AFPAK / Iraq Sweep

AFPAK / Iraq Sweep 29 June 2011

Afghanistan 1) The death toll from a Taliban attack on a luxury hotel, frequented by foreigners and government officials, in Afghanistan has reached 21. Ten civilians, nine attackers and two policemen reportedly died and several others were injured after Taliban militants stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital Kabul late on Tuesday, a Press TV correspondent reported. AOP

2) Pakistan's Armed Forces have reportedly fired rockets on an area in neighboring Afghanistan, killing as many as 22 people and injuring 78 others. Reports say over 50 rockets hit a border area in eastern province of Kunar on Monday. AOP

3) Militants in Kandahar gunned down the provincial Director of Hajj and Islamic Affairs, Abdullah Halim. The incident occurred in Choni area of first precinct of the provincial capital, Kandahar city. Xinhua

4) French President's office, the Elysee Palace, confirmed Wednesday the release of two French journalists kidnapped in Afghanistan. Xinhua

5) A combined Afghan and coalition patrol conducted an operation to disrupt insurgent facilitation routes in Shah Wali Kot district, Kandahar province, June 27. In Kunduz province, a combined Afghan and coalition security force detained numerous suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban facilitator in Archi district. A combined Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban financier and one of his associates in Sangin district, Helmand province, during a nighttime security operation. In Sharan district, Paktika province, a combined Afghan and coalition force killed several insurgents during a security operation. ISAF

Pakistan 1) Top US officers indicated they did not expect any improvement in Islamabad s cooperation and that Pakistan lacked the will and the resources to move against Haqqani militants. "Sir, I don t think it is likely to change," Vice Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw a raid last month by Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden in his Pakistani hideout, told senators. Dunya

2) NA Standing Committee on Defence has learnt terrorists who attacked Mehran base had inside help. Naval officials gave an in-camera briefing to the committee, details of which have been revealed by sources. Dunya 3) A Pakistani court on Wednesday indicted six paramilitary soldiers and a civilian on murder and terrorism charges after an unarmed man was shot dead on camera in a public park, lawyers said. Dawn

4) Pakistan told the United States to leave a remote desert air base reportedly used as a hub for covert CIA drone attacks, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar was quoted by state media as saying Wednesday. Dawn

5) A tribunal headed by Justice Mohammad Hashim Kakar of the Balochistan High Court submitted on Tuesday its report on the Kharotabad incident of May 17 in which five foreigners, three of them women, were killed by security personnel, but the provincial government has decided not to make it public. Dawn 6) A mortar fired from an unidentified location fell on a house at Saro Kalay, Upper Dir on Tuesday killing a child and wounding three others, including a woman, police said. Daily Times

7) Two NATO oil tankers came under armed attack near Mach area of Bolan district on Tuesday. Both tankers were destroyed. A third tanker was destroyed on Monday. Daily Times

8) Nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan has claimed that the fear of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists is being spread by the west. Geo

9) Due to gang activities, in various areas of South Zone in Karachi remained disturbed because of the worst law and order situation caused by intense crossfire, attacks of hand-grenades and rocket that left one man dead and wounded over dozen others during the last 24 hours. Daily Times

10) A son of Osama bin Laden said he is working with United Nations to obtain his family's release. Omar bin Laden, who has written an autobiographical book, also said he doubted if his father was dead after US President Barack Obama decided not to publish photographs from the raid. Dunya

Iraq 1) Basra Police's Media Department announced today that 13 wanted were arrested in search raids in different parts of the province, as well as tightening arrangements around the perimeters of Basra province and the provincial council, in expectation of any possible breach. Aswat Al Iraq

2) A soldier was hit by a bomb blast west of Mosul city, security sources disclosed today. The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the bomb was directed against a military patrol. Aswat Al Iraq 3) Iraq’s Parliament Member, Sabah al-Saedy, has called on Prime Minister, Nouri al- Maliki, to sack the cabinet ministers of his al-Daawa Party and the State of Law Coalition, “if he really wants to trim his current cabinet.” Aswat Al Iraq

4) An official in Iraq’s Border Troops Command has charged Iran and Kuwait with having violated an agreement, signed between Iraq and neighboring states, preventing any engineering activities close to the border areas among those countries. Aswat Al Iraq

5) Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani had conferred with the U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad, James Jeffery, on the future bilateral cooperation between both countries, within the Strategic Cooperation Agreement, concluded between the two friendly countries, a Presidential statement reported on Wednesday. Aswat Al Iraq

6) An Iraqi civilian has been killed and 9 others, including 4 policemen, were injured in two successive blasts in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, a Baghdad security source reported. Aswat Al Iraq

7) Iraqi security forces arrested head of a city council in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala and 16 suspects, including a former security chief during Saddam Hussien regime, the police said on Wednesday. Xinhua

8) There is no relationship between the Mahdi Army and the Promised Day Brigade said an MP from the Ahrar bloc of the Sadrist Current today. Hakim al-Zamili said that the PDB, who claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. bases that have made June the deadliest month in Iraq in two years for the American military, answers directly to Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. AKNews

Full Articles

Afghanistan 1) Afghan hotel death toll climbs to 21. AOP Press TV June 29, 2011

The death toll from a Taliban attack on a luxury hotel, frequented by foreigners and government officials, in Afghanistan has reached 21.

Ten civilians, nine attackers and two policemen reportedly died and several others were injured after Taliban militants stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in the capital Kabul late on Tuesday, a Press TV correspondent reported. Two foreign nationals are also among the dead, the report added.

According to official sources, at the time of the attack, Afghan and Western officials were holding security talks in the hotel while a wedding ceremony was also underway in the building.

At least four blasts and bursts of heavy gunfire were reportedly heard during the Tuesday incident.

Police cordoned off the area and streets leading to the hotel were blocked immediately.

Taliban say they wanted to target Afghan and Western officials holding security talks at the hotel.

Violence has recently climbed across Afghanistan since the Taliban announced an onset of a spring offensive at the beginning of May.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has announced that the month of May was the deadliest for Afghan civilians since 2007 with 368 reported deaths.

In 2010, violence in Afghanistan hit its worst levels since the US-led invasion of the Asian country began in 2001.

At least 2,777 civilians were killed in 2010, according to the United Nations.

2) Pakistan attack kills 22 Afghans. AOP Press TV June 29, 2011

Pakistan's Armed Forces have reportedly fired rockets on an area in neighboring Afghanistan, killing as many as 22 people and injuring 78 others.

Reports say over 50 rockets hit a border area in eastern province of Kunar on Monday.

Afghan officials say a number of women and children are among the dead.

The attacks have also destroyed or damaged several homes.

The incident comes as Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US are holding tripartite talks in Kabul. The recent attacks against Kunar and Nangarhar provinces are expected to be the focus of the talks.

Afghan officials say Pakistani military has fired hundreds of rockets into Afghanistan over the past few days.

Pakistan says the rocket strikes are in response to what it calls attacks against its territory from Afghanistan.

3) Gov't official shot dead by militants in S. Afghanistan. Xinhua English.news.cn 2011-06-29 19:20:28

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Militants gunned down a government official in Taliban birthplace Kandahar in south Afghanistan, provincial police chief said on Wednesday.

"Unknown armed men opened fire on the provincial Director of Hajj and Islamic Affairs Abdullah Halim and killed him on the spot in Kandahar city at around 02:00 p.m. local time on Wednesday," police chief of Kandahar, General Abdul Raziq told Xinhua.

The police official said the incident occurred in Choni area of first precinct of provincial capital Kandahar city, some 450 km south of capital city of Kabul.

Meantime, an eye witness told Xinhua that two attackers on a motor bike made their good escape after shooting the official.

In similar incident earlier Wednesday, armed men shot and killed Hajji Malang, tribal elder in Kandahar's Panjwai district outside Kandahar city and administrative district chief, Niaz Mohammad Sarhadi confirmed to Xinhua on Wednesday.

The Taliban-led insurgency has been rampant since the militant group announced to launch spring offensive from May 1 against Afghan and NATO-led troops stationed in Afghanistan.

The militant group warned people against supporting government and foreign troops stationed in the insurgency-hit country.

