Saturday 19 February 2005, 1:17 Makka Time, 22:17 GMT
Another car bomb killed at least 8 people and wounded another 13 while they were celebrating the Ashura day in Iskandariya, 50km south of Baghdad, as reported by medical sources on Friday.
The loud blast apparently happened at 7 pm (1600 GMT), while the people were gathered around the mosque.
According to a senior doctor, the victims were all taken to the closest hospitals, one in the city, the other 95 km from Baghdad, in Hilla.
Fighters are now aiming mostly at the Shia people, wich is the religious group that won the election of January 30.
As members of the former Sunni dictatorship, carried on since 1979 by Saddam Hussein (a Sunni himself), the fighters are against any possible form of power that will re-balance the privileges they always had, especially if this power is going to be used by the Shia government or the hated Americans.
Il Romanaccio at 10:47 AM
Saturday 19 February 2005, 11:51 Makka Time, 8:51 GMT
According to an official a member of the Iraqi National Guard and a civillian were killed by a suicide bomber in Baquba, a city northeast of Baghdad, on Saturday.
The source also reported that the bomber died in the attack and three civillians, along with another National Guard, were wounded.
Another police officer refferred that the Diyala province army commander just joined the Headquarters.
"General Hid Ayad went through the checkpoint, followed a little later by a Chevrolet, which the driver detonated," said a Guard present in the moment of the attack.
Baquba is situated about 60 km in the northeast of the Iraqi capital, it's a mixed Shia/Sunni area and the attack has to be considered as an attempt from the Sunnis fighters to ruin the Shia celebration of the Ashura day.
Il Romanaccio at 10:34 AM
Friday 18 February 2005, 2:06 Makka Time, 23:06 GMT
The Iraqi electoral commission announced the results of the January 30 elction confirming that the Shia and the Kurdish party are the two most voted.
The Shia United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) won the 48.1% of the votes giving this party the right to hve 140 seats in the parliament, this result was possible because of an eliminatio mechanism favouring a large list.
The Kurdish coalition gained a good 26% wich allows them to have 75 seats inthe National Assembly, the Allawi's party gained the 14% of the votes, 40 sits in the parliament.
A coalition between the UIA Shia party and the Kurds it is probable and will determine the first Shia dominated government in the an Arab country after a thousand years.
The electoral commission is supposed to stay in charge untill the next scheduled election for December 2005, the new government will have to come out with a written constitution for August 15.
No stats are avalable for the Sunni minority, but the chief UN election adviser, Carlos Valenzuela commented the January 30 election to be an "immense success" even if there is not a shadow of freedom in the country and the so called democracy is exploding in the streets along with the poor victims.
Il Romanaccio at 2:20 PM
Friday 18 February 2005, 15:43 Makka Time, 12:43 GMT
At least 31 people were killed and many others wounded in Baghdad, during the religious festivity called Ashura.
A man wearing a belt filled with explosive blew himself up in a mosque in the Dura district (south-west of Baghdad), on Friday.
Police sources were instead talking of an external attack with missiles against the mosque.
All the victims were received in the busy al-Yarmuk hospital, already filled with Iraqi families waiting in the corridors for their relatives.
According to the Lieutenant Colonel Jalal Sabry, in a Shia neighbourhood of western Baghdad, the al-Qura mosque was attacked with mortar shells, one person died and four others were injured.
The Iraqi Lt. Waid Husain referred than two people lost their life and five were wounded when another suicide bomber blew himself up near a procession in the Shia As Shula area northeast of the capital.
Il Romanaccio at 1:55 PM
Thursday 17 February 2005, 15:09 Makka Time, 12:09 GMT
Eight employees of a US military base situated near the town of Balad were found death, on Wednesday in the north of Baghdad.
One of them was a Turkish citizen, the rest Iraqis.
As police officer Adil Abd Allah claimed, "Seven of the dead are Iraqis but the eighth is believed to be a Turk as he has the name 'Turkey' tattooed on his body, but none of them were carrying identification papers."
Other official sources reffered that all of the people found were shot at least three days ago, they were probably captured while on their way to work.
