Iraqis display photo of alleged al-Qaida leader

By KIM GAMEL – 1 day ago BAGHDAD (AP) — The Iraqi government presented the first image of the alleged leader of an al-Qaida front group Tuesday in a bid to prove the right suspect was in custody despite skepticism that he even exists. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called Abu Omar al-Baghdadi "the head of evil" and accused him of trying to incite a sectarian civil war and working with other insurgents who remained loyal to Saddam Hussein. "This criminal had close relations with the former regime and maintained a sinister alliance with Saddam's followers," he said in a statement released by his office. Authorities described al-Baghdadi's capture, which was announced last week, as a major setback for Sunni insurgents trying to intensify attacks after a relative lull. But the capture or death of other high-ranking insurgent figures in the past — including former al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006 — has done little to slow the bombings. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he could not confirm al-Baghdadi's capture and described as "fairly accurate" a statement that every day that goes by without a confirmation increases the suspicion that it's not him. A prominent writer identified as Muhub Ruyat al-Rahman, whose comments are widely read on Islamic Web sites, meanwhile, signaled that insurgent groups also were not certain the man captured was al-Baghdadi. He warned his comrades the claim could be a propaganda ploy and said even if it did prove true, the death or arrest of leaders would not stop the march of jihad, or holy war. The identity of al-Baghdadi — shown in the photo unveiled at a news conference with a close-cropped beard and black T-shirt — has frequently been questioned. The U.S. military has even said al-Baghdadi could be a fictitious character used to give an Iraqi face to an organization dominated by foreign al-Qaida fighters. Even if he does exist, it was unclear what his role is in the terror group — whether he really runs it or whether he's a figurehead. Iraqi officials also have reported al-Baghdadi's arrest or killing before, only to later say they were wrong. In 2007, Iraq's government reported that al-Baghdadi had been killed and released photos of what it said was his body. Later, security officials said they had arrested al-Baghdadi. In both cases, the U.S. military said at the time it could not be confirmed. The reports turned out to be untrue. But Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said the government was certain the man arrested Thursday was al-Baghdadi. He displayed the picture but offered no other proof, saying the investigation was ongoing and that security forces were still trying to glean information from the detainee. A senior Iraqi security official said authorities did not want to release too much information because it could tip off members of his insurgent network. Information from al-Baghdadi already had led Iraqi authorities to arrest four people, including a woman, and seize three explosive belts in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information. He said the group had planned attacks to mark the birthday of Saddam, who was hanged in 2006. Saddam, who is buried in the Tigris River hamlet of Ouja, would have turned 72 on Tuesday. Authorities hailed the purported arrest as a major victory for Iraqi forces reeling from accusations that they are not prepared to take over their own security in the wake of a series of high-profile attacks. The deadliest bombings in more than a year occurred last week after al-Baghdadi was purportedly caught, with more than 150 people killed over a period of two days. Associated Press Writers Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Sinan Salaheddin contributed to this report.

More Democrats call for tough Iran sanctions

Politico David S. Cloud April 26, 2009 06:20 PM EST Democrats in Congress are joining Republicans in calling for tough new sanctions on Iran and warning the Obama administration that its policy of engagement shouldn’t last too long before turning to harsher steps aimed at halting Tehran’s nuclear program. This week, as many as 20 senators, including several senior Democrats in the House and Senate, are expected to join in introducing a bill that would authorize sanctions against companies involved in supplying gasoline and other refined petroleum products to Iran. A similar bill is also in the works in the House. Last month, seven senior Democrats, including Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), warned President Barack Obama against “open-ended engagement with Iran.” The administration is so far moving on a slower timetable, refusing to commit itself to new sanctions until it sees whether its diplomatic outreach to Iran produces results. Administration officials aren’t complaining about the new bills, saying privately it’s not so bad to have Congress threatening Iran with sanctions; it might make the direct talks that the U.S. is offering Tehran along with its allies and Russia that much more productive. But the pressure on the White House to abandon its outreach to Tehran is only likely to grow as months pass, raising the possibility of a tactical split between Obama and members of his own party on his most high-risk foreign policy initiative. See also Pelosi playing defense on torture Cantor, Obama let sparks fly Dorgan emerges as Obama's Dem foe “I don’t think there’s anything inconsistent about moving on both fronts — maximum sanctions and maximum negotiations,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. Sherman and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), are co-sponsoring their own measure targeting Iran’s gasoline imports, which the oil-rich nation takes in because it cannot refine all the gasoline it needs. Such a step could dramatically heighten pressure on Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear program — and escalate tensions with Washington. In effect, it would represent an attempt by the U.S. to cripple the already-strained Iranian economy to force Iran to buckle. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for producing civilian power, but it has refused for years to suspend production of low-enriched uranium, despite three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions as well as unilateral U.S. and European measures against its financial system. So far, Iran has sent mixed signals about its willingness to make a far-reaching deal, one that would freeze its nuclear program in return for better ties with the U.S. and international assistance with a civilian nuclear program. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated to ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview broadcast Sunday that Iran is preparing a response to an offer of direct talks from the U.S. and other major international powers on the nuclear issue. Asked if Iran would accept talks without preconditions, as Obama suggested during the presidential campaign, the Iranian leader said: “No, no. We should just have a clear-cut framework for talks. The agenda should be clear.” Congressional critics argue that Iran is using delaying tactics to give itself more time to pursue its nuclear ambitions — and that merely threatening a cutoff of Iranian gas imports would be scary enough to Tehran that it would make a diplomatic agreement more likely in coming months. For some members of Congress, this approach has the added benefit of being strongly supported by pro-Israel groups, including the American-Israeli Political Affairs Committee. “AIPAC strongly supports congressional measures to create the leverage we need for continuing diplomatic engagement to have a chance to work,” said Josh Block, a spokesman for the organization. Another scenario is also possible: Threatening Iran with broad sanctions could backfire and cause the regime to cut off negotiations, making a deal on restricting its nuclear program less likely unless the sanctions succeed in seriously damaging the Iranian economy. Supporters of the tougher sanctions point out that, while Obama called for engagement with Iran during the campaign, he also several times endorsed the idea of targeting its gas imports. “If we can prevent them from importing the gasoline that they need,” Obama said during the final presidential debate of the campaign, “that starts changing their cost-benefit analysis. That starts putting the squeeze on them.” Republicans are even signaling that they may seek to make a partisan issue out of the sanctions debate if Obama fails to move forward soon with steps against companies selling gas to Iran. “This is becoming a key focus in looking at whether a sanctions policy is serious or not,” said Kirk. “We could pass a number of other sanctions that would have little or no impact.” Kirk added that he believed administration officials were debating whether it made sense to delay sanctions until after the June elections in Iran to see if a more moderate president is elected. But he argued that, no matter who is elected, Iran was unlikely to make concessions on its nuclear program without the pressure of sanctions. Senior administration officials are not ruling out going after Iran’s gasoline imports. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week that “sanctions are a tool for us to leverage pressure on the Iranian regime,” she said. “And so we are talking with our partners about additional sanctions as part of an incentives-disincentives approach to Iran. It’s a difficult balancing act.” In other words, the administration doesn’t think the time is right to enact the sort of far-reaching steps against companies that sell gasoline to Iran. Defense Secretary Robert Gates argued last month that the best way to get results from Tehran would be with a combination of engagement and pressure. “Diplomacy perhaps if there is enough economic pressure placed on Iran; diplomacy can provide them an open door through which they can walk if they choose to change their policies,” Gates said on “Fox News Sunday.” “And so I think the two go hand in hand, but I think what gets them to the table is economic sanctions.” The question of timing is a key one. The pressure in Congress for quick action on sanctions arises in part because many lawmakers argue that time is growing short to prevent Iran from reaching a point where it will be impossible to halt it from developing a nuclear weapons capability. Israel recently warned that Iran has crossed the technological thresholds necessary for production of a weapon. But Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair told Congress recently that intelligence agencies do not believe Iran has decided to pursue the production of the weapons-grade uranium necessary for a weapon or production of a warhead that could be carried on ballistic missiles. “Our current estimate is that the minimum time at which Iran could technically produce the amount of highly enriched uranium for a single weapon is 2010 to 2015,” he said.

