Civil Affairs Helps Dahuk Police

[seruriermarshal]

Civil Affairs Helps Dahuk Police

Coalition Soldiers of the 416th Civil Affairs Battalion provided police officers in the Dahuk Governorate much needed equipment May 5 to better prepare the police department to protect its citizens from crime and to continue the rebuilding of Iraq’s infrastructure.
The Army Reserve unit from Norristown, Pa. headed the project, which included the distribution of 12 desktop computers, three copy machines, three fax machines, three digital cameras and two new police vehicles.


The $30,000 project, funded by the Commander’s Emergency Response Program, was identified as a priority need by community leaders in the region.


“This equipment is important because many of the districts are lacking the necessary vehicles and computer systems to effectively do their jobs to the best of their abilities,” said Sgt. Jeffrey Gliem, the public safety team leader for the 416th in Dahuk.
Throughout the governorate’s six districts, the police only have 25 patrol vehicles, while two districts have no vehicles at all.


Gliem said many officers in the districts are restricted to their posts, usually around the thoroughfares and intersections to monitor traffic and keep their presence known to the public. They often have to take taxis to their posts because the police do not have vehicles to transport them to and from their work posts.


“We wanted to help the department to become a more mobile entity,” he said. “An officer can’t really patrol much area on foot, so we hope by doing this we can at least improve the department’s response time and increase their ability to patrol the neighborhoods so their citizens know they’re there to protect them.”


Besides the increased patrol capabilities, the police department also received computers to improve their ability to track and record criminal activity.


Brig. Gen. Nazar R. Aziz, the Dahuk Governorate Chief of Police, said the office equipment will also greatly improve the department’s ability to coordinate with its 29 police substations because they will be able to communicate crimes in real-time.


“The fax machines will be used to distribute important information to other larger cities, such as descriptions of stolen cars or possible terrorist activities,” Aziz said. “The computers will help us better process information and statistics of criminal activity and form a database on the offenders.”


Presently, the department does not have a criminal justice information system established to keep such information. Training is planned in the near future to teach officers how to create a criminal database.


The three digital cameras provided by Coalition forces will also assist the Dahuk Police Department in investigating crime scenes and traffic accidents.


The 416th is responsible for assisting citizens in northern Iraq in rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure and the Soldiers hope to complete more projects in the future to better assist the Dahuk Governorate Police Department with their fight against crime.


“I love to see how happy the officers are to receive this equipment,” Gliem said. “Doing this makes me feel like I have done something at the end of the day and makes me want to strive harder to get more projects approved for these people in the future.”



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[seruriermarshal]

Sadr Lieutenant Captured, Militia Members Killed

By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2004 -- Coalition forces in Iraq captured a key lieutenant of radical Islamic cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf and killed a "large number" of Sadr's militia overnight in Sadr City, a senior coalition military official in Baghdad said today.

Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for Multinational Force Iraq, said Riyad al-Nouri was handed over to Iraqi authorities.

Nouri was wanted by Iraqi authorities on an outstanding warrant in connection with the murder of Ayatollah Sayyed Abdul Majeed al-Khoei in April 2003. Nouri is related to al Sadr by marriage.

Kimmitt also reported that a "large number" of Sadr's militia was killed during 21 separate engagements in Sadr City, where coalition forces went up against small teams firing small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. He said the operations resulted in no coalition casualties or damaged equipment.

"Al-Sadr certainly has less forces today than he had yesterday," Kimmitt told reporters. "Al-Sadr certainly has one less lieutenant today than he did yesterday. One more person associated with the murder of Ayatollah Majeed al- Khoei is now going to face Iraqi justice. We are constantly chipping away at his militia."

Kimmitt said his understanding is that no civilians were killed during the overnight fighting.

Though he said he could not provide a number of militia members killed, Kimmitt said they were "sadly, a very large number, a very large number of probably wayward youths that were somehow convinced, corrupted, connived by persons such as Muqtada al-Sadr into picking up weapons against the coalition and against their fellow Iraqis."

Despite continued engagements with Sadr, Kimmitt said, the coalition still is committed to finding a peaceful resolution. "But until that peaceful resolution comes forward that shows Muqtada al-Sadr in Iraqi custody to face Iraqi justice for his part in the murder of Ayatollah al-Khoei and the disarmament of his militia, we will continue to conduct military operations directed against his forces," he said.

In the 24 hours leading up to today's news conference, coalition forces conducted 1,874 patrols, 24 offensive operations and 40 Air Force and Navy aircraft sorties, and captured 55 anti-coalition suspects.

Kimmitt also reported on other developments in Iraq:

Some 600 detainees will be released May 28 from the Abu Ghraib prison.
In the northern zone of operations, the coalition public works team delivered more than $1.1 million worth of equipment and supplies donated by the U.S. Agency for International Development to the Nineveh water and sewer department for infrastructure repair.

A total of 150 former regime police officers graduated from a three-week transition integration program in Mosul. To date, 14,628 police officers have been retrained through the program.

In the north central zone of operations, the Khalis chief of police was killed in a drive-by shooting in Baqubah. His driver was also killed.

In the southeastern zone of operations, angry Iraqis gathered outside the oil metering station on the Faw Peninsula southeast of Basra to protest the lack of fuel for the town's power generator. The Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, with coalition help, dispersed the crowd peacefully.
No cease-fire violations have been reported since May 3 in Fallujah. Reconstruction efforts there continue, employing more than 1,200 Fallujans. About 1,900 more will be hired in the coming weeks for reconstruction efforts in the city.



Possible Peace Deal Reached in An Najaf

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Coalition forces are prepared to suspend offensive operations in An Najaf and reposition to bases outside the city as part of an agreement brokered between Muqtada al-Sadr and Shi'ite members of the Iraqi Governing Council May 27.

The deal, spelled out in a letter from Muqtada to the members, promises the withdrawal of his forces from the city and discussion on the dissolution of the militia as a whole.

Until the withdrawal of militia forces and the return of legitimate civil authorities such as the Iraqi Police Service and Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, Coalition forces will continue to provide security by carrying out presence patrols but will suspend offensive operations.

At all times, Coalition forces will retain the inherent right of self-defense.


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