All of them had their hands tied behind their back, all were shot in the head and another had his throat cut.
Il Romanaccio at 7:31 PM
Thursday 17 February 2005, 15:09 Makka Time, 12:09 GMT
Security sources announced, on Thursday that a group of armed men seized a member of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's party in Samarra (close to Baghdad).
"Saif Abu Mishaal Hasan, in charge of the Iraqi National Accord (INA) in Salah al-Din, was kidnapped from his house in Dijla."
Further details are not available at moment.
Meanwhile a bomb in the same city a bomb caused the death of a policeman and wounded another four, according to a police source.
Other three police officer were killed in a gunbattle when som e fighters were trying to kill a police captain on Wednesday, close to Samarra.
Captain Mudir al-Baldawi referred that, The unknown man opened fire on my convoy, police returned fire and three of them were killed in the ensuing firefight, as well as the attacker."
One of the insurgents died in the attack too.
The former ruling Baath party member Malik al-Hmud was arrested, on Wednesday, by the US and Iraqi forces.
Official sources said he was found at home.One of his activities was tryin to help the insurgents and hide them from the authorities.
Il Romanaccio at 7:09 PM
Wednesday 16 February 2005, 16:54 Makka Time, 13:54 GMT
Iran and Syria are worried about a possible attack coming from the US.(They both are on the Balck list).
As result they are attempting to form an alliance in order to defend themself.
Iranian Vice-President Muhammad Reza Aref met Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Utari in Tehran this morning.
They both agreed on the fact that an coordination of the troops will be crucial in case of an attack.
The Syrian Prime Minister told the press, "This meeting, which takes place at this sensitive time, is important, especially because Syria and Iran face several challenges and it is necessary to build a common front".
Meawhile a very loud explosion was heard coming from the desrtic zone of the city in wich the nuclear power plant is situated.
According to the Arabic tv al-Alam, "A powerful explosion was heard this morning on the outskirts of Dailam in the Bushehr province. Witnesses said that the missile was fired from an unknown plane 20km from the city."
Il Romanaccio at 6:06 PM
Wednesday 16 February 2005, 14:27 Makka Time, 11:27 GMT
Giuliana Sgrena, 56, the italian journalist seized by terrorists on 4 February, appeared in an on-line video.
She was seriously worried about her own life but also begging for the US troops to leave Iraq.
The kidnappers have, in fact, asked for this military pull-back in exchange of her safety.
"You must end the occupation, it's the only way we can get out of this situation," said the lady on the video tape obtained by Associated Press Television News on Wednesday.
No one else was visible in the screen beside her own shadow casted on a blank wall behind. "Mujahidin Without Borders" was the logo used by the seizers on the video.
"I ask the Italian government, the Italian people struggling against the occupation, I ask my husband, please, help me."
She also said, "You must do all you can to end the occupation. I'm counting on you. You can help me."
Mrs. Sgrena also adviced everyone not to enter Iraq for any reason, "Nobody should come to Iraq at this time," she said. "Not even journalists. Nobody."
Il Romanaccio at 5:48 PM
Tuesday 15 February 2005, 17:25 Makka Time, 14:37 GMT
The conference held in London in 2004 between April 26 to 28 saw the partecipation of many US and England based companies in search for higly remunerative contracts to sign for the re-building of Iraq.
The fact that bombs and missiles are still hissing by Iraqi cityzens does not matter after all.
The Procurement day 2004 in London was quickly and ironically underlined by an handful of brits and foreigners protesters, dressed like pigs and showing money to the passers-by.
Shell, ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, the US arms company Raytheon were only some of the 300 companies invited to the fantastic opportunity of making money after a war, all of them are linked in a way or another to very influent businessmen both in England and Usa when not directly to the most influential politicians.
It is out of doubt that none of those companies are very sorry in the perspective of making bilion of dollars on the Iraqi war and meanwhile providing for the country an impossible self development in the future.
Jesus said once, that if you really want to help a poor man you should not give him fish but explain him how to fish, it works better...
Now, Iraq needs help and not to be invaded by foreigner interests as it's always been since the Great Britain claimed the city of Mosul to be part of Iraq in 1925, causing one of the biggest problem in the country, the presence of Kurds in a totally hostile environment.