Pakistan Paramilitary Force Routed

as Taliban militants extend control towards Islamabad• Troops ambushed after Islamists overrun district • Clinton softens criticism amid rising panic Declan Walsh in Islamabad The Guardian, Friday 24 April 2009 International alarm at the Talibanisation of parts of northern Pakistan near Islamabad was mounting last night after militants ambushed a convoy of soldiers deployed to prevent extremists taking over a district only 60 miles from the capital. Snipers opened fire on police escorting four platoons of Frontier Corps paramilitary troops into Buner district, a day after militants overran government buildings and looted western aid offices. One policeman was killed and one injured, an army spokesman said. Locals said the ambush had forced the Frontier Corps to retreat. "Now Buner is ruled by the Taliban," one resident told the Guardian by phone. "They go anywhere they want." The confrontation comes just a week after the government introduced sharia law in neighbouring Swat, in an effort to appease the Taliban. But the deal has only emboldened a spread into other districts, in the name of spreading Islamic law. Declan Walsh on Taliban moving into Pakistan Link to this audio Two weeks ago the Taliban occupied a Sufi shrine in Buner, accusing locals of using it for "un-Islamic" practices. On Wednesday they swept through the main town, Daggar. Gun-toting militants looted aid agency offices, stole western-funded vehicles and forced police to retreat into their stations. After talks with district officials, Taliban commanders promised to keep their fighters off the streets yesterday. But they continued with FM radio broadcasts emphasising Islamic teachings and warning men not to shave their beards. "We are here preaching for sharia. We don't want to fight," a commander named Khalil told the AP. The fall of Buner does not pose an immediate threat to Islamabad. The capital lies across a mountain range and the river Indus. But the speed and aggression of the latest advance has stoked a sense of panic among Pakistan's western allies, and, increasingly, at home. On Wednesday the US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, accused President Asif Ali Zardari's government of "basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists". After an outcry from Pakistani officials, she modified her tone yesterday, conceding there was an "increasing awareness" of the threat within government circles. Sam Zarifi of Amnesty International said the government had left the 650,000 residents of Buner, particularly women and children, "at the mercy" of the Taliban. The army spokesman, General Athar Abbas, said that western fears were "overblown" and called for patience in dealing with the militants. Taliban violence was swinging divided public opinion against the militants, he said. "We are giving them enough rope to hang themselves." Certainly a new sense of urgency is gripping Pakistan's political class, where it has been fashionable to call the fight against the Taliban "America's war". The opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, urged the government to contain the militants within Swat. A more surprising statement came from Maulana Fazlur Rahman, the leader of the pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, who warned the national assembly on Wednesday: "If Taliban continue to move at this pace they will soon be knocking at the doors of Islamabad." But there is little sense yet of a concerted effort to push back the militants, who have exposed the fragility of the federation and resurrected fears that the country is heading towards break-up. The Buner assault is likely to strain the controversial Swat peace accord. In exchange for peace, the provincial government, headed by the secular Awami National party, agreed in February to introduce sharia law in Swat and seven adjoining districts known as Malakand Division - an area of about 10,000 square miles that accounts for one third of the North West Frontier province. But since the deal, the Taliban have established control over much more than the judicial system. In Mingora, the valley's commercial hub, police have been reduced to directing traffic and secular politicians have fled, many under death threats. At the nearby Taliban headquarters in Imam Dehri, a Taliban spokesman, Muslim Khan, told the Guardian that their goal was the establishment of an Islamic caliphate - first in Pakistan, then across the Muslim world. "Democracy is a system for European countries. It is not for Muslims," he said. "This is not just about justice. It should be in education, health, economics. Everything should be under sharia." If the Swat deal collapses the army is likely to reactivate up to 15,000 security forces currently posted to the valley. Tensions are starting to show. Earlier this week the Taliban kidnapped four soldiers. Gen Abbas said negotiations were under way for their release.

U.N. Report Lays Out Options for an Oil-Rich Iraqi Region

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS BAGHDAD — A long-awaited United Nations report that was presented Wednesday to senior Iraqi officials proposes several options for Kirkuk Province, including making it an autonomous region as a way to defuse simmering tensions between Kurds and Arabs over its oil wealth. The United States military has long been concerned that the dispute over control of Kirkuk and its resources could plunge Iraq into a new round of violence, drawing neighboring Turkey and Iran into the conflict as well. The United Nations did not release the complete 500-page document, providing instead only general details about the report. Among them were four proposed options for Kirkuk, each of which would require political accommodation among the groups competing for power: Kurds, Turkmens and Sunni and Shiite Arabs. Each of the proposals envisions keeping the province as a single entity, and each calls for Kirkuk residents to make the final decision as part of a referendum. The report, which has been delayed since last year, was presented to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other officials. Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Iraqi Kurdistan region, and other Kurds have said that Kirkuk, which is believed to have a Kurdish majority, should be incorporated into Kurdistan, which has operated as an autonomous region since 1991. A member of the Iraqi Parliament who read the report said that one of the four proposed options was the creation of an independent or autonomous region run by Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens. The budget of the region would be financed with a percentage of Kirkuk’s oil revenues, according to the United Nations plan. A second option, according to the member of Parliament, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the report publicly, was for Kirkuk to become a special region, to be jointly administered by the regional and central governments. Under this proposal, a referendum would be held within five years to determine whether residents wanted Kirkuk to become part of the Kurdistan region or to be incorporated into the central state. Kirkuk was excluded from Iraq’s provincial elections in January to avoid inflaming tensions. In other developments on Wednesday, a suicide bomber killed five people and wounded 13 others when he attacked a crowd of worshipers leaving a mosque in Salahuddin Province, north of Baghdad. Abu Yassir, who witnessed the attack, said he had seen a boy about 12 years old running toward the mosque at the end of evening prayers. “People did not recognize him, and they got suspicious so they called out, ‘Suicider!’ to try to warn the mosque’s security guards,” he said. But the boy was able to slip inside and detonated his explosives.

New Iraq envoy confirmed by Senate

By MATTHEW LEE – WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Tuesday confirmed President Barack Obama's choice to be the next U.S. ambassador to Iraq despite fierce opposition from conservatives who complained about the nominee's diplomatic record. Senators voted 73-23 to confirm career diplomat Christopher Hill as Washington's new envoy to Baghdad over the strenuous objections of Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan. Brownback had stalled the approval process for three weeks. Brownback accused Hill, the Bush administration's chief negotiator with North Korea, of ignoring North Korean human rights abuses and agreeing to a flawed disarmament pact with the regime. A small group of Brownback's fellow Republicans joined him in voting against Hill on those grounds, because of his lack of experience in the Middle East and over concern that he might have overstepped his authority in negotiating with the North Koreans. But a majority of senators decided that Hill's confirmation to the critical post should not be delayed any longer. Many argued that Hill, a 32-year veteran of the foreign service, is qualified to run the U.S. Embassy in Iraq, America's largest overseas diplomatic mission. "We need an ambassador in Iraq, we need this ambassador in Iraq," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Ambassador Hill is a proven, expert negotiator, a problem-solver and he is one of the best diplomats we have." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Hill's confirmation was long overdue and that he would help bring the U.S. closer to achieving a political solution to Iraq's troubles. Hill, he added, "has successfully tackled some of the most complex diplomatic challenges in the world, and both America and Iraq will benefit from his experience and expertise." Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, bucked the opposition of some in his party to vote in favor of Hill. "It is important to get our next ambassador in place as quickly as possible," Lugar said. Lugar and others said Hill could not be held responsible for North Korean violations of the nuclear agreement and said he had ably negotiated with the Stalinist country, displaying skills that will be needed in Iraq. The Senate had voted 73-17 on Monday to end Brownback's filibuster on Hill's confirmation but agreed to allow up to 30 additional hours of debate on the matter, which could have run until late Tuesday night. Brownback spoke several times on Tuesday against Hill but did not object to a motion to end the debate and vote in the late afternoon. Brownback said Hill had ignored "a human rights disaster in North Korea" as well as made numerous, ill-advised concessions to the North Korean government in the nuclear talks that ended in "horrific failure." "We should not put the individual who negotiated this bad deal into our most important diplomatic post," he said, adding that North Korea had recently launched a missile, walked away from the six-nation disarmament talks, kicked out U.S. and U.N. nuclear experts and jailed two American journalists. Brownback has introduced legislation that would add North Korea back to the State Department's list of "state sponsors of terrorism." The North was removed from the list last October as part of the negotiations that Hill was leading in his previous job as assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs. Arizona's Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl also spoke against Hill's confirmation, alleging he may have overstepped his instructions in the North Korea nuclear talks and that he would require on-the-job training because he has no prior Mideast experience and does not speak Arabic. "Our next ambassador must hit the ground running," McCain said. Hill had previously served as ambassador to South Korea, Poland and Macedonia and was the special U.S. envoy to Kosovo. The last three U.S. ambassadors to Iraq, all named by President George W. Bush, supported Hill's nomination.

