Iraq wobbling to sectarian division ? Regardless of what Prime Minister Maliki cautions - his rule in Iraq has caused daily havoc and the further breakdown of this divided Country !

http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2013/04/29/shiites-attacked-in-southern-iraq-49-killed-100-wounded/ Shi’ites Attacked in Southern Iraq: 49 Killed, 100 Wounded by Margaret Griffis, April 29, 2013 Print This | Share This Attacks struck Shi’ite cities and neighborhoods south of Baghdad today. At least 49 people were killed 100 more were wounded in them. A pair of car bombs left 18 dead and 42 wounded when they exploded among construction workers and in a market in Amara. Nine people were killed and 23 more were wounded when a car bomb exploded near a restaurant in Diwaniya. A car bomb in the holy city of Karbala left three dead and 14 wounded. In Mahmoudiya, which is predominantly Sunni, a bomb killed six people and wounded 14 more in a Shi’ite district. In Mosul, two soldiers were killed and three more were wounded in a clash. Gunmenkilled a soldier. A civilian was killed and his brother was wounded in a shooting. Gunmen killed two soldiers and wounded two more in Yathrib. A sniper in Madaen killed a soldier and wounded another. An officer and two soldiers were shot dead in Riyadh. Two suicide bombers were killed when their vehicle exploded near a checkpoint inSamarra. A lawyer was assassinated in Baquba. In Baghdad, mortars fell near the airport, but left no casualties. Mortars were also reported in Ghazaliya, where the number of casualties was not released. Mortars in Anbar province left no casualties. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/iraqi-army-losing-hold-on-north-to-sunni-and-kurdish-forces-as-troops-desert-8591762.html Soldiers are deserting a beleaguered Iraqi army as it struggles to keep its hold on the northern half of Iraq in the face of escalating hostility from Sunni Arabs and Kurds who dominate in the region. Around the oil city of Kirkuk Kurdish troops have advanced south to take over military positions abandoned by the army, while in Baghdad senior Iraqi politicians say that for the first time there is talk of partitioning the country. The current crisis was sparked on 23 April when the Iraqi army attacked a sit-in protest in the Sunni Arab town of Hawijah, killing at least 50 people and injuring 110. Outraged Sunni Arab protesters have since stepped up their demonstrations against the Shia-led government. Demonstrators are increasingly protected by armed men, some of whom are accused of dragging five military intelligence soldiers in civilian clothes from a car that came near a protest in Ramadi and killing them. There are signs that the Iraqi army can no longer cope with a crisis in which it is confronting both Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Many soldiers prefer to desert the army rather than shoot at protesters said Najmaldin Karim, the Kurdish Governor of Kirkuk, where Hawijah is situated, in an interview with The Independent. Most deserters are Sunni, Mr Karim said, but he added that some are Shia who don’t want to fight in strange places for something they don’t believe in.   Mr Karim, formerly a doctor in the US, confirmed that Kurdish troops have moved to take over positions around Kirkuk left vacant by the Iraqi army, but vehemently denies that this is a land-grab by the Kurds seeking to take over the oilfields as Iraqi army commanders have alleged. Affirming that Kurdish forces have taken over places vacated by the Iraqi army, he explained that Iraqi military units are under orders to leave their outposts at night and concentrate in defensible positions. “They [Iraqi army commanders] are playing on people’s emotions and trying to detract from the fact that they attacked civilian demonstrators and killed scores of them at close range.” Mediators seeking to end the protest in Hawijah last week say they only needed another six hours to end the confrontation when the army attacked. A confrontation between the Kurds and the central government in Baghdad last summer has led to poor relations between the two. Security cooperation has broken down and there has been a 30 per cent rise in terrorist attacks in Kirkuk as a result. Last week al-Qa’ida in Iraq was able to take over the town of Suleiman Bec in Kirkuk province and only left under a truce arrangement “It is really ironic,” says Mr Karim, “that at Hawijah the army attacks demonstrators including children and elderly. And then at Suleiman Bec al-Qa’ida killed the police chief. They captured and killed whoever was in the police station. The whole population of the town left. Terrorists controlled the town for 24 hours and then they were given safe passage to get out with their weapons and stolen cars.” Iraqi politicians are gloomy about the prospects for keeping the country together. Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the former Iraqi National Security Adviser, said in a phone interview yesterday that for the first time he was  hearing leaders in Baghdad talk seriously of partitioning the country. He said ”I believe Iraq is going through its most critical phase since the creation of the state in 1921. " He said that for Iraq partition would not be a soft option but would be more like the bloodbath when India and Pakistan divided. In the last four months Mr Maliki has done little to conciliate the Sunni Arabs who have been conducting a peaceful campaign demanding civil and political rights. They want an end to job discrimination and a terror law under which suspects can be arrested tortured on the word of an unknown informant. The protests were conducted largely without violence until the unexpected break-up of the Hawaijah sit-in. Sunni Arabs are now demanding that the army withdraw from their areas. A highly influential Sunni religious figure, seen as the inspirational leader of the protests, Abdul Malik al-Saadi, had previously counselled moderation, but last week issued a statement saying “if they open fire, then burn the land beneath them, and defend your selves with courage.” The government has been ambivalent in its attitude to the demonstrations, sometimes declaring their grievances to be just and at others demonising them as al-Qa’ida members. “I call upon the peaceful protesters to expel the criminals targeting military and police,” Mr Maliki said in a statement posted on his official website. Yesterday ten satellite television companies, including al-Jazeera and al-Sharkiya, had their licenses withdrawn, while earlier the authorities announced a curfew in the whole of Sunni Anbar province in western Iraq.  But the television channels have gone on operating and the army may not be in a position to enforce a curfew. Iraq Timeline 21 December 2012 Thousands protest against raid on home of Sunni Finance Minister. Demonstrations against perceived government sectarianism spread. 23 April 2013 More than 50 people killed when security forces raid anti-government protest camp in Hawijah, near Kirkuk. 25 April 40 killed as Sunni gunmen take control of Suleiman Beg. Sunni clerics call for formation of tribal army. 27 April Militants kill five Iraqi soldiers in Anbar province as Prime Minister Maliki warns that violence may lead to the return of sectarian civil war. Blair has not visited Iraq since leaving Downing Street The office of former Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted today that he has not visited Iraq since he left Downing Street almost six years ago. Mr Blair, along with President George W Bush, led the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and is now a Middle East peace envoy for the Quartet (the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia). Although he “closely monitors developments” in the country and “has obviously met people from the region on various occasions since”, he has not set foot in Iraq since 2007. He did, however, “give a speech to the Iraq Britain Business Council last year”, a spokesman added. Iraq suspends Al Jazeera broadcast operations

