* Chronology of Events in Iraq, August 2003 August 2 Iraqi police team up with Shiite leaders to crack down on street vendors. (Agence France Presse / AFP) Iraqi police in the Shiite Muslim city of Karbala teamed up with religious leaders to crack down on street vendors around the revered shrine of Imam Hussein. A Shiite cleric in a police car, accompanied by two other police cars and a van full of armed men, urged the people of Karbala by loudspeaker to join the crackdown. According to one policeman, street vendors have moved into the road leading to the Imam Hussein's mausoleum, selling, among other thing, weapons, ammunition, pornographic videos, alcohol and drugs. US forces arrest Kurdish Islamic Movement figures. (Kurdistan Democratic Party newspaper Khabat) It was reported that the Guide of the Islamic Movement in Iraqi Kurdistan, Mala Ali Abd-al-Aziz, his brother Mala Umar and a number of their bodyguards were arrested by the US coalition forces at his home in Halabjah. AFP report on the same news on August 19: U.S. forces have released the leader of the Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan. Shaykh Ali Abd al-Aziz was freed after two weeks in detention. Assassination attempt on Syrian Muslim Brotherhood official in Iraq. (Iran- based radio station Voice of the Mujahidin) Syrian Muslim Brotherhood said that one of its leaders was the target of an assassination attempt in Iraq, where he lives as a political refugee. It was reported that Riyad al-Shaqfah, the most senior Muslim Brotherhood official living in Iraq, was the target of an assassination attempt while he was returning home in Baghdad. In the incident, a speedy vehicle came passed Al-Shaqfah's car and fired a hail of bullets at him. Uday and Qusay Hussain buried near Tikrit. (Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty RFE/RL Iraq Report) The bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussain were buried near Tikrit. Tribesmen buried the brothers, along with Qusay's son Mustafa, in Saddam Hussain's birthplace of Al-Awjah. Some 40 tribesmen attended the service. Tribal leaders had requested permission to bury the men. * Disclaimer: Reports contained in this document are selected from publicly available resources and edited by country experts. The information provided here is not, and does not purport to be, either exhaustive with regard to conditions in the country of origin surveyed, or conclusive as to the merits of any particular claim. Further information may be obtained from BO Ankara. Chronology of Events in Iraq UNCHR Ankara COI Team August 2003 Page 1 16/02/2004 August 3 Iraqis in Mosul said to take revenge on "traitor" for deaths of Saddam's sons. (Egyptian news agency Middle East News Agency / MENA) Some residents of Mosul vowed to take revenge from the Iraqi person who tipped-off the US troops about the whereabouts of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussain's sons, Qusay and Uday, no matter how it takes them. A number of Iraqis said their revenge would also reach the family of the traitor and the US troops as well. Tribal leader assasinated in Mosul. (Iran-based radio Voice of Mujahedin and RFE/RL Iraq Report) A tribal leader from one of Iraq's largest tribes, the Shammar, was reportedly assassinated in Mosul. Shaykh Sha'lan Munif al-Faysal, also known as Sha'lan al-Jarbah, was killed when assailants opened fire on the car he was traveling in. The shaykh reportedly exchanged fire with his attackers, killing one. He was killed along with his driver. Some Iraqis speculated that the assassination was linked to the unidentified informant who provided U.S. forces with the location of Uday and Qusay Hussein. Iraqi officials and translators killed, death threats sent. (London-based newspaper Al-Hayat) A number of Iraqi officials and eight translators working with the coalition forces were killed in separate incidents. Among the officials killed in assassinations in Baghdad in the last week of July is Dr Mustafa al-Hiti, Dean of the Pharmacology College at Baghdad University, who was appointed to the post after the downfall of the former regime. Among them is also Dr Muhammad al-Rawi, former president of the same university, who was a senior Ba'athist leader. He was sacked from his post under an order to "purge Iraqi society of Ba'athists", issued by US administrator Paul Bremer. Dr Fa'iz Ghani Aziz, director-general of one of the largest state-run industrial companies in Iraq, the Public Company for Vegetable Oil, was killed by a group of people who sought to steal his car and money. Elsewhere, Iraqi translators working with the coalition forces received death threats