Iraq strikes back at US Merceneries- Blackwater

Iraq wants Blackwater out; may put men on trial

By STEVEN R. HURST and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

Iraq : US must stop ussing Blackwater

BAGHDAD — Iraqi authorities want the U.S. government to sever all contracts in Iraq with Blackwater USA within six months and pay $8 million in compensation to each of the families of 17 people killed when the firm's guards sprayed a traffic circle with heavy machine gun fire last month.

Iraqi Report

"The investigation committee appointed by [Mr Maliki] has finished its inquiry and has found that there was no evidence that the convoy of Blackwater came under fire directly or indirectly," a Government statement said, quoting the inquiry's findings. "Employees of the company violated the rules governing use of force by security companies. They have committed a deliberate crime and should be punished under the law."

The Iraqi Government would now take "judicial measures to punish the company", the statement said.

The demands — part of an Iraqi government report examined by The Associated Press — also called on U.S. authorities to hand over the Blackwater security agents involved in the Sept. 16 shootings to face possible trial in Iraqi courts.

The tone of the Iraqi report appears to signal further strains between the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the White House over the deaths in Nisoor Square — which have prompted a series of U.S. and Iraqi probes and raised questions over the use of private security contractors to guard U.S. diplomats and other officials.



Al-Maliki ordered the investigation by his defense minister and other top security and police officials on Sept. 22. The findings — which were translated from Arabic by AP — mark the most definitive Iraqi positions and contentions about the shootings last month.

The report also highlights the differences in death tolls and accounts that have complicated efforts to piece together the chain of events as one Blackwater-protected convoy raced back toward Baghdad's Green Zone after a nearby bombing, while a second back-up team in four gun trucks sped into the square as a back-up team.

The Iraqi investigation — first outlined Thursday by The Associated Press — charges the four Blackwater vehicles called to the square began shooting without provocation. Blackwater contends its employees came under fire first.

The government, at the conclusion of its investigation, said 17 Iraqis died. Initial reports put the toll at 11.

The report found that Blackwater guards also had killed 21 Iraqi civilians and wounded 27 in previous shootings since it took over security for US diplomats in Baghdad after the US invasion.

It said the compensation — totaling $136 million — was so high "because Blackwater uses employees who disrespect the rights of Iraqi citizens even though they are guests in this country."

The U.S. military pays compensation money to the families of civilians killed in battles or to cover property damage, but at far lower amounts.

The United States has not made conclusive findings about the shooting, though there are multiple investigations under way and Congress has opened inquiries into the role of private security contractors. Last week, the FBI took over a State Department investigation, raising the prospect that it could be referred to the Justice Department for prosecution.

The Iraqi government report said its courts were to proper venue in which to bring charges.

It said Blackwater's license to operate in Iraq expired on June 2, 2006, meaning it had no immunity from prosecution under Iraqi laws set down after the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

The government report also challenged the claim that a decree in June 2004 by then-Iraqi administrator L. Paul Bremer granted Blackwater immunity from legal action in incidents such as the one in Nisoor Square. The report said the Blackwater guards could be charged under a criminal code from 1969.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said the diplomatic mission would have no comment on the report. Iraq's Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul-Karim Khalaf, said the document was in American hands.



The report found that Blackwater guards also had killed 21 Iraqi civilians and wounded 27 in previous shootings since it took over security for U.S. diplomats in Baghdad after the U.S. invasion. The Iraqi government did not say whether it would try to prosecute in those cases.


The State Department has counted 56 shooting incidents involving Blackwater guards in Iraq this year. All were being reviewed as part of the comprehensive inquiry ordered by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The US has not made conclusive findings about the shooting, though there are multiple investigations under way and Congress has opened inquiries into the role of private security contractors.

Iran bars Iraq PM from its air space

Iran bars Iraq PM from its air space

By Ahmed Rasheed

Iran refused to allow a plane carrying Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on a trip to Asia to cross its air space overnight, a senior adviser to the Iraqi leader said on Sunday.