The move, citing "unprofessional reporting which escalated sectarian tension" includes nine other satellite TV channels. Last Modified: 28 Apr 2013 13:01

The suspension comes after a wave of violence between security forces and Sunni Arab protesters [Al Jazeera]

Iraq has suspended the licences of 10 satellite television channels, including Al Jazeera, for promoting violence and sectarianism, a senior official at the country's media watchdog has said. "We took a decision to suspend the licence of some satellite channels that adopted language encouraging violence and sectarianism," said Mujahid Abu al-Hail of the Communications and Media Commission (CMC) on Sunday. We urge the authorities to uphold freedom for the media to report the important stories taking place in Iraq. Al Jazeera "It means stopping their work in Iraq and their activities, so they cannot cover events in Iraq or move around," Hail said. The CMC said it believes that "the rhetoric and substance coverage" by Baghdad, Al Sharqiyah, Al Sharqiyah News, Babylonian, Salah al-Din, Anwar 2, al Tagheer, Fallujah, Al Jazeera and Al Gharbiyah, all TV channels that operate in the region, were "provocative, misleading and exaggerated with the objective of disturbing the civil and democratic process". "We are astonished by this development. We cover all sides of the stories in Iraq, and have done for many years. The fact that so many channels have been hit all at once though suggests this is an indiscriminate decision," Al Jazeera said in a statement. "We urge the authorities to uphold freedom for the media to report the important stories taking place in Iraq." the statement added. The move comes after a wave of violence that began on Tuesday with clashes between security forces and Sunni Arab protesters in northern Iraq that has killed a total of more than 215 people. The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas of the Shia-majority country more than four months ago. The protesters have called for the resignation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and railed against authorities for allegedly targeting their community, including what they say are wrongful detentions and accusations of involvement in terrorism.

