmoud Hassan in Baghdad's western Bayaa district, police said. Names of the U.S. soldiers killed in Beiji were not released. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said five members of the Pennsylvania National Guard had been killed in action in Iraq. However, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania National Guard, Capt. Cory Angell, would say only a guard unit suffered casualties that included dead and wounded during an attack in Beiji. The deaths brought the number of American troops killed this month in Iraq to 37. At least 1,841 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Elsewhere, five U.S. soldiers were slightly injured when a car bomb exploded in the western Baghdad neighbourhood of Ghazaliyah. Four civilians and three police were killed, according to 1st Lt. Thair Mahmoud. In western Iraq, the marines announced the end of a weeklong offensive in the Euphrates Valley codenamed Operation Quick Strike. Twenty marines were killed last week as Operation Quick Strike got under way. They included six marine snipers killed Aug. 1 near Haditha. Two days later, 14 marines and a civilian translator died when a huge blast hit their armoured vehicle. Marines said nine car bombs were discovered during the sweep, the latest in a series of operations aimed at curbing insurgent activity in the volatile Euphrates valley - a major infiltration route for foreign fighters from Syria.

"This is another operation, similar to those conducted before, that has disrupted the insurgents' ability to operate freely," Col. Stephen Davis said. The Bush administration is hoping that political progress will eventually deflate the Sunni Arab-led rebellion and enable the United States and its international partners to begin withdrawing troops next year. Key to that strategy is a democratic constitution followed by elections in December. Iraq's parliament is to approve the draft charter by Monday, but major differences among ethnic and political factions threatened to delay completion of the document. After two days of joint talks failed to produce a breakthrough, Iraq's political factions met separately Wednesday - apparently to review their positions to determine which issues they would insist upon and how they might compromise to meet the deadline. The major obstacle is the Kurdish demand that Iraq be transformed into a federal state. The Kurds have insisted on federalism to protect their self-rule in three northern provinces. Sunni Arabs oppose federalism, fearing the Kurds want to break away from Iraq and declare independence. The Shiites are divided, with some factions wanting to build a Shiite federal region in the south. Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman said Kurdish leaders were under pressure from their people to stand fast on their demand. Sunni Arabs said they were under pressure from the Sunni rank-file to reject it. "Everyone is trying to convince his own people and we haven't reached an agreement on federalism," Othman said. In the holy city of Najaf, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, met separately with two key Shiite figures - Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. It was not known what was discussed, but al-Sistani has taken a keen interest in the new constitution. Al-Sistani's endorsement enabled al-Hakim's party to win the biggest number of seats in parliament in the Jan. 30 elections. Al-Hakim heads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a mainstream group. Al-Sadr is an outspoken opponent of the American military presence here. By Robert Reed.

U.S. military launches attacks in western Iraq in bid to disrupt insurgents

BAGHDAD, Iraq - About 1,000 U.S. marines and Iraqi forces launched attacks in western Iraq in an operation aimed at disrupting insurgents and foreign fighters in the Euphrates River valley, the U.S. military said Friday. The operation, dubbed Quick Strike, began Wednesday with Iraqi soldiers and marines positioning their units, said a military statement. They focused on an area centred around the cities of Haditha, Haqlaniyah, and Parwana, about 210 kilometres northwest of Baghdad. On Wednesday, 14 marines and their civilian translator were killed when their vehicle was hit by a massive roadside bomb near Haditha as they were travelling inside a lightly armoured vehicle. On Friday, U.S. and Iraqi troops, including Special Operations forces, moved into the city of Haqlaniyah, the marine statement said. U.S. jets conducted an air strike on insurgents hiding in buildings outside of the town. Residents in the area said U.S. and Iraqi forces had cordoned off Haqlaniyah, about 225 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, and began conducting house-to-house searches. American warplanes were hovering overhead and a number of heavy explosions were heard. Witnesses said 225-kilogram bombs were being dropped in the area. The U.S. military has defended its operations in western Iraq, insisting it is reducing insurgent attacks, despite the deaths of the 14 marines. The extremist Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed responsibility in a web posting and said its fighters used two bombs to destroy the vehicle. Four more U.S. service members were killed in action Wednesday, the military said - three in Baghdad and one in Ramadi. U.S. military spokesman Brig.-Gen. Donald Alston said American military operations in Anbar province, which includes the area where the marines died, have succeeded in disrupting insurgent activities. "We still have deaths. We still have suicide car bombs," he said. "But the numbers we see indicate (the insurgents) can't generate the same tempo, and I think that's because we've had some degree of effect in interdicting these forces." Alston cited figures showing there were 13 car bombs in Iraq last week - the lowest weekly number since April. "There's a clear indication to me that the tempo has decreased." U.S. troops have stepped up operations in recent months in Anbar, the centre of the Sunni Arab-dominated insurgency and a major avenue for foreign fighters infiltrating the country from Syria. Alston warned that militants will likely rally their forces in a concerted effort to derail the country's political progress, including a referendum on the constitution in October and an election in December. The president's office said a key meeting scheduled for Friday by political leaders to hammer out differences in the draft constitution has been postponed until Sunday. The statement issued Friday did not say why the meeting was delayed.