4) Two French journalists kidnapped in Afghanistan released. Xinhua English.news.cn 2011-06-29 21:45:50

PARIS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- French President's office, the Elysee Palace, confirmed Wednesday the release of two French journalists kidnapped in Afghanistan.

5) ISAF Joint Command Operational Update June 29, 2011. ISAF KABUL, Afghanistan (June 29, 2011) – A combined Afghan and coalition patrol conducted an operation to disrupt insurgent facilitation routes in Shah Wali Kot district, Kandahar province, June 27.

Several insurgents were killed during the operation and one insurgent was wounded when he attempted to engage the patrol with small arms fire and a machine gun. The injured insurgent was treated at the scene by coalition medics before being taken to a medical facility for further treatment.

The patrol confiscated a light machine gun and 400 7.62 mm rounds during the operation.

In other International Security Assistance Force news throughout Afghanistan:

In Kunduz province, a combined Afghan and coalition security force detained numerous suspected insurgents while searching for a Taliban facilitator in Archi district, yesterday. The facilitator supports a roadside bomb and suicide attack network within Archi and is directly involved with securing weapons and ammunition, coordinating personnel movements and facilitating the collection of illegal taxes.

Following several reports of insurgent activity in the area, the Afghan-led security force searched a compound in the district. The force questioned several men and detained those believed to be Taliban insurgents.

A combined Afghan and coalition security force captured a Taliban financier and one of his associates in Sangin district, Helmand province, during a nighttime security operation yesterday. The financier provided funding for roadside bomb operations and direct attacks, targeting Afghan and coalition forces.

The Afghan-led security force found the financier while searching a compound noted for Taliban activity. He and one associate were identified by residents during interviews and detained.

In Zharay district, Kandahar, a combined security force captured several suspected insurgents. The force searched the area and interviewed residents regarding insurgent activity before taking several men into custody for additional questioning.

A combined Afghan and coalition force discovered a weapons cache in Kandahar district, Kandahar province, Sunday. The cache consisted of one AK-47 rifle, two full AK-47 magazines, one 80 mm mortar round, 75 7.62 mm rounds, 64 pounds (29 kilograms) of explosives, ten pressure plates, one mine, one pistol, homemade bomb making materials, one binoculars and a radio. Eight insurgents were detained and the weapons were seized by security forces.

In Sharan district, Paktika province, a combined Afghan and coalition force killed several insurgents during a security operation yesterday. The force was engaged by insurgents with small-arms fire. After positively identifying the insurgent’s position, the force returned fire, killing several insurgents. Initial reports indicate no civilians were harmed during the operation.

A combined Afghan and coalition security force detained several suspected insurgents during a security operation in Ghazni district, Ghazni province, yesterday. The Afghan-led force was searching for a Haqqani network facilitator who procures weapons for future attacks in the province.

Following several leads, the security force searched for the leader at a compound in the district. While searching the area, the force identified several men they believed had ties to the Haqqani network. After interviews with residents, the men were detained.

In Khost province, a combined Afghan and coalition security force captured a Haqqani network facilitator and several suspected insurgents during a nighttime security operation in Khost district, yesterday. The facilitator provided supplies, weapons, suicide vests and roadside bombs from Pakistan to senior Haqqani leaders.

The Afghan-led security force was able to locate the facilitator at a compound in the district based on intelligence reports. Afghan members of the force searched the compound, resulting in the facilitator detention. Additionally, with the help of residents, the force was able to identify his associates, who were also detained for further questioning.

Pakistan 1) Pakistan not serious in going after Haqqani network: US. Dunya Last Updated On 29 June,2011 About 51 minutes ago

US military officers said Pakistan shows no sign of willingness to crack down on Haqqani militants.

Top officers indicated they did not expect any improvement in Islamabad s cooperation and that Pakistan lacked the will and the resources to move against Haqqani militants.

"Sir, I don t think it is likely to change," Vice Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw a raid last month by Navy SEALs that killed Osama bin Laden in his Pakistani hideout, told senators.

Referring to talks with Islamabad military leaders, McRaven said "it is both a capacity issue for the Pakistanis and I think potentially a willingness issue."