Il Romanaccio at 4:30 PM
Tuesday 15 February 2005, 17:19 Makka Time, 14:19 GMT
About 300 protesters were demonstrating in the southeastern town of Diyarbakir in Turkey for the anniversary of Abdullah Ochalan's capture on Feb.15 1999.
Turkish police wounded at least 15 of them and 20 others were arrested.
Mr. Ochalan was the leader of PKK (outlaw Kurdistan Workers Party), senteced to death by the Turkish government in 1999, was first hosted by Rome and than forced to leave Italy and finally found by the Turkish authorities in Kenya, six years ago.
He is now held in isolation in Turkey and the protesters were demanding his tranfer to a normal prison.
Policemen attacked the demonstrators with tear gas and truncheons when they refused to end the march.
Il Romanaccio at 4:09 PM
Tuesday 15 February 2005, 14:03 Makka Time, 11:03 GMT
The former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed along with 11 other people due to a tremendous car bomb explosion in Beirut (Lebanon), on Monday morning.
The politician resigned from his job last October to protest against the strong influence that Syria's still having on the country.
The US government is now studying a possible way to force the occupation army (15,000 soldiers) that Syria deployed in Lebanon to leave.
The Bush administration also consider this country to be linked with organized terrorism.
For this reason it is probable an increase of sanctions for the invasor.
On the other hand Syria does not intend to pay any charge and meanwhile takes distance from the attack, claiming it to be criminal.
According to medical sources, six bodyguards and five people lost their life in the blast and the former minister of economy Bassem Flaeihan, a member of mr. Hariri's old cabinet, is in critical condition.
Mr. Hariri arrived dead at the hospital and about 100 other people were wounded.
Il Romanaccio at 3:54 PM
Monday 14 February 2005, 1:21 Makka Time, 22:21 GMT
The results of the Iraqi poll must have had a bad effect on the Turkish politicians, afraid that Kurds in their country could be attracted by the strategical city of Kirkuk (very rich in oil).
A loss of many of their citizens (Kurds in Turkey are about 13 millions) moving to the Iraqi city of Kirkuk can be deadly for Turkish economy.
Turkish officials complained about the illegal movement of many Kurds toward Kirkuk, made by Kurdish groups in Iraq, in an attempt to raise the population' s number.
Turkish Foreign Minister claimed the January 30 election in Iraq to be manipulated by Kurdish politic groups in their favour.
"It has emerged that certain elements have tried to influence the voting and have made unfair gains from this," said a statement and "As a result the Iraqi interim parliament won't reflect the true proportions of Iraqi society". "The flaws ... lead to serious hesitations as to whether the goal of an interim parliament can be achieved."
Ankara is obviously worried for a Kurdish State very close to its border that could end up being a great opportunity for the PKK to organize a massive migration of Kurds towards their promised land.
The Kurdish Iraq's interim Foreign Minister Hushyar Zibari, responded to this declaration on Sunday, he said "Definitely all their fears are misplaced."
"Iraq will remain united. This Kurdish participation in this Iraqi election and in the regional election is reaffirmation of their commitment to a national unity of the country."
Il Romanaccio at 12:39 PM
Monday 14 February 2005, 11:27 Makka Time, 8:27 GMT
Sabouters caused an explosion of the important oil pipeline of the northern city of Kirkuk at 10 pm (1900 GMT), on Monday.
According to one of the Northern Oil Company official, "Firefighters are on site trying to contain the fire."
Another explosion hit a nearby pipeline, said the police, adding no further informations about the possible cause of the blast.
Even in this case it was impossible for the firefighters to get close due to the fierce fire, the NOC claimed this to be the first attack the company suffers in the area in four months.
A missile was launched against a pipeline linking the oil refinery in the town of Baiji to Kirkuk, on the last Thursday.
The interim Iraqi government said that those attacks caused a total loss of about 7-$8 billion dollars.
Il Romanaccio at 12:25 PM
Monday 14 February 2005, 0:20 Makka Time, 21:20 GMT
Democracy in Iraq will have a long way to go since many politicians are now discussing about the lack of the Sunni votes in the January 30 election.