The gathering was called by constitutional committee chairman Humam Hammoudi, who promised the National Assembly that the draft charter would be ready by the Aug. 15 deadline, provided the country's political leaders reach compromises on key issues including federalism, the role of Islam and distribution of national wealth. Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari spent Friday in Najaf meeting with the country's top Shiite Muslim cleric, the highly influential Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The two were expected to talk about developments with the constitution. U.S. leaders, who pushed hard for the committee not to seek an extension on completing the charter, considers the constitutional process vital to maintain political momentum, undermine the insurgency and pave the way for the Americans and their coalition partners to draw down troops next year. U.S. commanders have warned that although the number of vehicle and roadside bombings are decreasing, they are increasing in potency and sophistication. Bombs on the roads or planted in vehicles account for 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the U.S. deaths in Iraq, command spokesman Lt.-Col. Steven Boylan said. A roadside bomb late Wednesday killed three U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, the U.S. command said. A marine was killed Wednesday by small-arms fire in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province 110 kilometres west of Baghdad, the command added. At least 1,826 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Al-Jaafari announced a new 12-point security plan. He gave few details but said it included steps to improve intelligence, protect infrastructure and prevent foreign fighters from entering the country. "We will not hesitate in saying this: We are in a state of war. It is one of the most dangerous types of war because it is not a conventional or a war of borders," he said. By Tim Tran

Seven U.S. marines killed west of Baghdad. BAGHDAD, Iraq — Seven U.S. Marines were killed in two separate attacks west of Baghdad, where American forces are trying to seal a major infiltration route for foreign fighters, the military said. Their deaths pushed the U.S. military death toll in Iraq past 1,800. At least 25 American service members have been killed in Iraq since July 24 -- all but two in combat. The Iraqi Defense Ministry said Tuesday that since the beginning of April, more than 2,700 Iraqis -- about half of them civilians -- had been killed in insurgency-related incidents. Six of the U.S. Marines were killed Monday in Haditha, 220 kilometers (140 miles) northwest of Baghdad. The seventh Marine died Monday in a suicide car bombing in Hit, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southeast of Haditha. Two strong explosions were heard about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday in Parwana, a small town just north of Haditha, residents said by telephone. The cause of the blasts could not be determined because U.S. troops have surrounded the area. Attack helicopters and warplanes could be heard overhead. The U.S. command said the six Marines were "engaged by terrorists and killed by small-arms fire" in Haditha, a town on the Euphrates River valley, which U.S. and Iraqi officials have identified as a major route for foreign fighters slipping into Iraq. "Five Marines were killed in the initial attack," the statement said. "One was unaccounted for and his body later found and safely recovered a few kilometers away. The circumstances of the incident are under investigation." The six were Marine reservists from Ohio who were on sniper duty in Iraq, a military spokesman in Cleveland said Tuesday. Following the attack, residents of Haditha said several masked gunmen identifying themselves as the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, a major Sunni Arab insurgent group, appeared in the public market carrying helmets, flak jackets and automatic rifles they said belonged to U.S. troops. They distributed flyers claiming to have killed 10 American service members. "They were on a mountain near the town so we went up, surrounded them and asked them to surrender," the statement said. "They did not surrender so we killed them." A similar claim in the name of Ansar al-Sunnah was posted on an Islamic Web site. On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy said American freelance journalist Steven Vincent had been found dead in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. Police said he had been shot multiple times after he and his Iraqi translator were abducted at gunpoint hours earlier. "I can confirm to you that officials in Basra have recovered the body of journalist Steven Vincent," said embassy spokesman Pete Mitchell. "The U.S. Embassy is working with British military and local Iraqi officials in Basra to determine who is responsible for the death of this journalist." The embassy did not give the cause of death. However, Iraqi police in Basra said Vincent was abducted along with his female translator at gunpoint Tuesday evening. Thetranslator, Nour Weidi, was seriously wounded. Vincent and the translator were taken by five gunmen in a police car as they left a currency exchange shop, police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said. Vincent's body was discovered on the side of the highway south of Basra later. He had been shot in the head and multiple times on his body, al-Zaidi said. Police said Vincent, a writer who had been living in New York, had been staying in Basra for several months working on a book. In an op-ed piece published July 31 in The New York Times, Vincent wrote that Basra's police force had been heavily infiltrated by members of Shiite political groups, including those loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.  In Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded at the entrance to a highway tunnel in central Baghdad as a U.S. military convoy was passing, damaging two Humvees. At least 29 Iraqis were wounded, officials said. But there was no report of any American casualties.  At least 1,801 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,382 died as a result of hostile action. The figures include five military civilians.  The toll among Iraqis, however, has been much higher.  On Tuesday, the Defense Ministry said that since April 1, a total of 2,709 Iraqis have died in violent attacks, including 1,413 civilians. The rest were soldiers, police and insurgents.  The death toll for July was 656, the ministry said. That was the second deadliest month since the Shiite-dominated government was installed — surpassed only by May's figure of 967 deaths.  However, records-keeping in Iraq is irregular, especially in areas where the insurgents are strong, and the real figure is probably higher.  Violence has accelerated as the Iraqis struggle to finish a new constitution — which the United States sees as crucial toward maintaining political momentum and undermining the insurgency.  An Iraqi committee is racing to finish the charter in time for an Aug. 15 deadline for parliamentary approval. After that, voters will decide whether to ratify the document in a referendum in mid-October, followed by a new election in December.  If all goes well, the United States and its partners hope to start bringing their troops home next year. On Tuesday, a joint commission formed to coordinate the handover of cities to Iraqi security forces held its first meeting.