McRaven, nominated by President Barack Obama to take over US special operations command, said the situation in northwest tribal areas "is difficult for them to deal with."

Lieutenant General John Allen, named as the next commander in Afghanistan, suggested Pakistan was keeping its options open by allowing Haqqani fighters to operate within its borders.

"It s a function probably of capacity. But it might also be a function of their hedging, whether they have determined that the United States is going to remain in Afghanistan, whether our strategy will be successful or not," Allen told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"At some point, as we have emphasized to the Pakistanis, we ve got to bring pressure to bear on this insurgent safe haven," he said.

Senator Carl Levin, after hearing the officers answer his questions on Pakistan, said Islamabad s approach was unacceptable. "Well, something s got to give, something s got to change," Levin said.

His comments came amid calls from some lawmakers to scale back the billions in US aid for Pakistan due to the presence of extremist safe havens.

Another senator, Lindsey Graham, said it was time Pakistan track down the leader of the Afghan Taliban, Mullah Omar.

McRaven confirmed to Graham that the US military believed Omar was in Pakistan and had asked the country s army to find him.

General Allen also pointed absence of any concrete legislation to deal with the arrested terrorists, which at times are released due to legal constraints. He however didn’t cite in the US Senate any specific case.

2) PNS Mehran attackers had inside help, committee told. Dunya Last Updated On 29 June,2011 About 2 hours ago

NA Standing Committee on Defence has learnt terrorists who attacked Mehran base had inside help.

Naval officials gave an in-camera briefing to the committee, details of which have been revealed by sources.

Sources said that Naval officials told the committee that there was evidence of inside help in the episode. They said the possibility of involvement of a foreign hand was being investigated.

The opposition members of the committee have expressed dissatisfaction over the details of the probe thus far. Standing Committee Chairman Azra Fazal Palejo said responsibility of the attack could be fixed only after reports of the Interior and Defence Ministries had been filed. She said the committee was told that four terrorists attacked the base briefing was satisfactory.

Earlier, the committee was briefed about PIA affairs. Committee member Haider Ali Shah said PIA suffered a loss of Rs 60 billion in the tenure of former MD Ijaz Haroon.

3) Six Rangers charged with murder of Sarfaraz Shah. Dawn 29 June 2011

KARACHI: A Pakistani court on Wednesday indicted six paramilitary soldiers and a civilian on murder and terrorism charges after an unarmed man was shot dead on camera in a public park, lawyers said.

If convicted, the seven accused could be sentenced to death.

Members of Pakistan’s Rangers paramilitary force were caught on film killing Sarfaraz Shah, 22, after a civilian dragged him over to the troops, accusing him of robbery in Karachi on June 8.

The daylight murder was filmed by a cameraman and broadcast round the clock on television, shocking the country with the apparent brutality of trained officers.

“The court has formally framed charges of murder and terrorism against all the accused,” public prosecutor Mohammad Khan Buriro told reporters.

The accused pleaded not guilty and will contest the charges after appearing before judge Bashir Ahmed Khoso on Wednesday, lawyers said.

Buriro said the trial would begin on Thursday and that a total of 46 witnesses would be called to the stand.

“They are innocent and will contest the charges,” said M R Sayed, one of the lawyers for the defence. “We have asked the court to provide the investigation report compiled by the government joint investigation team,” he added.

The formal indictment had been repeatedly delayed to allow the accused time to hire lawyers.

Facing down a media tirade, the government has already taken the rare step of removing the provincial chiefs of police and Rangers in Karachi.

The widely aired footage of the killing showed a clean-shaven and unarmed Shah, wearing black trousers and a navy shirt, pleading for his life before he was shot twice.

He then begged for help while the soldiers appeared to do nothing but watch him fall slowly and lapse into unconsciousness.

Despite no evidence in the video that Shah had a weapon, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik, whose ministry is responsible for the Rangers, claimed last week that the victim had been carrying an unlicensed weapon.

The killings last month by security forces of five unarmed Chechens, one of them a pregnant woman, in the city of Quetta are also under investigation.

Answerable to the interior ministry, more than 10,000 paramilitary troops patrol Karachi and its surroundings to combat routine ethnic, political and extremist violence in the city of 16 million.

