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seruriermarshal
05-09-2004, 03:10 AM
Local Leader's Actions help Free Hostages

TIKRIT, Iraq - An Iraqi provincial leader helped secure the release of two civilian contractors kidnapped by anti-Coalition forces near Ad Duluiyah around 3:30 p.m. May 7. The two were kidnapped while trying to recover a vehicle that had broken down earlier in the day. The provincial leader initially attempted to negotiate the captives' release, but was unsuccessful. He then contacted the Iraqi police, who stopped the vehicles after a brief chase. Iraqi police released three individuals after questioning, but detained one other. The contractors were not injured in the incident.

The incident is under investigation.



Other news :

Terrorist Attack Wounds Detainees Slated for Release
AR RAMADI, Iraq - Several Iraqi detainees slated for release were wounded today when their transportation convoy was attacked with an improvised explosive device near Habbiniyah at about 3 p.m. May 8.

Soldiers assigned to the 1st Marine Division were transporting the detainees from Camp Ramadi's detention facility to Camp Habbiniyah when they were attacked.

Seven Iraqis were wounded in the explosion and were quickly treated by the soldiers on the scene. The soldiers located the attackers and engaged them, killing one and detaining another.

Initial reports indicate the Iraqis suffered multiple shrapnel wounds. They were all evacuated to Camp Taqqadum where military medical personnel treated them.





Suspect Detained in Connection with Murder

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Task Force Baghdad Soldiers detained a suspected member of Muqtada's militia without incident during a raid in Baghdad early May 5. The suspect is being detained and questioned in connection with the murder of Swadi Shatti, a district advisory council leader. Shatti was found dead behind the Al Thawra police station April 30.

Under Iraqi law, the suspect is innocent until proven guilty, said Maj. Jeff Spears, a staff judge advocate with the 1st Cavalry Division. If he is charged, the suspect will be provided defense counsel to represent him before the investigative and trial chambers of the Iraqi court with jurisdiction over the incident.



Marine Patrol Saves Child from IED

CAMP TAQQADUM, Iraq - A Marine patrol near Husaybah took note of a child playing with an unusual object May 5. The object looked like it could be part of an improvised explosive device. The Marines quickly moved the child away to a safe distance and secured the area. Marines found the object to be an anti-personnel mine rigged as an IED buried in the ground. The patrol coordinated for an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team to dispose of the mine. It was detonated in-place later in the day. Unit officials said the Marines' "excellent attention to detail" prevented the loss of lives and equipment



One Stryker Brigade Soldier Died, One Task Force Olympia Soldier Wounded During Mortar Attack

MOSUL, Iraq - One Stryker Brigade Soldier died and one Task Force Olympia Soldier was wounded during a mortar attack on a Coalition base in Mosul on May 8. The wounded Soldier was evacuated to the combat support hospital in Mosul. The deceased Soldier's name is withheld pending notification of next of kin. Task Force Olympia and the Stryker Brigade extend heartfelt condolences to the Soldiers' families.



Discovery of Weapons Caches Result in Safe Removal of Weapons from Mosul Streets

MOSUL, Iraq - Information provided by two Iraqi adults and a child led to the discovery of three weapons caches May 7 and the seizure and safe disposal of more than 250 artillery rounds, mortar rounds and other munitions west of Mosul.

The first cache consisted of more than 100 82mm and 120mm rusted mortar rounds lying in the open, exposed to the elements. As soldiers secured the site, a child directed their attention to a second site that consisted of about 45 82mm and 120mm mortar rounds and a variety of high-explosive artillery rounds. The second site was secured; but while soldiers were driving between the first and second site, yet another cache was discovered that consisted of 125 more mortar rounds. The second and third caches were destroyed and Iraqi Police helped secure the first site until the explosive ordnance disposal team arrived to destroy the first cache.

Officials commended the people of Mosul for choosing peace and freedom over violence, even in the face of these terrible attacks. Task Force Olympia continues to work with the citizens and leaders of Iraq to make it a safe, prosperous, and democratic nation. Anyone with information about criminal or terrorist activities should inform the Iraqi Police, Coalition forces or the Tips Hotline at 813-343 or 780-013.

To turn in munitions or weapons, contact any Coalition soldier, or call the Hotline (813-343) to arrange turn-in.

seruriermarshal
05-09-2004, 04:37 AM
AL-SADR AIDE CAPTURED

US troops in Iraq have arrested a top rebel Shiite commander after a gunbattle in Sadr City, the Shiite quarter of Baghdad.

Fighters loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have confirmed the capture of Ayed Amer al-Husseini after 20 US military vehicles sealed the area around al-Sadr's office.