Hackers stole data on Pentagon's newest fighter jet

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Thousands of confidential files on the U.S. military's most technologically advanced fighter aircraft have been compromised by unknown computer hackers over the past two years, according to senior defense officials. The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter's self-diagnostic system was compromised by hackers, officials say.The Internet intruders were able to gain access to data related to the design and electronics systems of the Joint Strike Fighter through computers of Pentagon contractors in charge of designing and building the aircraft, according to the officials, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue. In addition to files relating to the aircraft, hackers gained entry into the Air Force's air traffic control systems, according to the officials. Once they got in, the Internet hackers were able to see such information as the locations of U.S. military aircraft in flight. The Joint Striker Fighter plane is the military's new F-35 Lightning II. It designed to become the aircraft used by all of the branches of service. Most of the files broken into focused on the design and performance statistics of the fighter, as well as its electronic systems, officials said. The information could be used to make the plane easier to fight or defend against. Additionally, the system used by the aircraft to conduct self-diagnostics during flight was compromised by the computer intrusions, according to the officials. However, the officials insisted that none of the information accessed was highly sensitive data. The plane uses stealth and other highly sensitive electronic equipment, but it does not appear that information on those systems was compromised, because it is stored on computers that are not connected to the Internet, according to the defense officials. The Joint Strike Fighter's main contractor is Lockheed Martin Corp., and Northrop Grumman Corp. and BAE Systems PLC are major subcontractors in the plane's production. Lockheed Martin's chief financial officer denied that there was any breach of classified information, which was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. "The U.S. government doesn't talk a whole lot about this, and neither do we. But in response to the [Wall Street Journal] report, we think it's incorrect," said Bruce Tanner of Lockheed Martin. "There's never been any effective attack. We have measures in place, and there's never been a successful attack." In a statement released later, the company reiterated its position that no classified information had been accessed. "To our knowledge, there has never been any classified information breach. Like the government, we have attacks on our systems continually and have stringent measures in place to detect and stop attacks," the statement said. Representatives of BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman would not comment on the story and referred all questions to Lockheed Martin. Different variations of the Joint Strike Fighter will be produced for the different branches of service it will be used in. Many international partners are helping build the plane, and it will be sold to U.S.-allied countries. The involvement of multiple nations raises concern about the level of computer security measures the partner countries have, officials said. Companies contracting with the Department of Defense now have to prove that they are using the proper computer security before a contract can be awarded, Pentagon officials said. That measure was put into place within the past year because of the increase in cyber intrusions, they said. Asked whether sensitive technology for the Joint Strike Fighter had been jeopardized, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, "I am not aware of any specific concerns." Whitman would not confirm the cyber-security breach on the Joint Strike Fighter program but said the number of attempted attacks on the U.S. military's network has been on the rise. "We have seen the number of intrusion attempts more than double recently," he said. He would not reveal a timeline. He said the computer systems of the Department of Defense are scanned thousands of times a day by entities looking for ways inside U.S. military computer networks. Officials could not say who was behind the computer hacking, which has occurred numerous times since 2007. The intruders were able to cover their tracks, making it look like the virtual break-ins were coming from various parts of the world, according to officials. The Wall Street Journal reported that the attacks appeared to originate in China, citing "former U.S. officials." Last month, a Pentagon annual report to Congress about China's military power said China has been making continued progress in developing cyber-warfare techniques. The report noted that U.S. government computers were the target of "intrusions that appear to have originated" in China, although they were not confirmed to be from the Chinese military. CNN requested a comment about the accusation from the Chinese Embassy in Washington. An embassy spokesman denied the allegations to the Wall Street Journal. The Air Force, the main program manager of the Joint Strike Fighter program, has a number of ongoing investigations into the multiple hackings, officials said. The officials said that a number of safeguards have since been put into place to protect that system.

Iraqi children trained by al-Qaeda to be suicide bombers

James Hider in Baghdad Iraqi security forces have arrested four children who were allegedly part of a group of youngsters being groomed by al-Qaeda to become suicide bombers, an Iraqi army general said. The children, who were detained in a village near the northern city of Kirkuk, were part of a cell known as the “Birds of Paradise” and were being specially trained to avoid detection as they carried out attacks, security officials said. “Special forces units have arrested an organisation of children consisting of four individuals under the age of 14 who call themselves the 'Birds of Paradise',” said General Abdelamir al-Zaidi, the commander of the Iraqi army division in Kirkuk. “The group relies on children and is connected to al-Qaeda. It works to recruit children and young people to carry out suicide attacks and to aid the terrorist groups in detonating roadside bombs.” Al-Qaeda groups have previously used Iraqi children to carry out attacks on US and Iraqi security forces, even using them in one instance as a cover to sneak a car bomb past a Baghdad checkpoint before detonating the device with the youngsters still inside. Militants have also been accused of using mentally disabled women as suicide bombers. Other insurgent groups have used children to fire rocket-propelled grenades and set roadside bombs, knowing that they were less likely to be shot at by soldiers. The newly discovered children's cell appeared to derive its name from the Islamic belief that when children die they become birds of paradise. Kirkuk, an oil-rich city claimed by the Kurds as part of their semi-autonomous homeland to the north, lies between the two remaining areas where al-Qaeda is still a prominent force — Baqouba to the south and Mosul to the northwest. Tensions between rival Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen are high in the city, and there are fears that the ethnic fault line could split into a new conflict. Iraqi security forces arrested several other people in the sweep, the general said. Another officer said that the use of children showed that al-Qaeda was becoming more desperate as the security forces grew in strength and ability. “This is a new method and it is the method of someone who is losing the war,” he said. “Their infrastructure is being destroyed and their leaders are being arrested and killed. They are sending a message that, 'we are still here, but we have to rely on every method to carry out our terrorist operations'.” Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, has warned repeatedly in recent weeks of the danger of renewed violence. “Today we face a new war of subversion, sedition and suspicion,” he told a gathering of police officers at the Ministry of Interior this weekend, warning that factions within Iraq were still trying to undermine the fragile status quo after years of bloodshed. The country has experienced a sudden resurgence in attacks recently, mainly targeting police and army units, and irregular militias working alongside the security forces. In Fallujah yesterday the young daughter and niece of a police officer were killed by a bomb left outside the family house. A suicide bomber wearing an Iraqi army uniform blew himself up near a contingent of United States troops visiting the mayor of Baqouba, wounding eight Americans and killing three Iraqis.

Secure Enough to Sin, Baghdad Revisits Old Ways

New York Times By ROD NORDLAND BAGHDAD — Vice is making a comeback in this city once famous for 1,001 varieties of it. Gone, for the most part, are nighttime curfews, religious extremists and prowling kidnappers. So, inevitably, some people are turning to illicit pleasures, or at least slightly dubious ones. Nightclubs have reopened, and in many of them, prostitutes troll for clients. Liquor stores, once shut down by fundamentalist militiamen, have proliferated; on one block of busy Saddoun Street, there are more than 10 of them. Abu Nawas Park, previously deserted for fear of suicide bombers seeking vulnerable crowds, has now become a place for assignations between young people so inclined. It is not that there are hiding places in the park, where trees are pretty sparse; the couples just pretend they cannot be seen, and passers-by go along with the pretense. It is a long way from Sodom and Gomorrah, but perhaps part way back to the old Baghdad. The Baathists who ruled here from the 1960s until the American invasion in 2003 were secular, and more than a little sinful. Baghdad under Saddam Hussein was a pretty lively place, with street cafes open until 2 or 3 a.m., and prostitutes plying their trade even in the bowling alley of Al Rashid Hotel. “Everything is going back to its natural way,” said Ahmed Assadee, a screenwriter who works on a soap opera. Men gather in cafes to smoke a hookah and gamble on dice and domino games. On weekends, the Mustansiriya Coffee Shop’s back room is crammed with low bleachers set up around a clandestine cockfighting ring. On one recent day, the 100 or so spectators were raucous while watching the bloody spectacle, but they placed their bets discreetly. Gambling, after all, is illegal. Walid Brahim, 25, a bomb disposal expert with the Iraqi Army, and his brother Farat, 20, an electrician, recently sat side by side at a table in the Nights of Abu Musa bar, on an alley off Saddoun Street, working their way through a bucket of ice and a bottle of Mr. Chavez Whiskey, an Iraqi-made hooch. “This is great,” Walid Brahim said. “We used to buy alcohol and just drink secretly in our house.” The bar is men-only, as pretty much all respectable taverns are, but the brothers look forward to an even brighter future. “If this security continues,” Farat Brahim said, “within a year all the waiters will be girls.” The local police, weary of years of dodging assassins and cleaning up after car bombings, are blasé about a little vice. “Today we are dealing with more normal things. All the world is facing such problems,” said Col. Abdel Jaber Qassim Sadir, assistant police chief in Karada, a central Baghdad neighborhood. “Prostitution, this kind of behavior cannot be stopped,” Colonel Sadir said. “It’s very hard to find it in public; it goes on in secret, isolated places.” Actually, not so secret. There are a half-dozen night spots in Karada now where the entry fee is $50. With $150 a week considered a good wage, customers would not pay that much merely for the privilege of drinking. At the Ahalan Wasahalan Club on Al Nidhal Street one recent night, the owner, Tiba Jamal, was holding court, as she usually does, on the dais at the front of a room with a mostly empty dance floor and lots of tables. Ms. Jamal calls herself the Sheikha, or a female sheik, an honorific title she has apparently adopted. She dresses in a head-to-toe, skin-tight black chador, and she is adorned with several pounds of solid gold bracelets, pendants, necklaces, earrings and rings, her response to the financial crisis. The female workers in the nightclub wore rather less clothing, but nothing that would be considered risqué on a street in Europe — in August. At one point in the evening they outnumbered the men, as they sat in a big group until being summoned to one of the men’s tables. “It’s nice to see people having fun again,” Ms. Jamal said. One regular customer said, “You can have any of those girls to spend the night with you later, only $100.” First, though, patrons are expected to spend a few hours buying $20 beers or even more costly whiskey. A young woman who said she was 28 but looked 18 sat smoking, and downing soft drinks while her “date” drank Scotch. A university student, she would give her name only as Baida, but she was frank about her nighttime profession. Had something happened to force her into this? “No,” she said. “I go out with men so I can get money.” To support her family? She seemed stunned by the question. “No, for myself.” One police detective said he would not dream of enforcing the law against prostitutes. “They’re the best sources we have,” said the detective, whose name is being withheld for his safety. “They know everything about JAM and Al Qaeda members,” he said, using the acronym for Jaish al-Mahdi or Mahdi Army, a Shiite militia. The detective added that the only problem his men had was that neighbors got the wrong idea when detectives visited the houses where prostitutes were known to live. They really do just want to talk, he said. “If I had my way, I’d destroy all the mosques and spread the whores around a little more,” the detective said. “At least they’re not sectarian.” Others are uncomfortable with the prostitutes’ presence. “It is terrible to see prostitution increased like this,” said Hanaa Edwar, secretary general of the Iraqi human rights group Al-Amal. “These are women from displaced families, poor people, people who have to sell themselves to get money for their families and children.” She was incensed after she raised the subject before the Iraqi Parliament. “They were shocked and didn’t agree to open discussion on this issue,” she said. The shock, she said, was that she dared to mention the problem. Al Amal commissioned a report last year that surveyed prostitutes working on the streets in Baghdad. One was a 15-year-old girl who had been thrown out of school for dressing inappropriately, then took to prostitution, the report said. Another was an 18-year-old forced to become the second wife of an older man; she ran away and had no other way to support herself. One girl was 12. Certainly, vice often has an ugly side. During a recent undercover operation in Karada aimed at a human trafficking ring, a pimp offered a plainclothes officer an opportunity to buy a young woman to take to Syria, according to a detective, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the sting. Drug abuse, at least, is one problem that has not shown up much, or has stayed well underground, the police say. “The only problems we see are some illegal pills occasionally,” Colonel Sadir said. Not surprisingly, the Baghdadis’ drug of choice is Valium, the colonel said. Most people have had enough excitement these past six years just staying home.