Human rights activists condemned Shah’s killing and complain that the Rangers, established for combat and border duty, are neither equipped nor trained for civilian areas.

4) Pakistan tells US military to leave ‘drone’ attack base. Dawn 29 June 2011

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan told the United States to leave a remote desert air base reportedly used as a hub for covert CIA drone attacks, Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar was quoted by state media as saying Wednesday.

His remarks are the latest indication of Pakistan attempting to limit US activities since a clandestine American military raid killed Osama bin Laden on May 2 and plunged ties between the anti-terror allies into chaos.

“We have told them (US officials) to leave the air base,” national news agency APP quoted Mukhtar as telling a group of journalists in his office. Images said to be of US Predator drones at Shamsi have been published by Google Earth in the past. The air strip is 900 kilometres (560 miles) southwest of the capital Islamabad in Baluchistan province.

A US embassy spokeswoman told AFP there were no US military personnel at the Shamsi base.

American drone attacks on Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan’s northwestern semi-autonomous tribal belt are hugely unpopular among a general public opposed to the government’s alliance with Washington.

CNN reported in April that US military personnel had left the base, said to be a key hub for American drone operations, in the fallout over public killings by a CIA contractor in Lahore and his subsequent detention.

Reports said operations at the base, which Washington has not publicly acknowledged, were conducted with tacit Pakistani military consent.

Neither does the United States officially confirm Predator drone attacks, but its military and the CIA operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the armed, unmanned aircraft in the region.

The bin Laden raid humiliated the Pakistani military and invited allegations of incompetence and complicity, as well as severely damaging trust between Islamabad and Washington.

“This trust deficit could be reduced by sitting together and taking joint actions,” the state-sun Associated Press of Pakistan quoted Mukhtar as saying.

According to US Vice Admiral William McRaven, who oversaw the bin Laden raid, the US military believes Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar is in Pakistan and had asked the Pakistani army to find him.

Asked about Omar, Mukhtar said: “If he was in Pakistan, even then, he would have left the country after the Abbottabad incident.” Mukhtar, who belongs to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, said that he supported negotiations with the Taliban to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan.

5) Kharotabad report to be kept secret By Saleem Shahid and Amanullah Kasi. Dawn 29 June 2011

QUETTA: A tribunal headed by Justice Mohammad Hashim Kakar of the Balochistan High Court submitted on Tuesday its report on the Kharotabad incident of May 17 in which five foreigners, three of them women, were killed by security personnel, but the provincial government has decided not to make it public.

According to sources, the government observed after going through the report that recommendations made by the judicial tribunal could not be fully implemented. “The entire recommendations cannot be implemented because the foreigners had entered Pakistan illegally,” an official said.

He said the security personnel had acted in self-defence and the foreigners did not have visas to enter Pakistan. They had entered the country illegally and they were terrorists, the official insisted. He said the media could exploit the recommendations and, therefore, these would not be made public.

The report has been sent to the home department. The provincial government had set up the commission on May 20 and asked it to submit its report within a month.

Justice Kakar visited Kharotabad on May 30 and recorded statements of witnesses from May 31 to June 15. The statement of 28 witnesses, including officials of police and the Frontier Corps and journalists, were recorded.

Former city police chief Daud Junejo and Col Faisal Shehzad of the Frontier Corps said in their statements that they had not ordered the security personnel to fire on the foreigners at the Kharotabad post.

Police Surgeon Dr Baqir Shah said all the victims had died of gunshots and they had been hit by 56 bullets.

After giving the statement, the doctor was manhandled by policemen in a restaurant and the government suspended the SHOs of two police stations when BHC Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa took suo motu notice of the incident.

Kharotabad police personnel insulted a cameraman, Jamal Tarakai, and detained him briefly at the police station after he had recorded his statement as a witness who had made a video showing security personnel firing on the foreigners. The Quetta police chief suspended two policemen on his complaint.

