Roads to Iraq

Aug 19, 2008

Raid in Diyala, the southern awakening councils

Raid in Diyala

- There are two new things about the Iraqi forces raidon the governor office in Diyala, killing his secretary:

First - reported on Al-Jazeera. Diyala member of the provincial council also arrested, who is a member of the Islamic party [apologies for the mistake yesterday].

Second - Iraqalaan reported the following:

The special force [did the raid] came from Baghdad without previous knowledge of the Iraqi military forces who are already operating in Diyala, that is why the police engaged in firefight with these forces.

Directly or indirectly the “Awakening Councils” in Diyala are connected to the Islamic Party. The raid today on the governor office was an attempt to wage a war on the “Awakening Councils”.

Sistani’s health

- I don’t know if it is true or not, but the website has a good record of reporting “real” news. Yaqenreported that Sistani is in coma, unconscious and probably he is clinically dead in the hospital few days ago.

According to the website, if this is true then this is big blow to the United Iraqi Alliance and especially Al-Hakim’s Supreme Council. We will wait and see.

Maliki’s jet

- Although Saudi Arabia “promised” the Americans to revive its relation with Maliki’s government and reopen its embassy in Iraq by the end of the year, their media keeps the anti-Maliki mood.

This is what reported today Saudi Al-watan today:

Sources in Baghdad airport said that Maliki for security reasons uses an Iranian crew in his private plane. The airplane was a gift from Iran to Maliki.

Southern Awakening

- AL-Akhbar reported about the formation of “Awakening Councils” in the southern provinces raises confusion among “Shiites ruling-parties” because of the coming election.

In Najaf for example the “Awakening Council” announced itself as an independent political bloc will compete against United Iraqi Alliance to attract more votes.

In Diwaniya, about 120 tribal sheikhs are ready to announce their “Awakening Council”, although it is not supported by the government.

2 Comments, Comment or Ping

motown67

There was an article not that long ago in the NY Times about a Marine unit that set up a Sons of Iraq program in Diwaniya and then were told to stop by Baghdad who saw them as a threat to the Shiite parties.

Aug 20th, 2008

M of A - Iraq Shia Coalition Split - Aug 21st, 2008

The following tags are used in this post, this will help you to find the posts with similar subjects.

iran| iraq| saudi-arabia| u.s.

Mini posts

Zawahri's "insult" word
Just listened to Zawahiri's speech after I read these reports say that he used "insult" words.

Zawahri uses the word "Abid" or "Abd" translated directly to English as "slave" but it also means "addicted" or "loyal".

You can find the same word in many Arabic names such as these of the King of Saudi Arabia or Jordan "Abd"dullah.

The English word "negro" transited to Arabic as "Zinji" is more racial and insulting than "Abd", because "Zinji" or even "Aswad" = "black" usually refers to an ethnic inferior minority.

Miliband had a letter from Olmert to Assad
According to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida, Davis Miliband in his visit to Syria, had a letter from Israeli Prime Minister Olmert to Bashar Al-Asad assured him of Israel's willingness to continue the negotiations.

Gadhafi's son lobbies father-son succession
According to Al-Akhbar, Gadhafi's son visit to the U.S. aimed to promote the transfer of power and to approve father-son succession in Libya, especially that he will visit Jewish activists in the U.S.

France accuses Saudi Arabia with arming the Lebanese fundamentals
As reported on Al-Akhbar:

Western countries intelligence services and particularly France started to accuse Saudi Arabia of arming the fundamentals in Lebanon after they found special guns and arms sold by France at the time of the former President Jacques Chirac to Saudi Arabia.

Hamas three options
Good report on the Palestinian newspaper Al-Manar on Hamas options and the next move:

Sources close to Hamas said that the movement is in a very difficult position, reluctant to launch attacks on Israel and would prefer to wait until the U.S. political situation to stabilize.

Hamas leaders in exile want to exercise restraint, but they are unable to control the military commanders. Hamas has three options:

1- To go towards Egypt and continue the peace dialogue [with Fatah] immediately and unconditionally.

2- To continue the "calculated" escalation, without pushing the situation to the exploding point.

3- Its called the suicidal option:

A- Armed operation in areas surrounds Gaza strip, joined by other armed factions, but any direct confrontation will hurt Hamas heavily.

B- To confront the Israeli pressure with attacks outside the Gaza strip, in the West Bank or inside Israel, trying to boost its negotiations demands.

Strange reports on the hijacked Saudi oil tanker
The story of the hijacked Saudi oil tanker "Sirius Star" is escalating but yet there are few confusing reports on the Saudi media.

The strange thing is what Saudi funded newspaper AL-Sharq AL-Awsat reported this morning:

The Saudi border guards denied the reports of a hijacked Saudi ship; they [border guards] did not receive any distress call from any ship or Saudi oil tanker exposed to a piracy operation.

The most confusing is what Saudi newspaper reported this morning:

[Saudi oil tanker] "Sirius Star" is liberated.

A Saudi source confirmed the release of "Sirius Star".