Progress on the constitution has been slowed, however, due to broad differences on the role of Islam, federalism and the distribution of national wealth. Iraqi women activists fear designating Islam as the main source of legislation will curb their rights. On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad urged the framers to protect women's rights as a "fundamental requirement for Iraq's progress."  "My focus is to help get a constitution that does this," Khalilzad told reporters. "Of course, the Iraqis will decide but we will help in any way that we can."  Khalilzad said his government would encourage Iraqi politicians to exclude any constitutional articles that discriminate or limit opportunities for any Iraqi citizens.  In other developments Tuesday:

• A suicide car bomber struck a police checkpoint in Mosul, killing four people, three of them police, Brig. Gen. Wathiq Mohammed said.

• An explosion damaged a pipeline used for shipping fuel to a Baghdad power station, raising fears of further power cutbacks in the capital.

• U.S. troops clashed with insurgents in Ramadi, 110 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad. There were no reports of U.S. casualties.

 

 

Saddam's lawyers boycott tribunal, saying ex-dictator was assaulted in court. BAGHDAD, Iraq- Saddam Hussein's lawyers are refusing to take part in any further legal proceedings until the Iraqi tribunal acknowledges an attack against the former dictator and guarantees the safety of all defendants and lawyers, one his lawyers said Tuesday.  Members of Saddam's defence team claimed Saturday the former Iraqi president was attacked during a court appearance last week. The government denied the claim.  But lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi, who attended the court appearance, insisted the allegation was true and demanded the government acknowledge it.  He also insisted the Iraqi Special Tribunal apologize, guarantee the safety of Saddam and other former government figures and punish the attacker.  He said Saddam's lawyers would stop attending any further proceedings "until our demands are met."  In Amman, Jordan, Saddam's legal team said in a statement a man burst out from those gathered in the courtroom and tried to hit Saddam as the ousted leader was leaving the courtroom after a 45-minute hearing.  "There was an exchange of blows between the man and the president," the statement said, also claiming the judge overseeing the hearing did nothing to stop the assault.  The government and the special tribunal issued statements declaring that no such incident took place.

Syria earned billions in illegal profits as way station for Saddam 

The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad received $3 billion from illegal oil and arms deals with the former Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq. The House International Relations Committee released documents outlining the huge profits accumulated by Syria in serving as a way station for illegal Iraqi oil exports and arms imports. The documents, supplied by the Internal Revenue Service, pointed to revenues earned by then-Syrian Defense Minister Moustapha Tlas for enabling weapons sales to Iraq in the years that led up to the U.S.-led war against Baghdad in 2003. At a House hearing on July 27, officials warned that the Bush administration would impose additional sanctions on Damascus unless it returned $262 million to Baghdad. Syria has so far refused to do this. "Despite Syrian steps to improve its anti-money laundering and terrorist finance controls, the Section 311 sanctions could be triggered if Syria does not follow through with the transfer of this remaining amount to the DFI [Development Fund for Iraq]," Deputy  Assistant Secretary of State Elizabeth Dibble said. In all, the Iraqi-Syrian trade amounted to $3 billion between June 2000 and March 2003, officials said. The Commercial Bank of Syria, or CBS, received funds via oil sales. Officials said Syria was the most helpful of Iraq's neighbors with much of the Iraqi funds transferred to banks in Beirut. "It was in the Syrian regime that Saddam found perhaps his most favored and profitable collaborator," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairwoman of the House subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia. In most cases, Iraq received payment for smuggled oil through Syrian supplies of Soviet-origin weapons, including main battle tank and aircraft components, anti-aircraft and night-vision systems and anti-tank rockets. The IRS documents asserted that 60 percent of Syrian payments to Iraq consisted of weapons deliveries. The rest was paid in cash. "Under the Syrian protocols, the former Hussein regime was required to use the money in the trade account to purchase goods from vendors and businesses in Syria," said Dwight Sparlin, operations director for the IRS's Criminal Investigation Division. "The Iraqi government would negotiate contracts with Syrian companies to provide merchandise. Once the merchandise was received in Iraq and verified, SOMO [the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization] would
direct the CBS by letter to pay a specific amount to a Syrian supplier from the trade account." The documents asserted that Talas received payments for facilitating weapons deals in violation of United Nations Security Council sanctions. Talas's son, Firas, arranged weapons deals for Iraq from Europe. Assad's cousin, Thualhima Shaleesh, was also said to have served as an intermediary for Iraqi weapons imports. Shaleesh was chief of the  presidential guard corps. The majority of Iraqi trade with Syria went through another cousin of Assad, Asef Shaleesh. Shaleesh headed a company called SES, which received $187 million in defense and security contracts from the Saddam regime. "While Syria acted as Iraq's banker, some of its highest officials brokered military deals for Iraq and profited from them as well," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), chairman of the Joint Oversight and Investigations subcommittee. "One source suggests that former Syrian Defense Minister Moustapha Talas received a regular 'tribute payment' for his role in the deals between the two countries. Anything shipped had to receive his approval in order to be allowed through Syrian Customs." . . . And continues to serve as primary way-station for insurgency in Iraq . . .Despite increased U.S. operations and diplomatic pressure, Syria continues to serve as the main way station for insurgents and weaponry destined for Iraq. The U.S. military has determined that Syria continues to serve as the preferred route for insurgents ordered to undermine the pro-U.S. government in Baghdad. Sunni insurgents linked to Al Qaida smuggle fighters, explosives as well as a range of equipment for attacks against coalition and Iraqi troops. Aleppo, officials said, has served as the launching point for Sunni insurgents. Fighters from such North African countries as Algeria and Sudan arrive in Syria and make their way to the northern city.
In Aleppo, the foreign fighters search the mosques of the old city quarter for liaisons with the Sunni insurgency in Iraq, usually mosque preachers or their aides. "We still consider that Syria is probably the most porous border of those that border Iraq," said Lt. Gen. James Conway, director of operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The U.S. military has completed what officials termed the first long-term base near the Syrian border close to Saudi Arabia. The base, about 5 kilometers from Rawah, currently has 2,000 U.S. Marines and Army personnel, and would facilitate regular operations to block the flow of insurgents and weapons from Syria. Syria has repeatedly pledged to enhance security along the border with Iraq and Syrian border police and troops have captured some suspected insurgents and blocked some shipments. The regime of President Bashar Assad has also constructed a wall of several kilometers along the border with Iraq to block infiltration. Officials said the wall, construction of which began in March 2005, has been completed in several sections along the Iraqi border. Nevertheless, officials said the lion's share of insurgency equipment still manages to enter Iraq. In some cases smugglers and infiltrators have simply moved south along the Syrian border to where there are no physical barriers.