Sadiq al-Rikabi, who is accompanying Maliki on the trip to Japan and South Korea, said the prime minister's plane entered Iranian air space at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

"Suddenly the Iranian aviation authorities ordered the pilot to go back," Rikabi said.

"We were obliged to fly to Dubai where we stayed for more than three hours to file a new (flight) plan," he said by telephone from Bangkok, where the plane was just about to depart for Tokyo.

Rikabi said it was unclear why Iran had barred Maliki's plane from crossing its territory.

Asked about the reports, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini implied Maliki's plane may have faced an issue over permission to fly across Iran but said it was not an unusual problem.

"Permission for Maliki's flight is a normal issue. All flights need permission," he told a weekly news conference in Tehran, without giving further details.

Iraq's U.S.-backed government has often had to tread a delicate path in trying to maintain good relations with both Iran, its neighbor to the east, and the United States.

Maliki, a Shi'ite, visited Tehran last September to urge Iran not to interfere in Iraq. President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, made an official trip to Tehran in November.

Washington accuses Shi'ite Iran of stoking violence in Iraq and in January detained five men it says were linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and backing militants. Iran insists they are diplomats, wants them freed and has requested access.

Iraq's foreign minister said last week the Iraqi government was trying to secure the release of the five Iranians, who were detained by U.S. forces during a raid on an Iranian government office in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on January 11.

An Iranian diplomat freed two months after being kidnapped in Baghdad by gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms has said he was tortured by U.S. forces while in captivity, Iran's Fars News Agency reported on Saturday.

Iran has previously blamed the U.S. military for his abduction but U.S. officials had denied any role. On Saturday the U.S. military again denied playing any part in kidnapping the diplomat, or in his alleged torture. Iraq has said it did not know who had snatched the diplomat.

Maliki is seeking support for rebuilding his war-devastated country on the trip to Japan and South Korea.

(Additional reporting by Tehran bureau)

NY Times Editorial: Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?

Whose Oil Is It, Anyway?

By ANTONIA JUHASZ
Published: March 13, 2007

TODAY more than three-quarters of the world’s oil is owned and controlled by governments. It wasn’t always this way.

Until about 35 years ago, the world’s oil was largely in the hands of seven corporations based in the United States and Europe. Those seven have since merged into four: ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP. They are among the world’s largest and most powerful financial empires. But ever since they lost their exclusive control of the oil to the governments, the companies have been trying to get it back.

Iraq’s oil reserves — thought to be the second largest in the world — have always been high on the corporate wish list. In 1998, Kenneth Derr, then chief executive of Chevron, told a San Francisco audience, “Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas — reserves I’d love Chevron to have access to.”

A new oil law set to go before the Iraqi Parliament this month would, if passed, go a long way toward helping the oil companies achieve their goal. The Iraq hydrocarbon law would take the majority of Iraq’s oil out of the exclusive hands of the Iraqi government and open it to international oil companies for a generation or more.

In March 2001, the National Energy Policy Development Group (better known as Vice President Dick Cheney’s energy task force), which included executives of America’s largest energy companies, recommended that the United States government support initiatives by Middle Eastern countries “to open up areas of their energy sectors to foreign investment.” One invasion and a great deal of political engineering by the Bush administration later, this is exactly what the proposed Iraq oil law would achieve. It does so to the benefit of the companies, but to the great detriment of Iraq’s economy, democracy and sovereignty.

Since the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration has been aggressive in shepherding the oil law toward passage. It is one of the president’s benchmarks for the government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a fact that Mr. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Gen. William Casey, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and other administration officials are publicly emphasizing with increasing urgency.

The administration has highlighted the law’s revenue sharing plan, under which the central government would distribute oil revenues throughout the nation on a per capita basis. But the benefits of this excellent proposal are radically undercut by the law’s many other provisions — these allow much (if not most) of Iraq’s oil revenues to flow out of the country and into the pockets of international oil companies.