Iraq elects Parliament speaker after 4-month impasse

The selection of the mild-mannered Iyad Samarrai of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party is seen as a setback for Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. By Liz Sly April 20, 2009 Reporting from Baghdad — Iraq's parliament ended four months of legislative paralysis Sunday by electing a new speaker who supporters hope will bring both muscle and discipline to the notoriously disorderly body. Iyad Samarrai, a leading figure in the Iraqi Islamic Party, was chosen to replace Mahmoud Mashadani, who resigned as speaker in December amid universal complaints about his erratic and abrasive style. Samarrai, a mild-mannered Sunni Arab engineer who spent nearly a decade in exile in Britain, is likely to bring a more sober approach to running the legislature. But his appointment could also lead to power struggles between parliament and the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. Under an unwritten agreement between the factions, the speaker's post is filled by a Sunni. For the last four months Samarrai has been unable to get the required majority in the 275-seat parliament because of concerns by some, including Maliki, that the Iraqi Islamic Party would use the position to challenge the prime minister's power. Amid widespread speculation that the Sunni party was preparing a no-confidence vote to remove Maliki, in collaboration with its allies among the Kurds and the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the prime minister had blocked Samarrai's election for months. Legislators said the impasse was broken after Maliki received assurances that the Iraqi Islamic Party would not seek to challenge his rule. Samarrai won with 153 votes of the 232 ballots cast. Addressing journalists after the vote, Samarrai, 63, pledged to strengthen parliament's oversight of government activities. But he also said the legislature "should in no way be subjected to political motives, or used to make gains by any political bloc." Salim Abdullah Jabouri, a spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, which includes the Iraqi Islamic Party, said that with nationwide elections due at the end of the year, there was not enough time to organize a no-confidence vote. "Parliament will check the government, not topple the government, because lately the parliament had become a tool in the hands of the government," he said. The appointment of Samarrai was nonetheless a setback for Maliki, whose political fortunes soared after he scored big in provincial elections this year, said Izzat Shahbandar, a legislator with the secular Iraqi National List group. "This is a strong challenge to the prime minister because he didn't want this party to take the office," he said. "It shows that the prime minister derives his power from the people, not from parliament." The deadlock had delayed the passage of many key pieces of legislation, including the 2009 budget and the much-anticipated oil law, which has been dragging through parliament for years. Ali Allaq, a legislator with Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party, said he hoped that parliament would turn its attention to the business of passing laws "in a balanced way." But, he warned, challenges to the prime minister's powers could backfire. "Any attempt to destabilize his position will destabilize the entire political process," Allaq said. "All the political factions know that Maliki's position is unassailable." In a reminder that Baghdad remains unstable, two mortar rounds hit a U.S. military base in east Baghdad late Sunday, police said. There was no word of casualties. Earlier, seven people, including two goldsmiths, were killed in an armed robbery in west Baghdad.

Iraq to build 2.8-bln-euro port

Thu Apr 16, 2:02 pm ET BAGHDAD (AFP) – Transport Minister Amer Abduljabbar Ismail said on Thursday that Iraq has signed an agreement with an Italian consortium to construct a 2.8-billion-euro (3.7-billion-dollar) port on the Gulf. "The Iraqi cabinet has approved an Italian study to establish the Great Faw Port" near the southern city of Basra, Ismail told reporters in Baghdad. "The proposed project, which will cost 2.8 billion euros, has been awarded to Italian companies which will implement it with the participation of our ministry's projects department." The site of the project is a small harbour currently being used by fishing boats. Ismail said the project would take three years to complete and that work would begin soon, without setting a precise date. Iraq has four ports, the largest being Umm Qasr. Iraqi security forces launched a major operation in Basra in the spring of 2008 to drive out Shiite militias who had overrun the port in the years following the 2003 US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

Iraq begins E-Trading in ISX for the first time

Translated by IRAQdirectory.com - [4/15/2009] It was scheduled that investors to enter the Iraqi bourse next Sunday after preparations continued for nearly 20 months to adopt electronic software and training of managers, employees and intermediaries in the market. The Chief Executive Officer of the Iraqi Stock Exchange, Taha Ahmed Abdul Salam stated on Tuesday that the completion period of this project is considered as a record, that many of the neighboring countries could not implement such project before four years. He explained that the five-stock companies in the market whose shares will begin trading electronically for the first time are (Ashur) bank, (Mansour) bank, (commercial)bank, (Al-Mansour Hotel) and (Ashtar Hotel) in order not to confuse the shareholders, brokers and investors at the start of electronic trading. Taha said that the market is keen to achieve success in the operation of the new system without causing any imbalance in the trading; trading will be accompanied by a manual to electronic trading, until the inclusion of all companies.

Iraq Tries to Prove Autonomy, and Makes Inroads

By ALISSA J. RUBIN BAGHDAD — With the Americans leaving and security improved, the Iraqi government has been on a nonstop campaign to convince the world that it is a sovereign state, a client neither of the United States nor of Iran. The country’s emerging foreign policy was outlined in a speech that Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki gave two weeks ago to the Arab League conference in Doha, Qatar, underscoring Iraq’s Arab and Muslim identity, signaling that it is not following in the secular footsteps of the United States. “Iraq’s Arab and Islamic identity and its unity and sovereignty are red lines that cannot be crossed and are not subject to compromise,” Mr. Maliki said in his address to the 22-member body. But with 130,000 American soldiers still on Iraqi soil and American advisers embedded in almost every Iraqi security institution, his message remains a tough sell — although easier than it was a even a year ago, before it became clear that the Americans would withdraw. “How do you represent a country under foreign occupation?” asked Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq’s foreign minister. “It was an extreme challenge, an uphill challenge.” In most of the Middle East, being too close to the Americans earns leaders the scorn of Arabs who view the United States as a heavy-handed ally of Israel, a colonialist empire builder and anti-Muslim. In Europe, where many countries opposed the American invasion, the continuing presence of American soldiers coupled with Iraq’s unstable security situation meant that until recently many countries remained skeptical of Iraq’s independence. It was not until last fall, when the United States announced a sure withdrawal and pledged no permanent bases in Iraq, that countries and international organizations began committing in any numbers to opening embassies and making official visits, Mr. Zebari said. Forty countries now have ambassadors or chargés d’affaires in Baghdad, along with 12 international agencies, including the United Nations and the Red Cross. In February, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France made the first visit of a French leader to the country since the 2003 invasion, and Frank-Walter Steinmeier became the first German foreign minister to visit Baghdad in 22 years. Both countries had opposed the American invasion, but now seem ready to forge strong ties with Baghdad. In an effort to prove its autonomy, Iraq has invited leaders from Syria and Iran to open embassies, although those countries have an antagonistic relationship with the United States, and Iraq has also reached out to the United States’ global competitors, China and Russia. “They are trying to prove they are independent of the United States and they are trying to draw a clear foreign policy, and we can see other countries are beginning to take Iraq seriously,” said Mustapha Alani, director of defense studies at the Gulf Research Center, an independent group in the United Arab Emirates. Harder for Iraq to demonstrate to the world is that it is free of Iranian influence. There are “some doubts in the minds and hearts of some of the Arab countries,” Mr. Zebari said. The country that harbors the greatest uncertainty is Saudi Arabia, one of Iraq’s most powerful neighbors. The Saudis have yet to open an embassy in Baghdad despite repeated invitations and cajoling. Although the Saudis cite security as the reason for hesitating, the larger reason is that they have yet to trust Iraq’s Shiite-led government, which they fear will favor Iran or even become an Iranian satellite. The Saudis are Sunnis, the Iranians are Shiites, and long before modern borders were drawn, the Arabs and Persians were rivals, along with the Ottomans, for regional hegemony and sought to control the territory that now makes up Iraq. Prince Turki al-Faisal, former director of Saudi intelligence and former ambassador to the United States, said at a conference in Amman, Jordan, on Saturday that Saudi Arabia had told the United States previously that when it brought a Shiite-dominated government to power after the 2003 invasion, it “handed Iraq to Iran on a golden plate,” according to the Saudi daily newspaper Al Watan. Iran’s influence is indisputable. With a $4 billion balance of trade, it is Iraq’s second-largest trading partner, after Turkey. It helps to finance several of Iraq’s Shiite political parties and sends millions of religious tourists to Iraq’s shrines every year. Mr. Zebari, well aware of Iran’s effort to wield its influence in Iraq, said he has been warning the Saudis lately that if they do not help fill the vacuum as the Americans pull back, then the Iranians will. “We are saying to them, they should be here: ‘Why do you complain about expanding influence?’ ” Mr. Zebari said. “They are here and you are not.” Iran was the first country to recognize Iraq after the American invasion, and it has shrewdly reached out to politicians from all the major sects and ethnicities. With ties to the most powerful politicians, it has been able to maneuver behind the scenes, influencing Iraq’s internal politics and sometimes derailing government policy. “We’ve managed to conduct our relationship with them with a struggle; politically, officially,” Mr. Zebari said. “There are visits; too many visits on both sides,” he said. “Every week there is a delegation either here by the Iranians or by Iraqi delegations to Iran. Iran has a lot of soft power and they are using it very smartly.” Pulled between Iran and the Arab world, Iraq appears likely to become a “buffer state,” said Joost Hiltermann, the senior Iraq analyst at the International Crisis Group, a research organization based in Washington and Brussels. The country’s safety net, whether Iraqis like it or not, is likely to remain the United States. “They will need to distance themselves from the United States publicly,” Mr. Hiltermann said. “But at the same time they will need to keep very close connections with them. They need them for security. They will need to juggle all the time.”

