Following the news that:
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has agreed to mediate in efforts for the release of two abducted Israeli soldiers after requests from both Hezbollah and Israel.
U.N. Chief to Mediate Soldiers’ Release
According to “Arab Times” newspaper
The secret negotiator is Al-Akhdar al-Ibrahimi, who will leads the talks with Hizballah for the release of the two detained Israeli soldiers.
How about Hezbollah coughs up the soldiers or Israel levels Lebanon? That sounds like a fair deal to me.
Security developments in Iraq, Sept 6
Following are security and other developments in Iraq reported on Wednesday, as of 1530 GMT:
BAGHDAD — Two people were killed and eight wounded when a bomb exploded near a funeral tent in Amel area in southwestern Baghdad. People had gathered there to mark the death of a supporter of radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, the Interior Ministry said.
BAGHDAD — A car bomb killed eight people and wounded 38 in northern Baghdad’s Qahira district, police said. An Interior Ministry source who quoted hospital tallies said six people were killed in the bomb blast and 46 wounded.
BAGHDAD — Police found the bodies of 19 people across Baghdad on Tuesday, an Interior Ministry source said. Some of them had been bound and blindfolded.
BAGHDAD — Iraqi police found a further 15 bodies throughout Baghdad on Wednesday, most were bound, blindfold with some showing signs of torture, police said.
SINJAR — A car bomb killed six members of Iraq’s border police and wounded six others in the northern town of Sinjar, close to the Syrian border, police said.
MOSUL — Gunmen killed two people from the Yezidi religious minority in the northern city of Mosul, police said. It was not clear whether they were targeted because of their beliefs.
MAHMUDIYA — Mortars killed two people and wounded six when they landed on a main road in the violent town of Mahmudiya, just south of Baghdad, police said.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
KERBALA — Iraqi authorities announced a vehicle curfew in the holy Shi’ite city of Kerbala, where thousands of pilgrims are gathering for a religious festival on Saturday. The curfew will run from 7 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Wednesday until the end of the festival on Saturday.
Shiites submit draft law to divide Iraq
September 6, 2006
Iraq’s dominant Shiite political alliance submitted to parliament on Wednesday a draft law governing the division of the country into autonomous regions, a lawmaker said.
“The general committee of the United Iraqi Alliance finished drafting the law of regional formations and submitted it to the leadership of the parliament for review,” said Shiite lawmaker Hamid Mualla al-Saadi.
The second day of parliament since the end of its month-long recess is expected to be dominated with the review of the controversial draft law which will govern the process of dividing the country into autonomous regions.
The three Kurdish provinces in the north are already autonomous and Shiite lawmakers have indicated they would like a similar federal status for the overwhelmingly Shiite southern provinces.
With Iraq’s oil entirely concentrated in the northern and southern region’s, the proposals worry the country’s Sunni Arabs, largely found in the arid and resource-poor center of the country.
Kurdish and Shiite parties, however, make up two-thirds of the parliament.
Iraqi Parliament Extends State of Emergency
Iraq’s parliament voted to extend a state of emergency on Tuesday, while Britain’s foreign secretary stressed that transferring control of Iraq’s security from the US-led coalition to the government was the key.
The state of emergency has been in place for almost two years, and covers every region except for the autonomous Kurdish region in the north.
It grants security forces greater powers such as implementing curfews and making arrests without warrants.
In continued violence, insurgents and death squads killed at least 20 Iraqis in attacks in and around Baghdad on Tuesday, said police and medics.
In the bloodiest incident, rebels ambushed a police patrol with machine guns and rocket launchers north of the capital near the town of Baquba. Five officers were killed before the gang escaped, police said.
British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, on her first trip to Iraq since taking up the foreign minister post in May, met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh and discussed the transfer of security control from the US-led coalition to Iraqi authorities.
“There has been responsibility that has been transferred already and we hope and believe that that is a process that will continue,” said Beckett, adding it was “absolutely key that we see that responsibility being able to be exercised by the representatives of the elected government of Iraq.”
British forces handed over control of the southern Muthana province to their Iraqi counterparts in July, and Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki announced last month that another southern province, Dhi Qar, would follow this month.
“I recognise that at the end of the day, security in this country must a prime responsibility for the Iraqi government and the Iraqi security services,” said Saleh.
Over the past week, a disagreement has emerged over the handover of Iraq’s armed forces command.
A highly anticipated ceremony marking the transfer had been scheduled for Saturday but was called off at the last minute.
The two sides still had “to complete some legal and protocol procedures that will lead to a complete understanding between the Iraqi government and the multinational troops,” said the Defence Ministry.
On Monday, Ali Al Dabbagh, spokesman for Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, told The Associated Press that the ceremony would be held “if not the end of this week, early next week depending on the prime minister’s schedule.”
Handing over control from the coalition to Iraqi authorities is a key part of any eventual drawdown of international troops in the country.