In other cases, officials said, the wall has been breached and smuggling has resumed. Syrian border authorities have turned a blind
eye as smugglers established lookout points along the wall, they said. "They [Syria] have done some improvement on the physical berm that exists between the two countries," Conway told a Defense Department briefing on July 26. "So I would say we're encouraged but we would still like to see more." . . . And Hizbullah in Lebanon Syria continues to facilitate the transfer of Iranian weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon. U.S. officials said that within days of Syria's military withdrawal from Lebanon in late April an Iranian shipment of munitions, mortars and anti-tank rockets had reached Lebanon. The shipment was flown by air to Damascus International Airport and taken by truck to Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. "Syria continues to be a foremost supporter and weapons supplier of
Hizbullah, a terrorist group active in Lebanon, and throughout the world, that has been targeting and killing Americans and many others since the early 1980s," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), chairwoman of the House subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia. Since May, several additional trucks believed laden with weapons were tracked moving from Syria to the Bekaa Valley. In the Bekaa, the trucks were unloaded by Hizbullah and taken to various bases in eastern and southern Lebanon. Officials said the arms deliveries violated United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559, which calls for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon as well as the disarming of Hizbullah. "We know that Iran has been assisting Hizbullah and other organizations and moving equipment and people down through Damascus into Beirut and down into positions where they can attack Israel for years and years and years and years," U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on July 12.
 

 

Hussein questioned about uprising at hearing

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Saddam Hussein was called to a hearing where he was questioned about repression of the Shiite uprising in 1991, which erupted after U.S.-led forces drove the Iraqi army out of Kuwait, the chief investigative judge said Friday. In ongoing violence, two Marines were killed by insurgent gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades in western Iraq, prompting U.S. jets to pound insurgent positions with high-tech bombs, officials said Friday. The deaths brought to 10 the number of U.S. troop fatalities in Iraq this week. Elsewhere, a suicide attacker detonated an explosives belt in a crowd of Iraqi army recruits in the town of Rabiah near the Syrian border, killing at least 25 and wounding 35, a police general said. Officials said the attack occurred in the midst of recruits who were training in a security-controlled area and that some of the guards may have knowingly allowed the attacker to enter. The United States has placed new urgency on training Iraqi soldiers and police to assume greater security responsibilities so U.S. and other foreign troops can begin going home next year. Saddam was summoned Thursday, and answered questions alone during the 45-minute hearing, said Judge Raid Juhi of the Iraqi Special Tribunal, set up to try the former dictator. Juhi said he expects to conclude the criminal investigation into Saddam's alleged crackdown against Shiites in southern Iraq, as well as his campaign in the late 1980s to force Iraqi Kurds from wide areas of the north. A trial date for the former dictator will be announced in the coming days, Juhi said. Saddam is expected to stand trial in September for his alleged role in the 1982 massacre of Shiite Muslims in Dujail north of Baghdad. It will be the first of what are expected to be about a dozen trials involving Saddam and his key henchmen.