The law would transform Iraq’s oil industry from a nationalized model closed to American oil companies except for limited (although highly lucrative) marketing contracts, into a commercial industry, all-but-privatized, that is fully open to all international oil companies.

The Iraq National Oil Company would have exclusive control of just 17 of Iraq’s 80 known oil fields, leaving two-thirds of known — and all of its as yet undiscovered — fields open to foreign control.

The foreign companies would not have to invest their earnings in the Iraqi economy, partner with Iraqi companies, hire Iraqi workers or share new technologies. They could even ride out Iraq’s current “instability” by signing contracts now, while the Iraqi government is at its weakest, and then wait at least two years before even setting foot in the country. The vast majority of Iraq’s oil would then be left underground for at least two years rather than being used for the country’s economic development.

The international oil companies could also be offered some of the most corporate-friendly contracts in the world, including what are called production sharing agreements. These agreements are the oil industry’s preferred model, but are roundly rejected by all the top oil producing countries in the Middle East because they grant long-term contracts (20 to 35 years in the case of Iraq’s draft law) and greater control, ownership and profits to the companies than other models. In fact, they are used for only approximately 12 percent of the world’s oil.

Iraq’s neighbors Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia maintain nationalized oil systems and have outlawed foreign control over oil development. They all hire international oil companies as contractors to provide specific services as needed, for a limited duration, and without giving the foreign company any direct interest in the oil produced.

Iraqis may very well choose to use the expertise and experience of international oil companies. They are most likely to do so in a manner that best serves their own needs if they are freed from the tremendous external pressure being exercised by the Bush administration, the oil corporations — and the presence of 140,000 members of the American military.

Iraq’s five trade union federations, representing hundreds of thousands of workers, released a statement opposing the law and rejecting “the handing of control over oil to foreign companies, which would undermine the sovereignty of the state and the dignity of the Iraqi people.” They ask for more time, less pressure and a chance at the democracy they have been promised.

Origionally published: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/13/opinion/13juhasz.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Antonia Juhasz is the Ida Tarbell Fellow at Oil Change International (www.priceofoil.org), a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies (www.ips-dc.org), and a former Project Director at the International Forum on Globalization (www.ifg.org). She is also a Project Censored Award recipient and co-author of Alternatives to Economic Globalization: A Better World is Possible, 2 nd Ed. Her articles have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Cambridge University Review of International Relations Journal, and the Johannesburg Star. Her new book is The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time (Regan Books of Harper Collins Publishers, April 2006).

Maliki Stops Cooperating with the British

Prime Minister Maliki Suspends Cooperation With UK Forces as Fallout From Sunday's Basra Raid Continues.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki plans to suspend cooperation with British forces in southern Iraq until the completion of an investigation into the Sunday raid on Basra's police headquarters, according to statements made by Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Safa al-Din Mohammed al-Safi and reported on Alsumeria TV.

Alsumeria also reported that Maliki may file an official complaint with the UN Security Council if the investigation reveals any wrongdoing.

Maliki has called the operation by British and Iraqi forces an "illegal and irresponsible" act and an invasion of Iraq's sovereignty. According to the BBC, the conflict in Basra between the Iraqi government and British forces is part of a larger nationwide pattern. "This is not the first time, even in recent weeks, that British troops have had to carry out such "unlawful and irresponsible acts" - that is go into

The Other Side of the Story:
Raid on Iraq agency finds 30 prisoners

Some appear tortured, raising questions on Shiite leadership

08:28 AM CST on Friday, March 9, 2007

The New York Times

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi forces and British troops stormed the offices of an Iraqi government intelligence agency in the southern city of Basra on Sunday, and British officials said they discovered about 30 prisoners, some showing signs of torture.

The raid appeared to catch Iraq's central government by surprise and raised new questions about the rule of law in the Shiite-dominated south, where less than two weeks ago Britain announced plans for a significant reduction in its forces because of improved stability.