Adnan Pachachi an influential Sunni politician, expressed his ideas about the election on a tv interview on Sunday, claiming that most of the Sunnis did not vote and consequently that Iraq is not completely represented by the new government.
Pachachi's party is not going to win any of the 275 seats of the National Assembly, he said, "In a way the result was expected to a large extent, because millions of Iraqis didn't vote," and "Those who voted are around eight million only, but around 14 million were eligible to vote."
The Sunni politician leader wants the next election to be expression of every ethnic group of the country so that the parliament will be well representing the Iraqi people.
Refferring to the lack of Sunni votes he said, "I am not satisfied with the result".
"After the seats are distributed we will see a small number for Sunni Arabs and also a small number of secular Iraqis," Pachachi said. "The image of Iraq that these results suggest is not real. That is obvious."
"We have to move on with the political process and start to work on the next election," he added.
Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Barham Sali echoed the issue in a press interwiev with the CNN saying, "Undoubtedly, that is a concern, but we have to all accept the challenge and make sure that we reach out to all the communities of Iraq, because as we build this new nation, as we embark on devising the new political contract in Iraq, we must emphasise inclusiveness, and we must reach out to all elements of society."
He was asked about the role of the Kurds in the country and responded,
"We will build a democratic nation that will be at peace with its people, including the Kurdish people."
"The Kurdistan Alliance list will be nominating Jalal Talabani to the post of the president of Iraq, and we believe that he has the qualities of leadership and respectability to assume that position, and we are working with other blocs in the parliament that we anticipated will be represented there to make sure that will happen," he added.
Il Romanaccio at 12:00 PM
Sunday 13 February 2005, 14:34 Makka Time, 11:34 GMT
In an attempt to solidify what could end up being one of the major steps ahead ever made by Palestinian and Israeli leaders toward a cease-fire, Sharon announced that 500 prisoners will be released in the next month.
According to the al-Jazeera correspondent in Ram Allah Walid al-Umari, Palestinians arrested by the Israeli government that were involved in attacks and those who still have more than two years to serve in jail, are not going to be freed yet.
The rest of them will be released in the next weeks.
"This is not an easy step, but this gesture possibly could help the Palestinian Authority solidify its rule and boost trust between the two sides," said Sharon.
There still are more than 8000 Prisoners in Israel, most of them are regarded as national heroes by the Palestinian people.
Il Romanaccio at 6:44 PM
Sunday 13 February 2005, 19:56 Makka Time, 16:56 GMT
The election commision results claim that the alliance of the Shia groups won the majority of the seats that will form the National Assembly composed by 275 members.
The Kurdish coalition had a 25.4%, the Interim Pime Minister Iyad Allawi and his group, 13.6%.
Kurds want their man, Jalal Talabani, to be at least Prime Minister.
59 % of Iraqis voted, on January 30, for a total number of 8,456,266.
However only 2% of eligible Iraqis in the Sunni province of Anbar went to vote and 29% in the mainly Sunni province of Salahadin.
The question now is why that happened and how it is possible to avoid a future unsure government that will certainly miss the approval of those who did not vote on last month's election.
The oligarchy of the Sunnies was ruling the country represented by Saddam Hussein, during the last 26 years (the dictator came to power in 1979).
Il Romanaccio at 6:22 PM
Sunday 13 February 2005, 13:08 Makka Time, 10:08 GMT
As reported by some witnesses a checkpoint between Hilla and Karbala was attacked today with a car bomb.
One person lost his life in the explosion and three others were wounded.
The road will be crowded with milions of Shia pilgrims in the forthcoming days, to celebrate the Ashura, one of the most important events for this religious group.
A car bomb nearby a Shia mosque killed thirteen people yesterday in Balad Ruz, a town situated north east of the capital.
Meanwhile three unidentified bodies were found in eastern Baghdad, "The three victims had civilian clothes, were blindfolded and had their hands tied with wire," a police officer reported and he added that those men were probably tortured to death.
Il Romanaccio at 6:03 PM