In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol in the dangerous Dora neighborhood, police reported. At least three civilians were wounded but casualty reports were incomplete, police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said. A U.S. military statement said the two Marines killed belonged to Regimental Combat Team-2 of the 2nd Marine Division and were killed Thursday by small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire in a village west of Haditha about 170 miles west of Baghdad. The Marines reported killing nine insurgents, five believed to be Syrians, during an engagement Thursday in the same small village. Jets from the 2nd Marine Air Wing dropped three laser-guided bombs and one global positioning system guided bomb on three buildings used by the insurgents as firing positions, destroying all three of them, the statement added. Following a rash of attacks and abductions of diplomats in Iraq, the Philippine Embassy in Baghdad has relocated its employees to Amman, Jordan, Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Jose Brillantes said. "We continue to maintain our diplomatic ties with Iraq," Brillantes said. "The embassy in Baghdad remains open and the diplomats in Baghdad are in Amman for security reasons occasioned by the recent kidnappings of diplomats." He said the Filipino diplomats will be in Amman "for an indefinite period of time." It was not clear if all of the embassy's Filipino staff have relocated. Iraqi militants last month freed Filipino accountant Robert Tarongoy after almost eight months in captivity. Tarongoy, 31, was the second Filipino known to have been taken hostage in Iraq. Truck driver Angelo de la Cruz was freed last year after the Philippine government granted the militants' demand for the early withdrawal of its small peacekeeping contingent from Iraq — a decision strongly criticized by Washington and other allies, but applauded at home. On Thursday, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said the military is considering offering protection to foreign diplomats in Baghdad after al Qaeda agents killed three Arab envoys this month. "Coalition forces ... are planning to look at this problem and see what could be done to fix the security for the diplomats," Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said.  He spoke a day after al Qaeda in Iraq announced it had killed two Algerian diplomats — including the country's chief envoy in Iraq — because of their government's ties to the United States and its crackdown on Islamic extremists.  Chief envoy Ali Belaroussi and diplomat Azzedine Belkadi were kidnapped outside their embassy in Baghdad. Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility.  The group also claimed responsibility for the kidnap-slaying of Egypt's top envoy and the attempted abduction of two other Muslim diplomats in a campaign to undercut support for the new Iraqi government within the Arab and Muslim world.

The United States is gambling that political progress will help curb the insurgency by luring away Sunni Arabs, who account for most of the rebels. Key to the strategy is preparation of a new constitution which must be approved by parliament by Aug. 15 and submitted to the voters in a referendum two months later. On Friday, key members of the committee writing the charter said they have almost finished the draft and expect to submit it to parliament by the end of the month. The committee did not meet Friday — the Muslim holy day — but discussions will resume Saturday, the members said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said it captured a cell leader of the notorious al Qaeda in Iraq terror organization.  Ammar Abu Bara, alias Amar Hussein Hasan, was arrested Wednesday in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, by troops of the Army's 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, a U.S. statement said.  The statement said Abu Bara was taken into custody during a cordon and search operation in a neighborhood in northern Mosul. Abu Bara replaced Abu Talha, former terror cell leader for the Mosul area who was arrested last month, the statement added.

Iraq wants quick withdrawal of U.S. troops

BAGHDAD, Iraq- Iraq's transitional prime minister called Wednesday for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops and the top U.S. commander here said he believed a "fairly substantial" pullout could begin next spring and summer. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said at a joint news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that the time has arrived to plan a coordinated transition from American to Iraqi military control throughout the country. Asked how soon a U.S. withdrawal should happen, he said no exact timetable had been set. "But we confirm and we desire speed in that regard," he said, speaking through a translator. "And this fast pace has two aspects." First, there must be a quickening of the pace of U.S. training of Iraqi security forces, and second there must be closely coordinated planning between the U.S.-led military coalition and the emerging Iraq government on a security transition, he said. "We do not want to be surprised by a withdrawal that is not in connection with our Iraqi timing,"' he said. Speaking earlier with U.S. reporters traveling with Rumsfeld, Gen. George Casey, the top American commander in Iraq, said he believed a U.S. troop withdrawal could begin by spring 2006 if progress continues on the political front and if the insurgency does not expand. Rumsfeld was planning to get a firsthand look at the training of Iraqi security forces by watching a demonstration by a group of Iraqi special forces soldiers using live ammunition at a training range run by American troops.

U.S. officials describe a variety of security forces being developed. Foremost is the Iraqi army, comprised mainly of infantry battalions, although there also are to be four tank battalions. The army now has about 77,000 soldiers, and it is scheduled to expand to about 85,000 by December.  It includes "intervention forces," to lead the Iraqi effort against the insurgency.
There are now about 94,000 police, most for standard traffic and patrol work.  That is to grow to about 145,000 by December, and it includes "special police" commando battalions as well as a mechanized police brigade that will be a paramilitary, counterinsurgency unit intended to deploy to high-risk areas using light armored personnel carriers. The organization in charge of training and equipping Iraqi security forces is the Multinational Security Transition Command, headed by Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who last week was announced by the Pentagon as the next commander of the Army's Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.  He is to be replaced in Iraq by Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, who spent more than a year in Iraq as commander of the 1st Armored Division. The effort to build a reliable Iraq security force has been slowed by a number of problems. One that can be traced to the earliest days of the U.S. military occupation was the virtual disintegration of the Iraqi army that existed when American troops invaded in March 2003.  Some say this was made worse by the decision of L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator of Iraq starting in May 2003, to formally disband the Iraqi security forces. Another problem has been infiltration of the security forces by insurgents. In its report to Congress last week, the Pentagon acknowledged that this remains a problem and it still is unable to say just how much infiltration there is, despite efforts to improve vetting of recruits.