News of the Basra raid, with its resonant themes of torture and sectarian-driven conflict, overshadowed the next stage of the intensified security plan in Baghdad, where more than 1,100 U.S. and Iraqi soldiers moved into the Shiite enclave of Sadr City, a stronghold of Iraq's largest Shiite militia. The soldiers met no resistance in what the Americans called the biggest test of the security plan.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who derives major support from Shiite political groups, condemned the raid in Basra. He said nothing about the evidence of torture.

"The prime minister has ordered an immediate investigation into the incident of breaking into the security compound in Basra and stressed the need to punish those who have carried out this illegal and irresponsible act," said the full text of a statement issued late Sunday by his office.

It remained unclear why he sought to aggressively pursue the raiding force rather than the accusations of prisoner abuse. Efforts to reach officials in his office were unsuccessful.

The discovery of prisoners in the Basra offices, which the British described as the headquarters of Iraq's government intelligence agency, echoed other recent cases in which U.S. or British forces stumbled on a government-run detention center that held people showing signs of torture.

As recently as December, a combined force of British and Iraqi troops assaulted a police station in Basra and rescued 127 prisoners from fetid conditions. Some of the prisoners had been tortured.

The most significant case involved a secret Baghdad prison run by the Shiite-controlled Interior Ministry, known as Site 4, where more than 1,400 prisoners were discovered in cramped, squalid conditions, and some had been subjected to systematic abuse.

Mr. al-Maliki has been under considerable pressure, particularly from U.S. officials and Sunni Arab leaders, to rid the country's Shiite-run security and intelligence forces of militia influence and human rights abuses. U.S. officials have warned Iraqi leaders that they might curtail aid to the Interior Ministry, which runs the country's police forces, if officials who commit "gross violations of human rights" are not held accountable.

The Interior Ministry, dominated by Shiites, has long been accused by Sunnis of complicity in torture and killings.

The identities of the Basra detainees were unclear, and a spokesman for the British military command in Basra, Maj. David Gell, said he could not provide any further information. Reuters news agency said the detainees included a woman and two children.

The raid in Basra came as the British command is planning a reduction of up to 1,600 of its 7,200 troops, a decision governed by the British government's assessment that Iraqi forces are strong enough to manage the security of the region on their own.

In announcing the reduction Feb. 22, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that while the Basra area remained dangerous, British troops faced far less violence than Americans farther north and that "the next chapter in Basra's history can be written by Iraqis."

It was unclear whether the raid would lead to a re-evaluation of Mr. Blair's assessment. Maj. Gell would not comment on that question in a telephone interview early today. Maj. Gell said the intelligence agency office was raided after an early investigation led to the capture of five suspected bomb- makers and evidence that pointed to possible violations at the agency's offices. "Evidence of significant criminal activity, such as torture, was found," he said.

ALSO TODAY IN THE WAR

Elsewhere, the U.S. command said Sunday that one Marine and one sailor were killed Friday while conducting a combat mission in Anbar province. Another Marine was killed on Saturday, also while on a combat mission in Anbar.

U.S. soldiers in Baghdad raided a mosque on Sunday and captured three suspected insurgents hiding inside, according to the U.S. military.

In the western Baghdad neighborhood of al-Jameaa, authorities discovered the bodies of eight Shiite pilgrims who were apparently on their way to a holy city south of the capital to celebrate an Islamic holiday this weekend. The bodies were handcuffed and had bullet holes in their heads, according to an official at Yarmouk Hospital.

In Hillah, a bomb killed four other Shiite pilgrims – three women and a child – on their way to Karbala, one of the southern holy cities. The bomb was apparently targeting an American convoy but missed, according to an official at the Interior Ministry. Two others were wounded in the attack.

