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April 27th,
2009 - Iraq: US Raid ‘Crime’ that Breaks Security Pact News article from the
Associated Press News article from Wall Street Journal News article from Agence France
Presse |
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Iraq: US Raid
‘Crime’ that Breaks Security Pact By Brian Murphy Associated Press April 27, 2009 Baghdad - Iraq's prime
minister denounced a deadly U.S. raid on Sunday as a "crime" that
violated the security pact with Washington and demanded American commanders hand
over those responsible to face possible trial in Iraqi courts. The U.S. military, however,
strongly denied that it overstepped its bounds and said it notified Iraqi
authorities in advance - in accordance with the rules that took effect this
year governing U.S. battlefield conduct. The pre-dawn raid in the
southern Shiite city of Kut ended with at least one woman dead after being
caught in gunfire and six suspects arrested for alleged links to Shiite
militia factions. But efforts were quickly
launched in an attempt to tone down the dispute. The six detainees were
released, said Major Gen. Read Shakir Jawdat, head of the provincial police
that includes Kut. At the same news conference, U.S. Col. Richard Francey
offered condolences to the family of the woman killed. The fallout marks the most
serious test of the security pact so far and could bring new strains during a
critical transition period. U.S. forces plan to move out
of most major Iraqi cities by the end of June in the first phase of a promised
withdrawal from the country by the end of 2011. A statement from Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki - in his role as commander general of Iraqi forces -
called the raid a "violation of the security pact." He asked the U.S. military
"to release the detainees and hand over those responsible for this crime
to the courts," according to an Iraqi security official who read the
statement to The Associated Press. Elsewhere in Iraq, gunmen
stormed two Christian homes in separate attacks in the ethnically diverse city
of Kirkuk, killing at least two Chaldean Christians and one Assyrian, said
police Brig. Burham Taib. The northern city is a fault
line between the majority Kurds and Arabs, but also includes ethnic Turks and
various Christian groups. A U.N. report given to Iraqi leaders last week
recommends giving Kirkuk a "special status" with oversight by both
the Kurd region and the central government in Baghdad. In Kut, the cascade of
protests and questions began just hours after the sweep into Kut, which the
U.S. military said targeted suspected backers of Shiite militias believed to
have links to Iran. Hundreds of demonstrators
gathered at the mosque in Kut, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southeast of
Baghdad, to decry the American action and demand an investigation. The provincial council then
called an emergency meeting and a three-day mourning period. The Iraqi
Defense Ministry also ordered the arrest of two high-ranking Iraqi officers
for their alleged roles in allowing U.S. forces to operate in Kut. "We condemn this
crime," said Mahmoud al-Etaibi, head of the council. Iraq's military spokesman,
Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, described it as the "first violation after
signing the security pact." The U.S. military said its
troops acted within the framework of the security pact, saying "the
operation was fully coordinated and approved by the Iraqi government." The accord, which took
effect Jan. 1, requires American commanders to coordinate raids and other
pre-planned strikes with the Iraqi government and military, or work in joint
U.S.-Iraq units. At least one person died in
the raid, which the U.S. military said targeted the financier of Shiite
militia factions believed to be backed by the Iranians. Iraqi officials
placed the death toll at two. The Defense Ministry
spokesman, Mohammed al-Askari, said an Iraqi brigade commander and a
battalion commander were arrested for "allowing American troops to
conduct a military operation in Kut province without informing the Iraqi
government or coordinating with it." Kut provincial police chief,
Brig. Gen. Raed Shakir Jawdat, said he was unaware a raid was conducted. The
U.S. military did not provide information on whether Iraqi security forces
took part. The military said a woman
was in the area during an exchange of gunfire with one of the suspects and
"stepped into the line of fire." It said those detained were
suspected of aiding so-called "special groups" - Shiite militia
factions that were once part of the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric
Moqtada al-Sadr - and another faction known as the Promise Day Brigades
created by al-Sadr. Washington says the special
groups are backed by Iran. Tehran denies the charges. Iraqi police officials say the
wife and brother of a local clan leader were killed. They also say the
soldiers arrested the clan leader, Ahmed Abdul Muneim al-Bdeir, his brother -
an Iraqi police captain - and five others related to the al-Bdeir. The officials spoke on
condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to release the
information. Associated Press Writer
Chelsea J. Carter and Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report. External link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq_100 U.S. Raid Tests Iraq
Security Pact By Charles Levinson Wall Street Journal April 27, 2009 Baghdad - Iraq's prime
minister demanded that American commanders turn soldiers responsible for a
predawn raid on Sunday that left two dead over to Iraqi courts for possible
trial, in a first test of the U.S.-Iraqi security pact concluded last year. Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki issued a statement calling the raid a "crime" and said it
violated the terms of the security agreement, which requires the U.S.