Mossad tip led to capture of Hezbollah cell in Sinai

By Yossi Melman, Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff Tags: Haaretz TV, israel news Lines separating warring camps in the region are becoming increasingly clearer as news emerged Monday that foreign intelligence services - including Israel's Mossad - provided Egyptian authorities with intelligence that contributed to the uncovering of a Hezbollah-run terrorist ring and led to the arrest of dozens of suspects. Meanwhile, Egyptian sources upped the tone of the charges against Hezbollah Monday by claiming that the aim of the underground activity was not limited to plans for terrorist attacks against tourist areas frequented by foreigners, but also against targets in the Suez canal. Foreign intelligence services, including the Mossad and the CIA, contributed information to Egypt that led to the uncovering of the Hezbollah terror cell in that country, Philippe Vasset, editor of Intelligence Online told Haaretz. Advertisement In its latest edition which comes out tomorrow, the online biweekly reports that the Egyptian security forces operated on the basis of intelligence "provided to them by several foreign intelligence services." According to the report, the head of the ring operating in Egypt, Lebanese citizen Sami Shihab, had been in touch for some time with a special branch of Hezbollah. The report also states that following the assassination of Hezbollah's terrorist mastermind Imad Mughniyeh over a year ago in Damascus, the special branch has been led jointly by three senior operatives: Nawaf al-Mussawi, Wafic Safa and Sheikh Ali Dugmush. The three operate in coordination with General Faisal Bagherzadeh, head of Iran's Revolutionary Guard mission to Lebanon. Western sources told Haaretz that in recent years cooperation between the intelligence services of a number of western countries has intensified with regard to Iran. Israel is a leading player in this cooperation. The issue of Iran is divided into two: Tehran's nuclear program and its role in international terrorism. Iran's intelligence and security service, and Al-Quds, an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard whose mission is to assist Shi'ite militias and organizations throughout the world, have deployed "sleeper cells" of agents, who are activated according to need. In some cases the cells were activated directly by Iranian agents, while in other cases Hezbollah was used, especially through a special branch originally set up by Mughniyeh. The CIA, Mossad, Britain's MI6, the German BND and other intelligence services - like those of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan who have suffered attacks by terrorist cells operated by Iran - have stepped up collaboration, information sharing and joint assessments. Egypt's chief of intelligence, General Omar Suleiman, is a frequent visitor to Israel and the doors of his counterparts in Israel are always open, as are those of the Prime Minister's bureau. Security sources in Israel have issued warnings on a number of occasions that Hezbollah will try to avenge the killing of Mughniyeh, which it blames on Mossad agents, thereby fulfilling a promise made publicly by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. In response to these concerns, Israeli diplomatic missions were placed on high alert on a number of occasions, and the London Times reported that several weeks ago an attempt against an Israeli target in Baku, Azerbaijan, was foiled. Meanwhile, Egyptian security sources said yesterday that the Hezbollah agents arrested in Egypt had planned a series of terrorist attacks against tourist sites in Sinai where Israeli and western tourists vacation. However, the Egyptian sources also noted that the Suez Canal was a target of the ring - possibly one of the larger ships passing through the strategic waterway. Incapacitating a large ship in the canal would have had a serious impact on the country's economy, as the canal is a major source of revenues for the local economy, worth several billion dollars a year. An attack on the Suez Canal and tourist sites in the country would have undermined the Egyptian economy sufficiently to destabilize the standing of the regime in the Arab world. A senior Egyptian source told Haaretz yesterday that "Egypt will take active measures against anyone who threatens its national security. We will not allow anyone to do this: Hezbollah, Iran or others. They sought to strike at the national security of Egypt, but luckily we stopped them and uncovered their plot." The same source also said that "it is not unlikely that Hezbollah sought to strike at the Egyptian regime. They wanted to undermine our position in the region, and harm our economy and our ties with countries in the area." Senior Israeli security sources said yesterday that Hezbollah appears to have been aiming to strike at the regime of Hosni Mubarak. They note that the tourist sites where Israelis visit were a secondary target for the group. The same sources assessed that Mubarak is now fully aware of the severity of the threat posed to Egypt's security. "Mubarak understands that Iran has turned Egypt and Sinai into a forward base of operations. It is no wonder he is concerned," a senior source said. The uncovering of the ring will result in greater understanding in Egypt of Israel's considerations, however no one should expect an immediate improvement in Egyptian efforts to counter arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip, the same source said.

Egypt: Hezbollah targeted Israeli tourists in Sinai

Hezbollah agents operating in Egypt were plotting to attack Israeli tourists at resorts in the Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian and Israeli officials said Sunday. Egypt announced recently that a cell of 49 men with links to Hezbollah were planning attacks aimed at destabilizing the country. Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, rejected the accusations but confirmed over the weekend that it had dispatched a member to Egypt - a rare acknowledgment that the Lebanese militant group was operating in another Arab country. In his first comments on the accusations, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told Lebanon's prime minister in a phone call on Sunday that Egypt "will not allow anyone to violate its borders or destabilize the country." Advertisement The war of words between Egypt and Hezbollah escalated further on Sunday as official state media in Cairo blasted Nasrallah as a "monkey sheikh." On Sunday, Egyptian Cabinet minister Mufed Shehab said authorities seized explosive belts and other bomb-making materials from the agents and accused them of planning to buy a boat to "bring weapons and ammunition from Yemen, Sudan and Somalia and smuggle them into the country." The alleged agents also were "observing and locating the tourists groups who repeatedly come to south Sinai resorts and residences paving the way to target them in hostile activities," Shehab told Egyptian parliament members in a reference to Israeli tourists who frequently travel to the Sinai for beach resort vacations. Israel warned its citizens last week not to visit the Sinai desert because of new intelligence reports of militant plots to attack and kidnap Israelis there. An Israeli official told The Associated Press that the operatives specifically planned to target Israeli tourists in the Sinai. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the press. Israeli Cabinet Minister Yisrael Katz also told Army Radio on Sunday that Nasrallah had ordered his men to "hit Israeli targets." "He (Nasrallah) acknowledges that his men were involved in smuggling Iranian weapons into Gaza in order to hit Israel," Katz said. In addition, members of Egypt's parliament are demanding that Nasrallah be placed on trial after he acknowledged on Friday that the Lebanese-based group is running an espionage cell inside the country in an effort to aid Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Egypt's public prosecutor charged nine people with spying for Hezbollah, security sources said on Sunday. The suspects are charged with compliance, working for a foreign state, and aiming to harm Egypt's security. Egyptian security forces also confiscated weapons and bombs, which it said the suspects planned to use. Last week Egypt's public prosecutor, Abdel-Magid Mohammed, accused Nasrallah of dispatching agents to Egypt during Israel's January offensive in the Gaza Strip. It said that the Hezbollah cell had rented apartments overlooking the Suez Canal in order to spy on traffic through the canal. It also accused them of spying on resorts in Sinai, and renting rooms in fashionable districts where Hezbollah agents held training workshops on spreading Shiite ideology in Egypt. In a televised statement on Friday evening Nasrallah vehemently denied allegations, saying that only one of those held was a Hezbollah member, and that up to 10 others were involved in an effort to supply military equipment to the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Earlier Sunday an Egyptian state-controlled newspaper escalated the row with Hezbollah by personally blasting Nasrallah. "We do not allow you, Oh Monkey Sheikh, to mock our judiciary, for you are a bandit and veteran criminal who killed your countrymen, but we will not allow you to threaten the security and safety of Egypt...and if you threaten its sovereignty, you will burn!" al-Gomhouria newspaper wrote. The editorial, written by editor Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, covered the front page and carried the headline "A criminal who knows no repentance" over a picture of Nasrallah. "I say to you what every Egyptian knows, that you are an Iranian party," Ibrahim wrote. "Are there instructions from Iran to drag Egypt into a conflict?" Egypt and Iran have not had full diplomatic relations since shortly after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, when Iran cut ties after former President Anwar Sadat hosted the deposed Iranian shah in Cairo. Ties were further strained during the conflict in Gaza in January, when Tehran criticized Egypt for not doing enough to help Palestinians and for closing its border with the strip, which Egypt shut to most traffic after the Islamist group Hamas took control of the area. Egypt and other Sunni states, like Saudi Arabia, are worried by what they see as the rising influence of Iran in the region. Both Cairo and Riyadh have said Iran's power in the region is growing. Egyptian state daily, al-Ahram, citing an unnamed official, described the detained men as part of a "terrorist cell" and called Nasrallah an accomplice to a crime. Mustapha al-Sayyid, political science professor at Cairo University, said Cairo wanted to use the detentions to undermine anyone sympathizing with Hezbollah or Iran's position. Some ordinary Egyptians and opposition groups, have echoed Tehran and Hezbollah's call for Cairo to help Palestinians more. "The Egyptian government wants to denounce Hezbollah and embarrass Arab governments who have close relations with Iran," Sayyid said, adding that the al-Gomhouria article reflected official thinking. "The Egyptian government is worried that there is a competition with Iran and that Iran is using its allies in the region like Hezbollah and Hamas in order to cause problems and difficulties for the Egyptian government," he said.