Nuri al-Maliki

• Born in the mid-1950s in Hindiya, south of the Shiite holy city of Karbala
• Joined Dawa Party, the main Shiite opposition to Saddam Hussein
• Fled Iraq and changed his first name in 1980 after being sentenced to death for Dawa membership
• Lived in Iran and Syria, where he directed activists inside Iraq
• Returned to Iraq after Saddam Hussein's regime fell, and was elected to parliament in January 2005
• Helped purge Hussein loyalists from the military and government after the war as member of De-Baathification Commission
• Negotiated with Sunnis and Kurds over Iraq's postwar constitution
• Has a son and three daughters

Source: CNN, Associated Press

Is Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki the new Saddam?

This great post by Spread the Word: Iraq-Nam, a daily blog on Iraq.

Iraq Gets A New Saddam, Part 3
SEVEN EASY STEPS TO BECOMMING IRAQ'S NEW STRONGMAN

1. Negotiate a deal with Washington. Give them what they want, and you get to stay in power:

Perspective: A Maliki-Sadr Breakup?

Has the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki decided to sever its alliance with Moqtada al-Sadr? It sure sounds like it if you listen to top Maliki adviser Sadiq al-Rikabi criticize Sadr: "You cannot be in the government and working against the government at the same time. You cannot be a part of the government while breaking the law. If you're going to be a part of the government, you should respect the institutions of the government."


2. Declare your new 'security plan', saying it targets 'outlaws'.

Maliki Announces New Security Plan

BAGHDAD, Jan. 6 -- Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced a new security plan Saturday to tame Baghdad's growing violence, saying the effort will be led by Iraqis and will combat militants regardless of their religious sect.

Maliki's speech provided few details about the tactical or strategic changes guiding the new plan but stressed that it was not intended to target one side of Iraq's sectarian war over the other.

"The Baghdad security plan will not offer a safe shelter for outlaws regardless of their ethnic and political affiliations, and we will punish anyone who hesitates to implement orders because of his ethnic and political background," Maliki said at a commemoration ceremony for the 86th anniversary of the founding of the Iraqi Army.


3. Every strongman needs a 2nd in command. So appoint your own:

Maliki chooses Qanbar as Baghdad commander over reported U.S. objection

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has filled the top military job in Baghdad with a virtually unknown Iraqi officer chosen over the objections of top US and Iraqi military commanders, according to officials from both governments.

Iraqi political figures said yesterday that Maliki also had failed to consult the leaders of other political factions before announcing the appointment of Lieutenant General Abud Qanbar.

The appointment is highly significant because it is Maliki's first public move after President Bush's announcement that he is sending more troops to Iraq.


3. Decree martial law (even if you have to call it 'emergency-style powers'):

Maliki decree gives Baghdad commander Qanbar sweeping 'emergency powers' over police, army, populace

Baghdad - The commander of a new security plan for the Iraqi capital Baghdad will have sweeping new emergency-style powers, according to a government decree read out by the general on Tuesday.

Lieutenant-General Abboud Gambar said that, under the authority of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, he would combine command of the police and the armed forces in the war torn capital and enjoy increased responsibility.

The decree authorises him to "impose necessary restrictions in all public places and centres and clubs and organisations and unions and businesses and institutions and offices to protect citizens and people who work".

"Searches will be done on public streets and precautionary measures will be applied on packages, mail, messages and communications and telecommunications equipment," he said, reading the decree on state television.

"Security forces will be authorised to block or search public or private property ... (and) will have the right to impose travel restrictions on individuals or vehicles," he added.


4. Move the opposition out of the way...

Report: Letter from Maliki advised Shiite militia to flee

A Kurdish news agency published a letter Wednesday purporting to be from Iraqi Premier Nuri al-Maliki in which he advised Shiite Muslim militia commanders to leave Iraq to avoid being detained or killed by US troops.Peyamner news agency, a Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) affiliate, published the letter from January 14 which was allegedly sent to the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution of Iraq and the office of the al-Sadr Shiite militia.