Rumsfeld said en route to Iraq on Wednesday that Iraqi leaders must take a more aggressive stance against what he called harmful interference from neighboring Syria and Iran. He said he would be pushing the Iraqis to provide more people who can be trained by U.S. personnel to handle the growing number of detainees in the country, now estimated to number at least 15,000. With a permanent Iraqi government scheduled to take power in January, following adoption of a constitution and an election in December, they need trained prison guards "so that as soon as it is feasible we can transfer responsibility for Iraqi prisoners to the Iraqi government," he said. Rumsfeld has often criticized Iran and Syria for meddling in Iraq's affairs. In his remarks Wednesday, he put the main onus on Iraqi leaders to do more to fix the problem. "They need to be aggressively communicating with their neighbors to see that foreign terrorists stop coming across those borders and that their neighbors do not harbor insurgents and finance insurgents," he said in an in-flight interview with reporters accompanying him from Tajikistan.

A part of Iraq's draft constitution  gives Islam a major role in Iraqi civil law

Photo: Iraq's Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari wears a bulletproof vest and a military helmet while visiting a training base at the Baghdad airport Monday where he watched Iraq's most elite special forces perform training exercises.

BAGHDAD, Iraq- A part of Iraq's draft constitution  gives Islam a major role in Iraqi civil law, raising concerns that women could lose rights in marriage, divorce and inheritance. The proposal also appears to rule out non-governmental militias, an area addressed Monday by U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. Urging Iraqis to build national institutions, he said there is no place for factional forces that "build the infrastructure for a future civil war." On the capital's western outskirts, gunmen shot up a pair of buses carrying workers home from a government-owned company Tuesday, killing 12 and wounding nine, police said. Attackers also fatally shot a Baghdad police officer and wounded a Health Ministry employee. Insurgents are waging a bloody campaign of bombings and other gun attacks in an effort to undermine Iraq's government and its political efforts, such as drafting a new constitution. The civil law section, one of six to make up Iraq's new charter, covers the rights and duties of citizens and public and private freedoms. The language is not final, but members of the drafting committee said there was agreement on most of its wording. Committee members have been rushing to complete the constitution so the Iraqi National Assembly can set the final wording by Aug. 15. Parliament's version would be put to a public vote by mid-October, and if approved, elections would follow by year's end. The drafting panel's efforts got a boost Monday when its 12 Sunni Arab members ended a boycott, easing fears the document might be rejected by the ethnic community at the heart of the insurgency. Sunni Arab support is crucial because the charter can be scuttled if voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject it by a two-thirds majority and Sunni Arabs are a majority in four provinces. Sunni Arabs make up about 20 per cent of Iraq's 27 million people but dominate areas where the insurgency is raging. A Sunni member of the constitutional commission, Saleh al-Mutlaq, told AP he and his 11 colleagues agreed to resume work after receiving government assurances that their grievances would be addressed. Those concerns included better security after last week's assassination of two colleagues, which triggered the boycott, and for an expanded role for the Sunni Arab minority in the constitutional deliberations. On Tuesday, Iraq's most feared terrorist group warned Sunni Arabs against taking part in the October referendum on the constitution, saying their participation would make them infidels and therefore subject to the same treatment as occupation forces. In a statement posted on the Internet, the group called "al-Qaida in Iraq" slammed recent calls by some Sunni leaders encouraging the religious minority, which forms the core of the insurgency, to get involved in the political process. Another Internet statement purportedly from the terror group said its "court" decided Monday to kill two Algerian diplomats kidnapped last week in Baghdad, but there was no word on whether the threat had been carried out against Ali Belaroussi and Azzedine Belkadi. "This will be the fate of the other diplomats and representatives of the rest of the infidel governments. There is no fate for them except being killed," said the statement, which was posted and signed by Abu Maysara al-Iraqi, the al-Qaida spokesman. A video released on a website later Tuesday showed the diplomats alive, but it was not clear when the video was made. Al-Qaida's attacks on those and other diplomats appear aimed at isolating Iraq's government from its neighbours as the leadership tries to make progress in political efforts and reach a consensus on the constitution. Most worrying for women's groups has been the section on civil rights, which some believe would significantly roll back women's rights under a 1959 civil law enacted by a secular government. In the copy obtained by the AP on Monday, Article 19 of the second chapter says "the followers of any religion or sect are free to choose their civil status according to their religious or sectarian beliefs." Shiite Muslim leaders have pushed for a stronger role for Islam in civil law but women's groups argue that could base legal interpretations on stricter religious lines that are less favourable toward women. Committee members said they had taken account of women's concerns but were not planning to make changes, since the National Assembly will have final say on the wording. Committee member Khudayer al-Khuzai said Muslims would be free to choose which Islamic sect they want to be judged by under the proposed civil law. "We will not force anyone to adopt any sect at all. People are free to choose the sect they see as better or more legitimate. This is implemented in marriage, inheritance and all civil rights," he said. Not all Shiite laws are disadvantageous for women. Many Sunni Muslims who have only daughters prefer to follow Shiite religious law when it comes to inheritance, since daughters inherit everything their parents leave. Under Sunni rules, daughters have to share their inheritance with uncles, aunts and grandparents. While not specifically addressing militias, the draft chapter would permit Iraqis to form only political parties and would ban individuals from possessing weapons. In other areas, the chapter obtained by AP would make the judiciary independent, require public trials, ban torture and require a judicial order to detain anyone. Child labour, which flourished in the 1990s after the United Nations imposed sanctions on Iraq, would be banned. By Kasem Abou Zahra