Iraq Invites Brazil's Petrobras To Build Mid-Size Refinery

SAO PAULO (Dow Jones Wall Street Journal)--Brazilian government-controlled energy company Petrobras (PBR) has received an invitation from Iraq's government to build a mid-sized oil refinery in that country, Petrobras said Thursday in a statement. "Iraq has invited Petrobras to participate in joint projects in that nation. All proposals will be evaluated by the company. Petrobras is always open to evaluating new business proposals," Petrobras said in its statement. Iraqi Planning Minister Ali Ghalib Baban invited Petrobras to participate in the building of an oil refinery with a daily capacity of at least 200,000 barrels, a Petrobras official who asked not to be named told Dow Jones Newswires. On Wednesday, Baban met with Petrobras Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli and the company's head of international affairs, Jorge Zelada. Petrobras will create a committee to study the issue, the company said. Among the alternatives provided by the Iraqi government is the option for Petrobras to build the refinery alone or through a joint venture. Petrobras operated in Iraq in the 1970s, but left the nation when war broke out between Iraq and Iran in the 1980s.

Recession Anxiety Seeps Into Everyday Lives

By PAM BELLUCK New York Times Anne Hubbard has not lost her job, house or savings, and she and her husband have always been conservative with money. But a few months ago, Ms. Hubbard, a graphic designer in Cambridge, Mass., began having panic attacks over the economy, struggling to breathe and seeing vivid visions of “losing everything,” she said. She “could not stop reading every single economic report,” was so “sick to my stomach I lost 12 pounds” and “was unable to function,” said Ms. Hubbard, 52, who began, for the first time, taking psychiatric medication and getting therapy. In Miami, Victoria Villalba, 44, routinely slept eight hours a night until stories of desperate clients flooding the employment service she runs began jolting her awake at 2 a.m. No longer sleepy, she first began to respond to e-mail, but that caused sleeping colleagues’ BlackBerrys to wake them, so now she studies business books and meticulously organizes her closets. “I’m embarrassed,” she said. “Normal people aren’t doing this.” With economic damage expected to last months or years, such reactions are becoming common, experts say. Anxiety, depression and stress are troubling people everywhere, many not suffering significant economic losses, but worrying they will or simply reacting to pervasive uncertainty. Some are seeking counseling or medication for the first time. Others are resuming or increasing treatment, or redirecting therapy for other issues onto economic anxiety. “The economy and fear of what’s going to happen is having a huge effect,” said Sarah Bullard Steck, a Washington therapist who also directs the employee assistance program at the Commerce Department. “People are coming in more” with “severe anxiety” or “more marital strife, some domestic violence, some substance abuse.” Alan A. Axelson, a Pittsburgh psychiatrist, said he was seeing first-time patients and infrequent ones experiencing “relapse and needing more therapy and medication” even though, he said, “Pittsburgh’s actually doing pretty good economically.” It is early to measure the recession’s consequences, but surveys suggest a growing impact. In an American Psychological Association poll in September, 80 percent reported the economy’s causing significant stress, up from 66 percent last April. The National Sleep Foundation said 27 percent of people surveyed last fall had sleeplessness because of economic anxiety. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline calls jumped to 50,158 in January 2009 from 39,465 a month in January 2008, and economic stress more frequently “played a central role,” said Richard McKeon, the group’s federal project officer. The Treasury, Labor and other departments started a Web site for people experiencing stress. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is training counselors who usually assist people devastated by tornadoes and floods to now help people with what they “are going through with the economy,” said Dr. McKeon, an agency adviser. And while a New York Times/CBS News poll found fewer people saying the economy had worsened, most did not think it was improving. People overwhelmingly thought the recession would last another year or more, and 70 percent were concerned that a household member would be jobless. Anxiety is not just troubling those with much to lose, like older people and homeowners. Elizabeth Dewey-Vogt, 25, a paralegal whose bills and shrinking overtime made her move in with her parents in Alexandria, Va., said she began “constantly worrying about finances,” and having panic attacks, “rapid heart beat, choking sensation, chills or sweating, numbness and tingling in my fingers,” and feeling “almost removed from my body.” Ms. Dewey-Vogt said that she now took anxiety medication, and that a therapist advised her to pull over or “concentrate on the license plate ahead” if she began panicking while driving and to grip on the handles of her chair when panicking at work. Even children show signs. Daniel A. Cohen, a Manhattan psychiatrist, said he saw “more families in crisis,” with children experiencing “increased signs of anxiety and depression” and more nightmares and acting out. Joshua Batista, 16, of Queens, who was treated for depression and post-traumatic stress after a taxi accident, said he had “gotten more depressed and stressed” since “the recession and that stuff started.” In school, he said he experienced “a nervous breakdown where I was pulling out my hair, hitting my head.” Joshua, a singer-guitarist, said the economy limited his music purchases and earnings. Therapy and medication have increased. Asked to leave school, he will be taught at home. “He noticed it was happening at the same time as the economy,” said his mother, Elissa Levine. Even for insured people, the economy both causes anxiety and makes help less affordable. Susan Bandrowsky, 30, a photographer in Wilmington, Del., with bipolar disorder, said she felt strain because her husband, having lost a long-term consulting contract, worked short-term jobs requiring travel, unsettling their 4-year-old autistic son. Fearing the loss of insurance, Ms. Bandrowsky would like more therapy, but to save co-payments she spaces appointments, which, she said, “ups the anxiety.” Many seeking help are fearful, not actually incurring economic difficulty, said Joseph Ojile, founder of Clayton Sleep Institute in St. Louis, where patients increased 25 percent since October. Steven Craig, a psychologist in Birmingham, Mich., said “people of less means” were handling some of this better because “their identity is not as caught up in how much money they have.” Many ask primary physicians for medication, not therapy referrals, because they fear that employers will consider them unstable or resent counseling during work hours, said Allen J. Dietrich, a family doctor in Lebanon, N.H. He said he broached the subject of emotional stress gently because many had come in with physical complaints like arthritis or headaches. Still, a survey of employee assistance programs found a jump in stress-related requests. “The stress level has increased a lot,” said Suzanne Greenlee, human resources benefits director at Sodexo Inc., a food services company. Even for Ms. Greenlee, who said she “realized how tense I was” after trying Sodexo’s stress-management coach. She e-mailed the coach, “Today I’m feeling totally overwhelmed.” During therapy recently, Marcy Krust, 39, told Dr. Craig, “People say it’s going to be better, but I don’t feel that way yet.” A divorced mother and on-and-off patient, Ms. Krust said she had not needed therapy for months until, with layoffs affecting her technology firm’s clients and fellow hockey moms, she felt “out of control” and “started to forget things.” Now twice-monthly sessions focus on the economy. Dr. Craig advises writing down worries, and making decisions about controllable things, like vacations. Scott Schuck, 43, a Minneapolis business owner who had consulted Dr. Craig only for career coaching, began twice-weekly phone sessions after stress started waking him and creating “a lot of anxiety” in his relationship with his girlfriend. Ms. Villalba, wary of medication, started meditation classes, even meditating in her car outside her office. Ms. Hubbard, knowing “financially we were fine,” said she believed “I shouldn’t feel like this, I’m lucky.” She cried visiting her primary doctor, who recommended therapy and medication, hard to accept, she said, because her Depression-era parents believed “you pull yourself up.” “I felt like a neurotic middle-class, middle-aged woman too weak to deal with life on my own,” she said. “I should be stronger, it was simply money, and why do I have to take pills to not worry about money.” But treatment and further organizing family finances helped. She said the weakening economy made her “fear that even if you do everything right, something bad can happen to you.”