Source: Baghdad death squad leaders have fled to Iran with Maliki encouragement

DEATH SQUAD leaders have fled Baghdad to evade capture or killing by American and Iraqi forces before the start of the troop "surge" and security crackdown in the capital.

A former senior Iraqi minister said most of the leaders loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical anti-American cleric, had gone into hiding in Iran...

The former minister, who did not want to be named for security reasons, backed Sunni MPs’ claims that Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, had encouraged their flight.

Talabani: Sadr orders militia heads to leave Iraq 'to make the mission of the security forces easier'

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has ordered heads of his Mehdi Army militia to leave Iraq and asked the government to arrest "outlaws" under a U.S.-backed crackdown, Iraq's president said on Thursday.

President Jalal Talabani made the remarks after Iraq closed its borders with Iran and Syria and as U.S. and Iraqi troops tightened their grip on Baghdad, searching neighborhoods and setting up checkpoints that searched even official convoys.


5. Intimidate potential opposition...

Report: Son of Shi'ite leader al-Hakim arrested on return from Iran

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — U.S. troops arrested the son of Iraq's most powerful Shiite politician Friday as he returned to the country from Iran, Shiite officials said.

Amar al-Hakim, son of political leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, was taken into custody at a crossing point and was transferred to a U.S. facility in Kut, according to the elder al-Hakim's secretary, Jamal al-Sagheer.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim is leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the country's largest Shiite party with longtime ties to Iran. He met with President Bush at the White House in December, and his party is part of the Shiite alliance that includes Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

Uproar before passage of security plan; Sunni says no trust in PM; Maliki threatens leading Sunni with arrest as terrorist

BAGHDAD, Jan. 25 — Iraq’s Shiite prime minister and Sunni lawmakers hurled insults at one another during a raucous session of Parliament on Thursday, with the prime minister threatening a Sunni lawmaker with arrest and the Sunni speaker of Parliament threatening to quit...

In Parliament on Thursday, Mr. Maliki focused his anger on Sunni lawmakers, accusing one of being involved in sectarian kidnappings. The confrontation erupted after Mr. Maliki described the outlines of the new Baghdad security plan and pledged there would be no "safe haven" for militants.

The leader of a powerful Sunni bloc, Abdul Nasir al-Janabi, provoked Mr. Maliki, saying over jeers from Shiite politicians, "We cannot trust the office of the prime minister."

His microphone was quickly shut off, and Mr. Maliki lashed into him, essentially accusing him of being one of the outlaws he had just said would not be granted sanctuary. "I will show you," Mr. Maliki said, waving his finger in the air. "I will turn over the documents we have," implying that the legislator was guilty of crimes.


6. Crush your enemies...

Maliki orders security forces to crush foes

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki told his security forces on Tuesday to show no mercy toward insurgents in a security crackdown in Baghdad.

Iraqiya state television showed Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist leader, talking to an Iraqi soldier near an armored vehicle in central Baghdad. The soldier pointed to an area from where he said insurgents had been firing at security forces.

"Don't just fire back, crush the place where the fire came from," Maliki replied. "Don't treat them with leniency. This is an armored vehicle here, use it."

Maliki: 400 'militants' killed in crackdown

BAGHDAD - US and Iraqi security forces have killed around 400 suspected militants since the start of a major crackdown to stem violence in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki said on Saturday.

Maliki visited the command centre for the operation which was launched 10 days ago and urged security forces taking part in it not to be influenced by sectarian loyalties.

He told reporters 426 suspected militants had been detained in the crackdown ‘and around that number have been killed’.


7. Grab total political power...

Report: Maliki 'cabinet reshuffle' to include arrests of up to 100

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's prime minister said Saturday he will reshuffle his Cabinet within two weeks and pursue criminal charges against political figures linked to extremists as a sign of his government's resolve to restore stability during the U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad...