6) Mortar blast kills child, injures three in Upper Dir. Daily Times Wednesday, June 29, 2011

UPPER DIR: A mortar fired from an unidentified location fell on a house at Saro Kalay here on Tuesday killing a child and wounding three others, including a woman, police said. The gory incident occurred when a mortar, which was fired by unidentified outlaws on Saro Kally near Pak-Afghan border, hit the house of Muhammad Ullah Khan, killing his son and injuring three including a woman, in the limits of Barwaal police station. The wounded include Basgul Bibi, Dawam Khan and another person who could not be identified. App 7) Three NATO oil tankers burnt in Bolan, Nowshera. Daily Times Wednesday, June 29, 2011

DERA MURAD JAMALI/ PESHAWAR: Two NATO oil tankers came under armed attack near Mach area of Bolan district on Tuesday. Mach Assistant Commissioner Qaim Khan Lashari said that unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate firing at the oil tankers carrying logistics for the NATO forces in Afghanistan, as they were on their way to Afghanistan from Karachi. “Resultantly, they caught fire and were burnt,” he said, adding, “Drivers and cleaners, however, remained unhurt as a result of firing.” Soon after the incident, personnel of law enforcement agencies reached the spot and threw a cordon around the site. Local administration has started investigations. Meanwhile, an oil tanker, supplying fuel to the NATO forces in Afghanistan, caught fire after explosion in Azakhel area of district Nowshera late Monday night, police said. As per details, driver and cleaner of the tanker allegedly stole fuel from the vehicle and detonated it with locally manufactured explosives. Both the accused, taking advantage of darkness of the night, managed to flee from the scene. The vehicle caught fire following the blasts, while personnel of the law enforcement agencies besides local people managed to put out raging flames of the fire after hectic efforts. Police registered a case against the accused driver and cleaner of the tanker and started investigations. App

8) West propagating against Pak N-arms: AQK. Geo Updated at: 1447 PST, Wednesday, June 29, 2011

BERLIN: Nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan has claimed that the fear of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists is being spread by the west.

In an email interview to German paper Der Spiegel, Dr. Khan said that Pakistan was forced to go nuclear in response to Indian tests and political aggression and the deterrence of nuclear weapons lies in the fact that both nations know what the consequences of war would be.

He dismissed accusations of nuclear proliferation and said that there was no such thing as the A.Q.Khan Network. He added that logistics and security at Pakistan's nuclear plant was in the hands of the army and they checked each and every item that came in or left.

9) Crossfire, hand grenade attacks continue in South Zone. Daily Times Wednesday, June 29, 2011

KARACHI: Various areas of South Zone remained disturbed because of the worst law and order situation caused by intense crossfire, attacks of hand-grenades and rocket that left one man dead and wounded over dozen others during the last 24 hours. According to details, Lyari and its adjacent areas became a battleground since last Monday night, where routine and commercial activities were suspended as police and Rangers were unable to control the situation. DSP Qaiser Shah said that narrow lanes caused difficulties for law enforcement agencies because armed gangsters held up them, showing an intense resistance to them. The areas, including Gulbahar, Golimar, Raxer Line, Gutter Baghicha and various interlink localities of Lyari remained disturbed because rival gangsters attacked each other. Sources said that there were different groups who caused intense crossfire. The groups involved in the gang war were Amin and Sajid group affiliated with Lyari gangster Baba Ladla, successor of Rehman Dacait, while Nasir Baloch, sub-group of Arshad Pappu and Ghaffar Zikri, owned the second group. They said that Zikri gang was trying to regain the position in Golimar area and different areas of Lyari, which resulted in gunfire between the rival groups. The gangsters threw hand grenades on each other and also opened indiscriminate fire in which one passer-by was killed and more than dozen others wounded on Monday night and on Tuesday gun fight remained continued as gangsters threw a hand-grenade and also fired a rocket at Shah Dost Village and Saleh Muhammad Goth in which three persons, including Rehan, Junaid and Azam Baloch were injured. staff report

10) Osama’s son seeks UN help for family's release from Pakistan. Dunya Last Updated On 29 June,2011 About 40 minutes ago

A son of Osama bin Laden said he is working with United Nations to obtain his family's release.

Omar bin Laden, who has written an autobiographical book, also said he doubted if his father was dead after US President Barack Obama decided not to publish photographs from the raid.