Strategic Ramifications around the Globe

From Today's Weekly Standard Blog: Working for a nuclear free world... Great idea if you can get the other guys to play ball, but -- let's face it -- the other guys never play ball. Which is precisely why the idea has been unsuccessfully advocated during the tenures of the past five US presidents. In today's world, America's nuclear arsenal is as important as ever. Consider that Russia is undergoing a nuclear renaissance, upgrading its bombers, building new ballistic missile submarines, and bending the language of the START treaty in order to buff up their ICBM force. China, currently limited to a one-dimensional MRBM/ICBM strategic force, is working to construct a nuclear triad similar to that of the United States and Russia. North Korea is trying to build a bomb and a delivery system, as is Iran, and as were the Syrians until the Israelis brought an abrupt halt to construction. India and Pakistan remain at the ready to paint each other green, while Japan flirts with the idea of developing a deterrent of their own. Cuba and Venezuela are courting the Russians to base long-range strategic bombers on their soil (because that worked so well the first time the Cubans did it), while every Jihadist from Brooklyn to the Hindu Kush scours the globe for anything and everything that even sounds atomic. The United States, on the other hand, has steadily shrunk and neglected its nuclear stockpile for the past 17 years. We haven't even tested a bomb since the mid-90s. Our primary nuclear bomber, the B-52, was built in the 1950s and our Minuteman III ICBMS were built in the 1960s. We're currently the only nuclear power not actively upgrading, or planning to upgrade, its strategic force, and we stopped growing nuclear weapon experts circa 1992. The USAF has allowed its nuclear focus to slip to the point where they accidentally shipped four nosecone fuses for the Minuteman III missile to Taiwan and lost custody of six bombs (later found halfway across the country) last year. America's nuclear enterprise, though still capable, is sailing into troubled waters. President Reagan was mocked for preaching the abolition of nuclear arms while reinvigorating America's strategic triad. A few years later, no one was laughing. Reagan's genius was its simplicity. The stronger we are, the more eager the other guy is to talk. President Obama has already announced his intention to gut our conventional arsenal, and our enemies are smelling blood. Should he treat our nuclear forces the same way, things could get downright dangerous. Posted by John Noonan at 11:51 AM Defense | E-mail the author | E-mail article US Military Prepares For Hezbollah-like War Monday's Washington Post noted that the war between Israel and Hezbollah during the summer of 2006 has sparked concern in the U.S. military: U.S. military experts were stunned by the destruction that Hezbollah forces, using sophisticated antitank guided missiles, were able to wreak on Israeli armor columns. Unlike the guerrilla forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, who employed mostly hit-and-run tactics, the Hezbollah fighters held their ground against Israeli forces in battles that stretched as long as 12 hours. They were able to eavesdrop on Israeli communications and even struck an Israeli ship with a cruise missile. While the article focused on the internal dispute inside the military over the need to gear the force to fight counterinsurgencies or traditional combat, there is another reason the military is interested in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War that isn't mentioned: the rise of the al-Qaeda-Taliban-jihadi alliance in Pakistan. While U.S. and NATO forces have yet to fight battles in Afghanistan against the Taliban on the scale that Israel has, the Pakistani Army has engaged in large scale operations against similar forces inside Pakistan. The Taliban have defeated the Pakistani military in open engagements on numerous occasions in North and South Waziristan forcing the military to sign an agreement not to operate there. During these battles, the Taliban reportedly used anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles, sophisticated communications equipment, and fought at the company and battalion level. The Taliban were able to overrun forts and take an entire regular Army unit captive. Like their allies in the south, the well-armed and trained Taliban in Swat and Bajaur withstood offensives for months on end, and fought the Pakistani military to a standstill. There's a truce in Bajaur at the moment, while the Swat Taliban have forced the government to cede much of the Northwest Frontier Province to the extremists. And in cities such as Lahore and Mumbai, India, the Taliban have staged small-scale military assaults that have shocked both nations. The Taliban, emboldened from their successes in Pakistan and at the urging of Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar, are setting their sights on Afghanistan. The Pakistani Taliban has fought in Afghanistan, but the best forces have been held in reserve to secure the local fronts. That may change this year, and the U.S. military is preparing for just that.

PM Al-Maliki receives British Trade Delegation

Translated by IRAQdirectory.com - [4/7/2009] The Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has reviewed with the British Trade Minister Peter Mandelson, the contribution of the major British companies in the reconstruction of Iraq, especially in the sectors of oil, housing and services. This came during a meeting between al-Maliki and the delegation headed by the British Trade Minister Peter Mandelson, who arrived to Baghdad on a visit with delegation which is considered the first of its kind since 1989 and it included representatives from 23 British investment firms. A source in the Council of Ministers said that during the meeting they had discussed the ongoing preparations for the investment conference in Iraq which will be held in London late this month. For its part, the British embassy clarified that the delegation will visit Baghdad and Basra, and it is expected to last for one day only.

North Korea shows progress in mastering missile technology

Kyodo News A Japanese coast guard vessel cruises through an area where North Korea's three-stage rocket is believed to have plunged into the sea. Though the North's launch apparently failed in its crucial third stage, it is an improvement on its last effort, U.S. officials note, saying it would bolster its reputation among states pursuing the technology. By Julian E. Barnes and Greg Miller April 6, 2009 Reporting from Washington -- Although a crucial third stage of a North Korean rocket apparently failed in a launch Sunday, U.S. military and intelligence officials and weapons experts said the test raises new concerns about advancements in Pyongyang's mastery of missile technology. North Korea said the purpose of the launch was to place a civilian satellite into orbit. U.S. and Western officials said it was not clear whether there was a satellite on the rocket, but that if there was, it never made it to orbit. The launch was the latest North Korean rocket test to fall short of objectives, but still shows disturbing progress in its pursuit of the ability to deliver a nuclear warhead, according to U.S. officials and weapons experts. They said the mission could boost the regime's ambitions and its standing among countries with similar goals. Unlike North Korea's 2006 test in which a Taepodong 2 rocket failed 40 seconds after launch, the rocket this time successfully went through the first two stages. A senior Defense official said the military was now "clearly more worried" about the North's missile technology. The senior official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the Pentagon did not authorize anyone to speak publicly about the launch. U.S. officials said the rocket launched Sunday was a multistage Taepodong 2 and there was broad agreement that the North Korean explanation about launching a satellite was merely cover for a long-range ballistic missile test. "The U.S. knows enough to conclude this was not a peaceful satellite launch," said Michael J. Green, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Weapons experts said that while the launch cleared Japan, it is unclear whether the rocket ever reached its third stage, or failed after its second engine fired, sending its remaining booster as well as its payload into the Pacific Ocean. "There was no successful satellite launch," said a U.S. official familiar with intelligence reports on the rocket and discussing it on condition of anonymity. "If indeed there was a satellite involved, that didn't come to pass." Even so, North Korea demonstrated an ability to launch a multistage rocket that is likely to bolster its reputation among other states seeking that capability, several top experts said. "North Korea will still be looked upon as a supplier of reasonably good missiles, and the pariah state leader in technology on missiles," said David Albright, a nuclear weapons expert and president of the Institute for Science and International Security. The demonstration may be of particular interest to Pakistan, which has a long history of relying on North Korea for much of its missile technology. But Pyongyang's ongoing work with its Taepodong 2, Albright noted, could draw the attention of other countries such as Iran, Syria and perhaps Myanmar. Retired Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III said the launch was meant as an advertisement for North Korea's missiles, and could lead to proliferation of long range missile technology. "To control a large rocket through various stages is a significant milestone," said Obering, former head of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency. U.S. military and intelligence officials tracked the North Korean launch primarily with naval vessels equipped with Aegis radar. Ships, aircraft and satellites also were used. Officers at U.S. Forces Korea, Pacific Command in Hawaii, the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado and at the Pentagon all tracked the missile as it launched and passed over Japan and remained at their station around the clock as analysts examined the initial data from the launch. Analysts at the CIA as well as the National Counterproliferation Center remained on duty during the declared launch window, officials said. However, U.S. officials did not use one of their most powerful radar systems, the sea-based X-band radar, which would have been capable of monitoring a broader area in greater detail. Officials did not say why the X-band radar was not used. But the X-band system is a key component of the U.S. missile-defense system and its use could have been seen by other countries as provocative. Moments after the launch, which took place about 7:30 p.m. PST Saturday, the Defense Department was able to conclude that the missile posed no direct threat to the U.S. or Japan, and the Pentagon opted not to take any military action. Military officers and analysts are closely comparing the North Korean launch and an Iranian satellite launch in February. The U.S. and other Western powers believe the two countries are using such missions to perfect their intercontinental ballistic missiles. Although there is no public evidence that North Korea and Iran are sharing information on nuclear warheads, similarities in the launches suggest Iran and North Korea may be collaborating on rocket technology. "They are definitely collaborating with the Iranians," said Obering, the former missile defense chief. "I would not be surprised if they didn't have Iranians there." U.S. officials said they could not confirm reports that other international officials were in North Korea to view the launch. The North Korean government said that it successfully put the satellite into orbit and that the orbiter was now broadcasting patriotic music. But U.S. officials scoffed at the claim and said the third stage clearly failed, destroying whatever payload it was carrying. The longest reach of the missile appeared to span about 2,000 miles, eventually falling somewhere between Japan and Hawaii, said Riki Ellison, chairman of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance, offering an assessment consistent with reports from the region. Ellison said not all experts were certain the rocket included a full third stage. Like other experts, Ellison said he considered the North Korean test troubling "It is a successful test, they demonstrated they are able to do multistage" rockets, he said. "It is a huge technical leap for them."