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/gunmen-kill-10-iraqi-security-forces

Iraq premier cautions against sectarianism

Iraqi anti-government gunmen from Sunni tribes in the western Anbar province march during a protest in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, on 26 April 2013. (Photo: AFP - Azhar Shallal)

Published Saturday, April 27, 2013

Updated 2:19 pm: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pointed a finger on Saturday at the civil war in neighboring Syria for the spike of sectarian strife in Iraq.

The remarks came as morning attacks killed five Iraqi soldiers and five pro-government Sahwa militiamen around Baghdad, bringing to at least 215 the death toll of a five-day wave of sectarian violence in the country.

And the head of the Sahwa militia forces threatened war on militants if those who have killed Iraqi soldiers are not turned over.

Sectarian strife "came back to Iraq, because it began in another place in this region," Maliki said in televised remarks.

"Sectarianism is evil, and the wind of sectarianism does not need a licence to cross from a country to another, because if it begins in a place, it will move to another place," Maliki said.

"Strife is knocking on the doors of everyone, and no one will survive if it enters, because there is a wind behind it, and money, and plans," he added, two days after warning of the danger of a return to "sectarian civil war."

A wave of violence began on Tuesday when security forces moved in against Sunni anti-government protesters near the northern Sunni Arab town of Hawijah, sparking clashes that left 53 people dead.

Subsequent unrest, much of it apparently linked to the Hawijah clashes, killed dozens more and brought the death toll to 215 by Saturday.

Iraqiya state television on Saturday quoted Sahwa chief Sheikh Wissam al-Hardan as saying that if those who have killed soldiers are not handed over, "the Sahwa will take the requested procedures and do what it did in 2006."

Sahwa militiamen fought pitched battles against Sunni militants from 2006, helping turn the tide of the Iraq war.

In the latest attacks Saturday, gunmen killed five soldiers from army intelligence west of Baghdad, and five Sahwa militiamen at a checkpoint south of Tikrit, which lies north of the Iraqi capital, security and medical sources said.

One group of soldiers were driving near the site of a long-running anti-government protest near Ramadi, west of Baghdad, when they were stopped by gunmen.

They shot one of the gunmen, wounding him, and clashes broke out in which four of the soldiers were killed and another wounded, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said.

Gunmen also killed a soldier and wounded another in a similar incident involving a second vehicle in the same area, the same sources said.

The killings came after a Sunni cleric called in a sermon at the protest site on Friday for the creation of an army to defend Sunnis.

Sheikh Hamed al-Kubaisi urged each Sunni tribe to provide 100 people, and an AFP journalist saw between 60 and 70 men who responded to the call armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

Gunmen also killed five Sahwa militiamen on Saturday in an attack on a checkpoint south of Tikrit, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said.

The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that broke out in Sunni areas more than four months ago.

The Sunni protesters have called for the resignation of Maliki and railed against authorities for allegedly targeting their community, including what they say are wrongful detentions and accusations of involvement in terrorism.