"I want to send a message to the leaders of Pakistan: they should help the children of Osama bin Laden to go wherever they want to go. The Pakistani government should protect them, because they are just innocent children and women," Omar bin Laden said.

Omar said he was not convinced his father was killed in the US military operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in May. He was also unsure whether his father had lived for five uninterrupted years at the compound where the raid took place.

"Why hasn t the US shown the photos? If we haven t seen the body, we can t be completely sure," he said.

Iraq 1) Security arrangements tightened, 13 wanted arrested in Basra. Aswat Al Iraq 6/29/2011 7:45 PM BASRA / Aswat al-Iraq: Basra Police's Media Department announced today that 13 wanted were arrested in search raids in different parts of the province, as well as tightening arrangements around the perimeters of Basra province and the provincial council, in expectation of any possible breach.

The Department told Aswat al-Iraq that 11 search raids were carried out, which resulted in the arrest of 13 wanted persons for different charges, as well finding light weapons and confiscating unregistered vehicles.

Security procedures were tightened around the perimeters of the province and the provincial council. The spokesman added, "this is not connected to direct terrorist attacks, but within the security procedures in anticipation of what has happened in other Iraqi provinces."

Basra city, the center of the province, lies 590 km to the south of the capital, Baghdad.

2) Soldier wounded in Mosul blast. Aswat Al Iraq 6/29/2011 5:49 PM

NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: A soldier was hit by a bomb blast west of Mosul city, security sources disclosed today.

The source told Aswat al-Iraq that the bomb was directed against a military patrol in Nahrawan area , west of Mosul city, which led to the wounding of one soldier.

The wounded was rushed to hospital, where it was reported that his condition was stable.

Mosul, the center of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of the capital, Baghdad.

3) Legislature calls on PM Maliki to sack ministers of his Coalition and Party. Aswat Al Iraq 6/29/2011 3:37 PM

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq’s Parliament Member, Sabah al-Saedy, has called on Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, to sack the cabinet ministers of his al-Daawa Party and the State of Law Coalition, “if he really wants to trim his current cabinet.”

“Maliki must sack the ministers of al-Daawa Party and the State of Law Coalition if he really wants to trim down his cabinet, and he has to announce the names of the ministers who had failed in their missions, in front of the Parliament,” Saedy told a news conference, attended by Aswat al-Iraq news agency on Wednesday.

Saedy also wondered “if there had been an evaluation for the security cabinet ministries, activity of which had witnessed a clear failure, since Maliki had occupied their administration, and whether Maliki would present his resignation from them, at his capacity as their minister on “acting basis.”

Noteworthy is that the ministries occupied by Maliki’s al-Daawa Party and the State of Law Coalition are ministries of state for council of ministers affairs, the official spokesman for the council the woman affairs, the national interests affairs and the ministry of human rights.

Maliki had stated earlier his intention to trim down his cabinet after the end of the 100-day period he gave to evaluate the activity of his cabinet ministries.

4) Iraqi Border Command official charges Iran and Kuwait with violating border agreement. Aswat Al Iraq 6/29/2011 2:01 PM

BASRA / Aswat al-Iraq: An official in Iraq’s Border Troops Command has charged Iran and Kuwait with having violated an agreement, signed between Iraq and neighboring states, preventing any engineering activities close to the border areas among those countries.

“An Iranian engineering activity, reflected in digging oil wells over a 500-meter distance, close to southern Iraq’s Shalamja border point, 30 km to the east of Basra, is taking place, along with similar engineering activity about 300 meters, in front of Safwan border town in Zubair area, 60 km to the west of Basra, close to the border line between Iraq and Kuwait,” the Iraqi official told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The agreement, signed between Iraq and the neighboring states, prevents carrying out any engineering activity, such as excavation and other works, across a 30-km distance away from the border areas. Thus, the measures taken by Iran and Kuwait represent a violation for the agreement,” he said.

“The Iraqi Border Troops of the 4th Area had raised a report, regarding the said practices to the Iraqi government, demanding it to send the report to the Foreign Ministry, which will take measures to discuss both states about the issue,” the statement concluded.

Basra, the center of the Province carrying the same name, is 590 km to the south of Baghdad.