military to coordinate maneuvers with Iraqi counterparts. The U.S. military said it
had informed Iraqi authorities ahead of the raid. The military said the raid -
in the city of Kut, about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad - targeted members
of Shiite militias allegedly funded by Iran. It said U.S. troops shot and
killed one suspected weapons smuggler and detained six militants, and that a
woman was killed in the crossfire. Hundreds of Iraqi protestors
took to the streets in Kut in the raid's aftermath on Sunday, denouncing the
U.S. operation. Iraqi media reported that
Mr. Maliki had ordered the arrest of an Iraqi brigade commander and a
battalion commander for allowing American troops to conduct the operation
without proper coordination with the Iraqi government. The issue of immunity for
U.S. troops remaining in Iraq was one of the most sensitive issues during the
protracted negotiations over the pact last year. It is unclear on what basis
Mr. Maliki will claim jurisdiction over the U.S. soldiers who carried out the
raid. The U.S.-Iraqi agreement says that on-duty U.S. soldiers aren't subject
to Iraqi law; only U.S. soldiers who commit major and intentional crimes off
base and off duty are subject to Iraqi law. Disagreements are to be resolved
by a joint U.S.-Iraqi committee. The prime minister's
response to the raid comes a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton visited Baghdad and reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to Iraq amid
growing concerns that the U.S. withdrawal could be a reason for a recent
spike in violence. It also highlights the
delicate balancing act Mr. Maliki is walking between trying to appear as a
strong nationalist leader advocating for Iraqi sovereignty ahead of
parliamentary elections later this year, while also working to hold on to
security gains that the U.S. military has been instrumental in achieving. Mrs. Clinton landed in
Beirut Sunday for a meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, in a
sign of U.S. support for Washington's political allies ahead of parliamentary
polls that will pit Lebanon's Western-leaning political establishment against
Hezbollah. The Iranian-backed Shiite group consolidated its political power
after its gunmen seized swaths of Beirut last year. As part of a peace deal,
the group joined Western-backed politicians in a power-sharing government. Hezbollah is listed as a
terrorist organization by the U.S. External link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124079247318457863.html US military ‘saddened’ by
deadly Iraq raid From Agence France Presse April 27, 2009 Baghdad - The US military
said on Monday it was "deeply saddened" by a deadly raid it
launched in Iraq which Baghdad said violated a landmark security pact with
Washington. The military had earlier
hailed the raid as leading to the arrest of six suspected members of Shiite
militant groups it suspects of being backed by Iran and the killing of a
"network financier" responsible for weapons smuggling. But on Monday a US military
spokesman said that those involved in Sunday's incident were "deeply
saddened by the outcome of the operation" and expressed their
"deepest condolences for the terrible tragedy." A woman and a policeman were
killed during the pre-dawn operation in the southern town of Kut near the
border with Iran. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki said the raid was in breach of a security agreement signed with
Washington in November that requires that all US military operations be
"fully coordinated" with Iraqi authorities. He also demanded that those
responsible be "put on trial." It was the first time either
Washington or Baghdad had accused the other of violating the Status Of Forces
Agreement, which requires US troops to leave all cities by June 30 and
completely withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011. The pact allows Iraq to try
US soldiers under certain circumstances but not for alleged crimes committed
during combat missions. The US military had earlier
insisted that the raid was "fully coordinated and approved by the Iraqi
government." But Iraq on Sunday detained
two army commanders after the defence ministry said Baghdad had no knowledge
of the operation, and the six suspects arrested by US forces, including a
police captain and a tribal leader, were released. "This was a kind of
breach (of the US-Iraqi security pact) and all the measures we have taken are
designed to ensure that this sort of incident does not occur again,"
defence ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told AFP. Meanwhile an interior
ministry official who was part of a delegation sent to investigate the
incident said the Americans apologised for the killings and promised to
compensate the family involved. "The Americans assured
us that they informed the Baghdad operations centre, but they said 'Our
mistake was that we did not inform the police in Kut'," the official
said. In June 2008, US forces
arrested six men they accused of being part of an Iranian-trained militia in
Kut, a mostly Shiite town. The US military has long
accused Iran of supporting sectarian militias in Iraq, a charge denied by
Tehran. The raid came in the wake of
a renewed flare up of violence in Iraq, where at least 150 people were killed
in attacks last week, including 65 people who died in a twin suicide bombing
on Friday outside Baghdad's most holy Shiite shrine. Copyright © 2009 AFP. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isxJtWxelRhY14dFRP6t4aPOqPVQ Relatives to sue after US
soldiers kill two Iraqis in house raid By Aref Mohammed The Scotsman April 27, 2009 Relatives of two Iraqis
killed by American soldiers in a raid yesterday said they were taking legal
action. The US military says that
the raid in Kut, 95 miles south-east of Baghdad in the Wasit province, was carried
out with the approval of Iraqi forces, as required under a security pact that
came into force in January. However, Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki said
on Sunday that the raid violated the pact, which also sets a deadline for
full US withdrawal by the end of 2011. Under the agreement, US
soldiers can be tried in local courts for grave, premeditated crimes
committed off base and out of uniform. "We are a peaceful
family and I'm still in shock at how they suddenly raided our house,
vandalised everything and killed my brother and his wife," said Iraqi
police captain Muamar Abdul-Munin, who was detained in the US operation along
with six others and released after government protests. He added: "We have
started pressing charges against the US forces. We want the guilty to be
brought to justice." Since the security pact took
effect, US troops have killed at least 45 people, most civilians, according
to Monitor of Constitutional Freedom and Bill of Rights, an Iraqi
non-governmental organisation. But the Kut raid marked the first major outcry
from the government. A defence ministry spokesman
also denied the Iraqi military had approved the raid. "No-one knew and no-one
in the army or police agreed to this raid," he said. Ahmed al-Masoudi, a
parliamentary spokesman for supporters of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr, also condemned Sunday's raid. External link: http://news.scotsman.com/world/Relatives-to-sue-after-US.5210847.jp |