American Iraq deaths hit all-time low

UK Times Online Thomas Harding, Defence CorrespondentThe number of American troops killed in Iraq last month dropped to single figures for the first time since the conflict began. While the total number of US deaths stands at 4,263, the rate at which soldiers have been killed has dropped. Nine soldiers died in the country during March, making it the lowest fatality rate since the 2003 invasion and marking a milestone in the success of the "surge" strategy. While the total number of US deaths stands at 4,263, the rate at which soldiers have been killed has dropped off dramatically since the bloody early days of the "surge" in spring, 2007, during which 330 died in three months.Of the nine that died last month, only four were killed as a result of enemy fire. The rest were killed in accidents or by other means. The worst month for American casualties came during the Fallujah operation in November, 2004, when 137 were killed, according to the website icasualties.org. By comparison, the worst month for the British was in April, 2007, when 12 soldiers were killed in Basra during the period leading up to the withdrawal from the city. At total of 179 British troops have died in Iraq.With the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, the death rate has increased considerably in the last two years, with last year being the worst for the British. There have been 673 US fatalities in Afghanistan and 179 British.

Baghdad gets set for 'Big Bang' with a difference

Women traders on the Baghdad bourse gear up for the switch from antiquated trade boards to computers Deborah Haynes and Wail al-Hafoth in Baghdad Dodging the curse of the financial crisis that brought the global economy to its knees, Iraq's soaring stock exchange is about to experience its Big Bang. Already up by about 30 per cent this year, as investors cash in on improved security and rock-bottom share prices, electronic trading is set to be introduced in a month, a move that investors hope will herald a new bonanza. At present, mustachioed men in smart suits lean over a wooden barrier that rings the trading floor, squinting at a wall of whiteboards on which brokers scribble the price of stocks while jabbering into mobile phones or shouting to clients. This quaint trade in the shares of potentially one of the biggest economies in the Middle East was due to be phased out a year ago but delays in installing equipment and collecting shareholder information from the 91 listed companies foiled that plan. Only now is the Baghdad bourse ready for its first wave of automation. Traders expect the new system to boost prices further. They are still recovering from their collapse after years of war. The cheapest stock is a ½ dinar - a fraction of a penny - and the most expensive 100 dinar (6p). Electronic trading will also help the market to expand. Five companies - three banks and two hotels - have already been suspended from manual transactions and should start to be traded electronically by mid-April. The other companies will move over during the course of the year. Ultimately, the whiteboards will come down and trading will shift to an adjacent room of computers in lines of booths where stockbrokers will work. One investor, Rashid al-Waili, 64, is eagerly awaiting the revolution. “It will quicken the process of selling and buying,” he said. Current transactions take up to two weeks, while shareholder certificates are submitted to the company, verified and handed to the stock exchange. Electronic trading will complete the deal in five minutes. Opened in June 2004 with funding and support from the US-led coalition, the bourse is Iraq's first independent stock market. During Saddam's time the old Baghdad stock exchange reported to the Ministry of Finance. Its current market capitalisation is about $2 billion (£1.4 billion), below its peak in 2005, but it has been clawing its way back in the past year. Taha Ahmed Abdul Salam, chief executive of the Iraq Stock Exchange (ISX), said that Iraqi share prices were wiped out during the worst days of the sectarian conflict that gripped the country between 2005 and 2007. Many investors sold stocks and fled overseas and trading was suspended for several months in 2006. A crackdown on the violence has helped to restore stability. The market is open again for business and interest is picking up. “In 2008 and this year, high liquidity returned and new liquidity came to buy shares, which makes demand for shares rise,” Mr Abdul Salam told The Times. Foreign money is among the new liquidity, with two international funds buying and selling stocks. Interest from overseas remains limited, because Iraq's feuding parliament has yet to pass a securities law, which would offer greater protection and assurances for all investors. Mr Abul Salam hopes that the only way is up, in terms of market size and value. “I believe in one or two years I will have more than 200 [listed] companies,” he said. Trading time could also increase from two-hour sessions, three days a week, to 24-hour trading.

A look inside Iraq's Interior Ministry

Associated Press Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani says he wants to secure his country without resorting to heavy-handed tactics. Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani talks about reducing death squad infiltration, bolstering intelligence and dealing with Iran. By Borzou Daragahi Reporting from Beirut -- Say the words "interior ministry" in almost any Middle Eastern country and you're certain to evoke fear and resentment. In the name of protecting the homeland, internal security forces in just about every Arab country limit civil liberties, intrude on private lives and abuse human rights. Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad Bolani bills himself as an independent-minded democrat and civil servant who wants to secure his country without resorting to heavy-handed tactics that might undermine what he describes as his nation's democratic progress. He took a break from a recent conference of Arab interior ministers in Beirut to sit down for an interview with The Times. In Iraq 2½ years ago, you said that death squad infiltration of your ministry was a problem that you were addressing but that you didn't want to disparage the work of most of your officers. How did you fix the problem? In 2006, the security situation was not good, the ministry was infiltrated. Today we have an institution functioning well and following rules. A lot of reforms have been implemented. We worked on creating an institution that monitors the country but remains under the law. We also cleansed the institution of bad elements, replacing 58 senior officers. Was it a matter of increasing intelligence capacity? A few months ago, we inaugurated a new intelligence center equipped with the best technological equipment. We rely a lot on intelligence information to fight against [the group] Al Qaeda [in Iraq] and other outlawed militias. We have more than 10,000 elements [operatives] in the intelligence agency of the ministry. These 10,000 elements, what have they accomplished so far? They submitted 43,000 reports on various issues. Through the information they provided, we were able to arrest more than 800 wanted elements. Are they on the ground and in the mosques infiltrating or are they just sitting in offices? The means they have at their disposal are numerous. They do rely on infiltration but also on other means. We have the "130" tip number which any Iraqi can use anywhere in the country. We have senior officers working all over the country. They have their own resources and informants who provide them with information. The agency is a nascent institution that is growing and needs more human resources and more funds. But we are close to Al Qaeda and its movements and activities. We have the capacity to stop them quickly. Is it part of your mandate to protect the country from infiltration by foreign states? Protecting the border is part of the mandate of the Interior Ministry. The situation of the last years has changed. We had 173 border control bases in 2006 around the border. Now there are 700. We have a budget of $700 million for monitoring the border, for radars, for [satellite] systems. Cooperation with other states has improved the situation along the borders. There are joint committees with all neighboring countries, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria and Turkey. Clearly the number of terrorists infiltrating the country has decreased, but has the intelligence infiltration of the Iraqi government by other governments as well? The interference has decreased. The infiltration by foreign intelligence is governed by higher political interests of other countries who see democracy as a threat. Our democratic system is the source of envy by countries around us. Would you say all neighboring countries are playing a better role? Relations between Iraq and neighboring countries are moving in a good direction that guarantees the interests of all parties. Before Iraq signed the status of forces agreement with the United States [governing the presence of American troops in Iraq],the prime minister of the country had to fly to Iran to get approval. Is that healthy? The Iraqi government dispatched envoys to neighboring countries to explain about the agreement and Iraq's need for it and to say that it will not be a threat or directed against any foreign country. You are not concerned that Iran has too much influence in Iraq? We are talking about a new political situation in the region and the world. There is a new administration in the U.S., new challenges, new ways to deal with issues that are endangering stability in the region. Iraqis know very well their interests and will not accept any foreign interference. Our message to others: We respect your sovereignty; you should respect the sovereignty of Iraq. Today, is the biggest threat to Iraq from inside or outside? Both. But Iraqis are committed to their role in stopping these threats. Iraqi people support a lot the democratic process. What about cleric Muqtada Sadr [an opponent of the U.S. presence]? Is he part of the democratic process? Democracy allows opposition to voice its opinion. Democracy is an ongoing process that cannot be stopped despite all obstacles. What is important is that opposition should always be carried without violence and threats. Any peaceful opposition is accepted. Our ministry gives people the right to protest and we protect people who want to voice different opinions than the ones we hold. A strong Interior Ministry committed to implementing laws is a guarantee for democracy in Iraq. You talk like a politician more than a cop. Are you running for prime minister? As a citizen I talk about democracy. As a minister I talk about security. Without security there is no democracy.