 

 

 

A U.S. military ordnance detachment safely disarmed the device, U.S. officials said. More scattered explosions reverberated through the heart of the Iraqi capital around midnight but it wasn't known what caused the blasts or if there were any casualties.  In Fallujah, 65 kilometres west of Baghdad, Dr. Adil Khamis said his hospital received 10 dead, "including a groom who was killed on his wedding night and 17 wounded, including the bride." He said most of the injured were female relatives of the groom who were staying at the house after the wedding celebration. The U.S. command, however, said the attack was among a dozen "precision strikes" launched since last month against al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad network, which is responsible for kidnapping and beheading several Americans and other foreign hostages. The U.S. statement said those strikes have dealt a "significant blow" to al-Zarqawi's movement, killing several key figures including his chief lieutenant Mohammed al-Lubnani and spiritual adviser Abu Anas al-Shami. U.S. and Iraqi authorities are trying to curb the growing insurgency in Baghdad and elsewhere in order for national elections to take place by the end of January. Some U.S. military officials have expressed doubt balloting can be held in all parts of the country. In an effort to restore order, the government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has been talking with representatives from insurgency hotspots, including Sadr City in the northeast of the capital. Late Thursday, a spokesman for al-Sadr, the militant Shiite leader, offered to hand over medium and heavy weapons and co-operate with Iraqi security forces if the government will stop pursuing militia members and release the cleric's followers in detention. The offer by Ali Smeisem on Al-Arabiya television contained no explicit promise to disband the militia, as demanded by U.S. and Iraqi authorities. However, a senior security official, Qassim Dawoud, cautiously welcomed the offer and urged other armed groups to lay down their arms.

A suicide bomber exploded a massive device aboard a lorry at a police station in Baghdad.

At least 25 people have been killed by a suicide bomber who blew up a lorry laden with explosives at a police station in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. More than 30, mostly civilians, were injured in the blast at about 1450 (1050 GMT) in eastern Mashatal area. The explosion was so powerful that body parts were thrown onto the roofs of adjacent buildings, said the police. It was the worst attack since a suicide bomber blew up a tanker last week killing nearly 100 people. Insurgents have often targeted police in an ongoing effort to destabilise the country. Giant crater: The police station is surrounded by concrete barriers and the bomb exploded outside the perimeter. The blast - which came in the middle of a sandstorm - left a giant blackened crater at the scene. "It appears that the bomber who was driving the lorry wanted to enter the police station, but for some reasons the explosives exploded 20m before the police station," an unnamed interior ministry official was quoted by AFP news agency as saying. More than 200kg (440lb) of explosives are thought to have been loaded onto the lorry. Other cars were set on fire and shops in the area damaged. Police say most of the victims were civilians, some of them so badly burnt they have been hard to identify. "The car bomber made a deliberate decision to attack the Iraqi police station," said Maj Russell Goemaere, spokesman for the US 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Insurgents have repeatedly targeted police stations and army recruitment centres. On Sunday, the Iraqi government announced it had a new security plan for the entire country but it has not revealed any details and nothing it has done so far seems to be working, says our Baghdad correspondent. In some areas of Baghdad, residents are trying to provide their own security by setting up barriers on the roads in their neighbourhood to keep outsiders away. Sunday's attack came amid uncertainty over the participation of Iraq's Sunni Muslims in the committee drafting Iraq's new constitution. Sunni representatives are continuing their boycott announced on Thursday - two days after three Sunni politicians were killed in Baghdad. They have demanded an international investigation of the incident.

Iraq bombers one step ahead of US . Suicide bombers change tactics.

The bombing of a mosque in the Iraqi town of Musayyib is the deadliest single attack in Iraq for months.

Photo: At least 90 people died in the attack in Musayyib

The weekend began on Friday with a day-long series of car bombs in Baghdad that claimed at least 22 lives. The attacks came as the US was claiming some success in reducing the number of car bomb attacks. Their campaign was focused in Baghdad, where the security forces have been running an offensive called Operation Lightning for a number of weeks. Vulnerable areas: It is reckoned that most car bombs are assembled fairly close to where they are set off, to avoid them being intercepted. So military intelligence officials have plotted the location of the attacks, and carried out a series of security sweeps to find the workshops where car bombs are put together. The military has also increased patrols of the most vulnerable targets, such as the notorious road that connects Baghdad's airport with the city centre. But in response, the bombers have changed their tactics as well. Some suicide bombers are sent on foot, with the explosives strapped around their waists, to attack targets protected against car bombs. In Musayyib on Saturday, the bomber simply blew up a fuel truck - so there was no car bomb for the police to protect against.
 

The top U.S. general in Iraq says American troops could start drawing down there next year.

Photo: U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld holds a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari after a meeting on Wednesday in Baghdad.