5) President discusses future cooperation between US and Iraq with US Ambassador. Aswat Al Iraq 6/29/2011 1:35 PM BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani had conferred with the U.S. Ambassador to Baghdad, James Jeffery, on the future bilateral cooperation between both countries, within the Strategic Cooperation Agreement, concluded between the two friendly countries, a Presidential statement reported on Wednesday.

“The bilateral relations between the Republic of Iraq and the United States were discussed in the meeting, and necessity for their expansion and development, especially the bilateral future cooperation, within the Strategic Agreement, concluded between the two friendly countries,” the statement, copy of which was received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency said.

President Talabani, on his part, had “shed light on the course of the current developments on political and security levels, along with Iraq’s regional and international relations, as well as its continuous efforts to join together all political leaders and blocs, in order to secure the unity of their ranks.”

Talabani and the American Ambassador had also exchanged viewpoints about a series of other issues of joint interest between both countries, the statement concluded.

6) Civilian killed, 9 others, including 4 cops, injured in 2 Baghdad explosions. Aswat Al Iraq 6/29/2011 9:54 AM

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: An Iraqi civilian has been killed and 9 others, including 4 policemen, were injured in two successive blasts in southern Baghdad on Wednesday, a Baghdad security source reported.

“An explosive charge, planted on the roadside in southern Baghdad’s Daura district, blew off on Wednesday morning, against a police patrol, killing a civilian and wounding 7 others, including 4 policemen, along with causing damage to a police car and several civilian cars,” the security source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

The security source added that two other civilians were injured in an explosive charge blast in Daura’s Mechanic district, south of the Iraqi capital.

7) Iraqi security forces capture provincial senior official, 16 suspects. Xinhua English.news.cn 2011-06-29 21:25:26

BAGHDAD, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces arrested head of a city council in Iraq's eastern province of Diyala and 16 suspects, including a former security chief during Saddam Hussien regime, the police said on Wednesday. In Diyala province, Iraqi army forces arrested Ra'ad Abed Jassim al-Timimi, head of the city council in Maqdadiyah City, some 100 km northeast of Baghdad, a source from the provincial operations command told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Timimi, the leading figure in the Iraqi major Sunni Islamic Party in the country, was arrested from his house in the early hours of the day after the provincial security authorities received an arrest warrant for him over charges of terrorism, the source said.

Separately, Iraqi police captured two al-Qaida suspects while they were planting two roadside bombs on a main road near the town of al-Edheim, north of Diyala's capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad, the source added.

Also in the province, Iraqi security forces conducted search operations across the province during the past 24 hours and arrested 13 suspects, including seven wanted individuals, he said.

Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border east of the country, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants and other insurgent groups since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Elsewhere, a joint U.S. and Iraqi security force captured a former chief of a security office during Saddam Hussien regime near Tikrit, the capital city of Salahudin province, a provincial police source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Based on intelligence reports, the troops carried out a predawn raid on the house of Hameed al-Kurdi al-Obiedi, security chief of Saddam Hussien's presidency office, in the town of al-Alam, 15 km northeast of Tikrit, and captured him, the source said.

The province, located in northern central of Iraq, is mainly Sunni province. Its capital city of Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, is the hometown of the former president Saddam Hussien.

8) Mahdi Army 'has nothing to do with attacks on US bases'. AKNews 29/06/2011 15:40

Baghdad, June 29 (AKnews) - There is no relationship between the Mahdi Army and the Promised Day Brigade said an MP from the Ahrar bloc of the Sadrist Current today

Hakim al-Zamili said that the PDB, who claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. bases that have made June the deadliest month in Iraq in two years for the American military, answers directly to Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The Mahdi army is also loyal to Sadr, but is controlled by the whole Sadrist movement and has been halted in military action since 2008, Zamili said.

"The Mahdi Army is still frozen, but after it was taken out of action part of it that was specialized in resisting the Americans, known as the Promised Day Brigade, separated off.

“Any occupied country has the right to resist the occupation.”

“However, the Mahdi Army has been turned into a cultural institution called the ‘al-Mumahhidoun’ and there is no connection between the two. We have political work and we do not have anything to do with the issue of the Promised Day. "