After the changes are announced, al-Maliki said he would undertake a "change in the ministerial structure," presumably consolidating and streamlining the 39-member Cabinet. The prime minister did not say how many Cabinet members would be replaced. But some officials said about nine would lose their jobs, including all six Cabinet members loyal to radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an al-Maliki ally...

During the interview, al-Maliki said other top officials would face prosecution for ties to insurgents, sectarian militias and death squads - including members of parliament.

"There has been coordination between us and the Multinational Forces ... starting at the beginning of this year ... to determine who should arrested and the reasons behind arresting them," he said.

Al-Maliki did not elaborate on the U.S.-Iraqi coordination but said Iraqi judicial authorities were reviewing case files to decide which to refer to an Iraqi investigative judge, who must decide whether there is enough evidence to order a trial...

The prime minister did not say how many politicians and officials might be targeted for formal investigation, an Iraqi legal step that corresponds to a grand jury probe...

But five senior Iraqis - two of them generals and three from Shiite and Sunni parties - have told the AP that up to 100 prominent figures could face legal proceedings.


Note that this last step accomplishes the other half of the Hadley memo... 'to reconfigure his parliamentary bloc'. But why, with martial law in place and the crushing of foes underway, is it so important to realign parliament?

Perhaps the reason lies here...

Perspective: Troubles for the Iraq Oil Deal

Barely two days have passed since Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hailed the country's new petroleum law as a "solid base for unity of all Iraqis" — a rare boast these days. President Bush has also trumpeted it as proof that Iraq has a viable future. But parliamentarians and Iraq's oil unions have already begun mobilizing against the draft legislation, arguing that it is a desperate attempt by al-Maliki's government to satisfy Western demands, which could damage Iraq's economic future and speed the country's ultimate disintegration.


Iraq Gets A New Saddam,
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

And so we're five years on into the 'liberation'. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi dead. Thousands more troops slain. One and a half million Iraqi's 'internally displaced'. Millions more living in terror of torture, murder and bombings. And the result of all we've 'accomplished' so far...

One dictator gone with another one ready to fill the breech... and the certainty of more death, savagery and carnage to come.


==========================
This diary by Spread the Word: Iraq-Nam, a daily blog on Iraq.

The bodies of 14 policemen found

Bodies of police are same men seen blindfolded on al Qaeda Web site

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- The bodies of 14 policemen found in Diyala province Friday are the same men who were seen blindfolded on an al Qaeda-connected Web site Thursday, according to a statement released Saturday by the Iraqi prime minster's office.

Friday, Iraq's Ministry of Interior would not confirm that the dead policemen were the same as those claimed to have been kidnapped by the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni insurgent group.

The group claimed the men were kidnapped and killed in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman -- an attack that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has said never happened.


"We assure that our armed forces and our security systems will follow the killers and arrest them and hand them to justice to get the punishment that they deserve, and we consider the parties which propagate the lie of the rape responsible for this massacre," the statement added.

In a statement Feb. 21, al-Maliki said that medical examinations proved the woman had not been sexually assaulted.

The woman accused Iraqi security officers in the Adil Sunni district in western
Baghdad of raping her Feb. 20.

Note: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is a Shiite, so the Sunni's did not take well to his dismissal of the Sunni woman's claim. There have been other reports of abusive behavior by the police in the recent `surge' of door to door investigation.

Also Maliki has in the past blocked any attempts to break up the ill eagle private Shiite militias - some who are believed to be involved with death squads targeting the Sunni.

Also under Maliki were the barbaric executions of Saddam and his associates (first filming the executions, and second, one person [physically loosing his head while being executed) show Maliki to non-Shiite supporters as at the least undiplomatic.

The problem in Iraq now is the civil war - and the leader is biased to one side. For the country to come together an impartial leader is needed- or we need to move ahead on the separation of territories and the ruling of those territories - to the specific ethnic-religious group that is in majority.

The Kurdistan region is strong proof that this can be an effective stratagem.