Helicopters buzzed over the Iraqi capital as troops exchanged fire with al-Sadr fighters before detaining Husseini.

One fighter was killed and four more arrested.

Husseini heads Sadr's office in Sadr City.

The cleric is sheltering in Najaf as his supporters battle with the Coalition in several southern centres...."




Next sh*t Sadr !

seruriermarshal
05-09-2004, 04:50 AM
Tension rising among Iraq Shiites as Sadr standoff lingers

KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) - Residents of this Shiite Muslim shrine town sit around a hotel lobby cursing the militiamen of radical leader Moqtada Sadr as an influential cleric in the neighbouring holy city of Najaf tells them to leave.


The US military appears to be succeeding in its goal of isolating Sadr and his Mehdi Army militiamen and slowly eroding any sympathy that residents of Karbala and Najaf might have felt towards the firebrand young cleric.


People in both cities say they have had enough of the "thuggish presence" of Sadr's gunmen around their holy shrines and lament the impact that the standoff, which has gone on for more than a month now, is having on their economy.


"The Mehdi Army are a bunch of extremists," says one man from Karbala in his 30s without giving his name.


"In fact they are a bunch of thieves and former Baathists."


His friends gesture their agreement adding that "if the militia truly cared about protecting the holy cities they would withdraw from the shrines and fight elsewhere."


But people are also starting to question US motives in not moving faster against Sadr and his militiamen, who are mostly poor young men from Baghdad's Shiite slums and impoverished southern cities like Amara, Basra and Nasiriyah.


"America's true goal is to divide and weaken the Shiites," says a stall owner in Najaf's busy street market.


The US-led coalition faces a delicate task in dealing with the Sadr problem. Any offensive move that harmed Sadr personally or the holy shrines would unleash the wrath of the country's Shiite majority and its influential Najaf-based religious leadership.


Sadr, who is only in his 30s, is the scion of a prominent religious family that is respected by most Iraqis for its opposition to the Sunni-dominated regime of ousted president Saddam Hussein (news - web sites).


Both Sadr's father and great-uncle were killed by Saddam's henchmen.


Posters of both men and tributes to their courage are visible throughout Baghdad and Iraq (news - web sites)'s Shiite south.


Complicating the US task is the fact that Sadr has amassed men and arms all around Najaf's Imam Ali mausoleum, inside and around the grand mosque in nearby Kufa and right behind Karbala's shrine of Imam Hussein.


Any harm to these holy places, revered by millions of Shiites worldwide, would be disastrous.


Sadr has squeezed the Shiite religious establishment, and its most prominent figure the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, between a rock and a hard place.


Sadr spokesman Sheikh Qais al-Khazali challenged the Shiite spiritual leadership Saturday to speak out against the US troop presence at the gates of the holy cities.


"We believe the religious authority must take a clearer position since the 'red lines' it has marked out have already been crossed."





The last statement coming from Sistani's office was one month ago when he called for a peaceful resolution of the Sadr standoff and respect for the sanctity of the holy cities.

One of his followers, Sheikh Abdul Mehdi Al-Karbalai, later warned US troops not to enter Karbala or Najaf because they represented "red lines" for Shiites.

Clerics close to his office say Sistani is "upset" about the presence of militiamen around the holy shrines but fears that any public opposition to Sadr's men might provoke faction-fighting among Shiites.

But another Sistani follower and the Najaf leader of one of Iraq's main Shiite political parties urged militiamen to leave the holy city

"Listen to the advice of the learned ones. You are our beloved youth and we care about you, but go back to your home where you came from and fight the occupation and the Baathists there," Sadreddin Kubbanji said Friday

This was the strongest denunciation yet of Sadr's militia from the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) party, an Iran-backed religious party, whose leader sits on the US-appointed interim Governing Council.

SCIRI's armed wing, the Badr Organisation, which has a stronger presence in Karbala than Najaf, was on high alert in the town Saturday as US troops pressed on with an offensive to eliminate Sadr's militia from the city.

A SCIRI official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he would not take sides in the fighting.

Sadr's man in Karabla, Sheikh Hamza al-Taai, has branded a "traitor" everyone who does not resist the Americans.

"We are bringing more men to Karbala because we will never give it up, even if we have to die," said a defiant Taai Saturday.





Seven Iraqis Killed in Baghdad Market Blast

BAGHDAD (*******) - At least seven people, including three policemen, were killed and 13 others wounded on Sunday when an explosion ripped through a crowded market in Baghdad, witnesses and hospital sources said.


They said some of the dead were blown to pieces in the blast in the Bayaa neighborhood. A ******* photographer at the scene saw body parts and human flesh on walls near the blast site.