"If the political process continues to go positively and if the development of the security forces continues to go as it is going, I do believe that we will be able to make some pretty substantial reductions after these elections in the spring and summer of next year," Gen. George Casey said Wednesday in Baghdad. His words came after Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari called for a speedy withdrawal of U.S. troops from the troubled nation. "The great desire of the Iraqi people is to see the coalition forces on their way out," he said at a joint news conference in Baghdad with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. However, al-Jaafari said there was no specific timetable for that to occur. Rumsfeld didn't comment on al-Jaafari's remarks, but did say Iraq needed to take more responsibility for guarding the more than 15,000 prisoners currently being held by the U.S. Rumsfeld said Iraq should meet the Aug. 15 deadline for drafting a new constitution. "It would be very harmful to the momentum that's necessary" if the constitution is not finished on time, he said.  The Iraq political timetable:

• August: Complete draft constitution

• September: National referendum on constitution

• December: Elections

• January 2006: Permanent Iraqi government sworn in

Ret. Col. Michel Drapeau told CTV News the U.S. hints about a wind-down came as a bit of a surprise. "From day one, President George Bush said he was going to be in there for the long run and most certainly he would install a democratic government ... and fundamentally bring Iraq into the new century," Drapeau said. "None of this has happened." And work on Iraq's future is a risky business. Working on the constitution puts one at risk of assassination -- as three Sunni Muslim politicians learned on July 19. The Sunni committee members temporarily withdrew but have since returned. The insurgency is growing in savagery and is hammering at Iraqi security forces in the process. Suicide car bombings routinely target Iraqi police. A recent report by the U.S. found that insurgents and criminals are among those joining the ranks of the new Iraq police. Only about half of the 60,000 police trained so far are capable of battling insurgents effectively. The U.S. is planning to develop a 135,000-member Iraqi police force. There are currently about 135,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, plus personnel from other coalition countries. The death toll for U.S. troops since the U.S.-led invasion happened in March 2003 now totals more than 1,780. Domestically, more than half of Americans polled by Ipsos in early July for The Associated Press disapproved of the U.S. government's handling of the Iraq war. Thirty-seven per cent want U.S. troops home immediately. "The president wants to see our troops come home, but we've got an important mission that we need to complete," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Wednesday, adding U.S. President George W. Bush depends on his commanders on the ground to say what they need in terms of troop strength. U.S. defense officials said spring or summer was mentioned because time is needed to assess the effects of the December elections on the insurgency and to see how Iraq's security forces are coming along.

 

 

 

Elsewhere, the U.S. command said one soldier from the 13th Corps Support Command died and two others were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded late Wednesday near Fallujah. A 1st Infantry Division soldier was also killed and an Iraqi interpreter wounded in a bombing near Beiji, 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, the command said. As part of the new security push, more than 3,000 U.S. and Iraqi forces are trying to clear an insurgent stronghold in towns and villages just south of Baghdad notorious for kidnappings and ambushes. The U.S. command said 11 suspected insurgents were captured Thursday, bringing the total number apprehended since the operation south of the capital began this week to 59. Four U.S. marines, three Iraqi National Guard members and three civilians have been wounded so far in the operation. In the northern city Mosul, the U.S. military reported arresting 12 suspected insurgents in a series of raids Wednesday. Eight others were arrested in Tal Afar, scene of heavy fighting last month, after a homemade bomb was found beneath an Iraqi police car.

Saddam Hussein's trial could begin next month

BAGHDAD, Iraq- Saddam Hussein could go on trial as early as next month for his alleged role in a massacre 23 years ago, a top judge said Wednesday. He said the deposed president could face the death penalty. Raid Juhi, chief judge of the Iraq Special Tribunal, said the investigation into the July 8, 1982 massacre in Dujail, a predominantly Shiite village 80 kilometres north of Baghdad, is complete. Juhi said four other former senior officials would stand trial in the Dujail massacre, in which Saddam's security agents allegedly shot dead at least 50 people after a plot to assassinate him was uncovered. Juhi said the trial would begin "in August or September, but we would like it to begin before that." Saddam and the others could be sentenced to death if convicted, Juhi said. Iraqi officials have announced the imminent start of Saddam's trial before, only to have the proceedings delayed. The Americans privately have urged caution about rushing into a trial, saying Iraq must develop a good court and judicial system first. U.S. officials say there are also concerns a trial could interfere with the important process of writing a constitution and inflame sectarian tension. The Iraqi government must finish a draft by mid-August so it can hold a referendum on the charter ahead of December elections for a full-term government.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said last month he hoped the trial would take place "sooner" than the end of the year. Zebari said investigators already have "an abundance of evidence of the crimes of Saddam. . . . We don't need any further evidence." Saddam, 68, has been jailed under American control at a U.S. military detention complex near Baghdad airport. In an interview with The Associated Press in Brussels, Belgium last month, Justice Minister Abdul Hussein Shandal said he was confident Iraqi investigators would wrap up the case against Saddam by the end of the year. Shandal accused the United States of trying to hinder the Iraqi investigation of Saddam's regime, saying "it seems there are lots of secrets they want to hide." Saddam is also expected to face charges for his alleged role in the 1987-88 campaign to drive Iraqi Kurds from wide areas of the north and for crushing the Shiite revolt in the south after U.S.-led forces from Iraqi invaders from Kuwait in 1991. -By Kasem Abdel Zahra