(AFP)

http://original.antiwar.com/updates/2013/04/26/iraq-unrest-unabated-at-least-38-killed-109-wounded/

Iraq Unrest Unabated: At least 38 Killed, 109 Wounded

by Margaret Griffis, April 26, 2013

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After three days of unrest in the north, bomb attacks in Baghdad took center stage. At least 38 Iraqis were killed and 109 more were wounded in those and other attacks across the country. However, because several locations did not provide any figures, the true tally could be much higher.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of protesters came out after Friday prayers in Anbar province to continue their weekly demonstrations against the Shi’ite-led government. The U.N. envoy to Iraq, Martin Kobler, called for restraint on all sides, but Sunni clerics encouraged a continuation to anti-government attitudes. The Unified Council of Iraqi Tribes, however, held an emergency meeting and denounced the violence.

Security forces were allowed back into Suleiman Bek after tribal leaders convinced insurgents to hand over the town.

In Baghdad, attacks mostly targeted Sunnis. A bomb outside a Sunni mosque killed nine people and wounded 42 more. One person was killed and six were wounded in a blast in Rashidiya a few minutes later. Bombs outside mosques in Shabb left two deadand six wounded. Seven people were wounded in a bombing in Doura.

A motorcycle at a falafel shop in Sadr City killed five and left at least 19 more were wounded.

A car bomb killed seven people and wounded at least 13 more at a shopping center.

Soldiers denied executing five people who were brought to a morgue in Tuz Khormato.

An I.E.D. killed four soldiers and wounded a fifth one in Mahmoudiya.

Gunmen killed five people near Tikrit.

A bomb outside a tailor shop in Wadi Hajar wounded 12 people.

An I.E.D. in Saidiya wounded one person.

In Falluja, a policeman was shot and wounded. Gunmen wounded a civilian. Clashestook place.

Clashes broke out in Haditha and Kubaisa.

Kurdish forces deploy near Iraq’s Kirkuk – reports

Kurdish security forces have deployed near the disputed city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, AFP reported. The move is allegedly aimed at combating militants, as a wave of violence across the country has killed more than 200 people. Jabbar Yawar, the secretary general of Iraqi Kurdistan’s peshmerga ministry, said that after consultations with the governor of Kirkuk, the decision was made to send in peshmerga security forces to fill the security vacuum around the city. 

http://www.alsumaria.tv/news/75113/adel-abdul-mahdi-government-is-a-failure-and-iraqi/en

Adel Abdul Mahdi: Government is a failure and Iraqis are hostages

	26-04-2013 - 11:00		| Source:
		Politics	179 views
	Editor:   Ahmad Hussein, Ahmad Wadi

		Previous Vice-President Adel Abdul Mahdi considered on Thursday April 25, that the Iraqi Government “has failed” on the level of politics, security and services. He qualified the different categories of citizens as “hostages” to violence, vengeance and hatred as a result to this failure. “We all have become hostages, required to be wise in a world void of any wisdom. The Sunnis are hostages; they cannot support the policies of authorities that weaken them in their regions and threaten them in other regions. The Shias are also hostages. They stand helpless before daily killings and menacing threats while they find themselves unable to discuss failing policies related to their security, politics and services", wrote Abdul Mahdi in the opening of “Al Adala” (The Justice) newspaper in the issue of Thursday April 25th, which Alsumaria read. “Fighting terrorism can be done by winning over and protecting Shias, Sunnis and all the people”, he added. “Some invest in the same tactics adopted by terroristic groups to mobilize their followers, but this only resulted in turning us all into hostages to terrorism, angriness and chaos, for which we pay twice: once when we commit them and once when we back out”, he noted. Abdul Mahdi advised that “we should stand up to terrorism through unified national mobilization and through a firm political, economic, administrative, social and regional line; not only through security measures”. He stressed that “without Shias supporting Sunnis, we will promote terrorism whether we like it or not; and without Sunnis supporting Shias, rightful demands will not be met”. “When blood is shed, we all become hostages of violence, vengeance and hatred”, he carried on to say, warning that “the country is at grave risk; we should stop following affiliations. Without the moderate Sunni partner, Shias cannot enjoy security; and without the fair Shia partner, the Sunnis cannot feel that this government is theirs too”.