to make them quit their jobs. An Iraqi translator working at Baghdad Airport said eight of his colleagues have been killed in armed operations targeting the coalition forces since attacks on these forces began in May. He also said that a number of his colleagues working with the coalition forces received "threats through writings on the walls of their homes and threatening letters sent to their families". U.S. outlines rules for Iraqi claims. (UK newspaper The Guardian and RFE/RL Newsline) U.S. military officials in Baghdad laid down rules that will determine whether Iraqis may seek compensation for death or destruction of property caused by the occupying powers in Iraq. A U.S. military spokesman said that under the Foreign Claims Act, Iraqis will only be entitled to compensation if it can be proven that soldiers acted wrongfully or negligently during "noncombat activities." The unidentified spokesman added that claims made against the United States for acts occurring before 1 May – the date when U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq -- are unlikely to be considered. The spokesman said that the United States has Chronology of Events in Iraq UNCHR Ankara COI Team August 2003 Page 2 16/02/2004 received 2,400 claims and paid out $262,000 in compensation so far. The spokesman was unable to say whether any payments have been made for loss of life, but said that such claims will be paid at a local rate. "I hate to say it, but the value of a life in Iraq is probably less than a life in the U.S. or U.K.," he reportedly said. August 4 Iraqi army recruits begin training. (RFE/RL Iraq Report) Some 400 volunteers for the New Iraqi Army began a two-month basic-training program in the city of Kirkuk. U.S. forces transported the recruits to a base in the city under heavy guard for fear of attacks by militants. The recruits comprise around half of the first group of soldiers to undergo training by U.S. forces in August. The United States will train more than 12,000 Iraqi soldiers by year-end, and another 40,000 by the end of 2004. Upon completion of training, they are expected to serve at least 26 months. The deputy commanding general of the Coalition Military Advisory and Training Team, Brigadier General Jonathon Riley, was quoted in a 19 July press release as saying that each enlistee will initially be paid $60 per month. "At the conclusion of training, individuals will be appointed to ranks and assigned to positions of leadership according to their abilities and performance in training. Their pay will be increased according to their duties and responsibilities," Riley added. Abu Ghurayb Prison renovated and renamed. (Reuters and RFE/RL Iraq Report) The Abu Ghurayb Prison has been renovated and renamed by the U.S.-led administration in Iraq. The prison, located approximately 32 kilometers west of Baghdad, was notorious under the Hussain regime for the torture and execution of its prisoners. Between 20,000 and 40,000 prisoners were housed at the facility, which has been renamed the Baghdad Central Penitentiary by the coalition authority. The prison currently houses 500 prisoners, 400 of them common criminals. They are reportedly kept outside in razor-wire pens under 50 degree Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) heat, awaiting a court date. The prison is composed of five distinct compounds each surrounded by guard towers and high wall." Turkish, US troops inspect refugee camp in northern Iraq. (Turkish NTV television) During the weekend Turkish and US soldiers carried out a joint inspection at the Makhmur refugee camp in northern Iraq, where alleged militants belonging to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) are reported to be staying. The United Nations has opposed Turkey and the United States, who want to close down the camp. The Makhmur camp, where some 9,000 Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin are staying, has caused some difficulty between the United Nations, Turkey and the United States. It was alleged that hundreds of weapons were seized in a search carried out by US soldiers in the camp. Chronology of Events in Iraq UNCHR Ankara COI Team August 2003 Page 3 16/02/2004 August 5 Iraqi police dismantled some kidnapping gangs. (RFE/RL Iraq Report) Iraqi police have dismantled four kidnapping rings in the past three weeks, Interior Minister General Ibrahim Ahmad said. The number of kidnappings in Baghdad has been on the rise in recent weeks, with highly organized kidnapping gangs seeking up to $75,000 ransom for their hostages. It was reported that the criminals often target Christian families, where no tribal networks exist to retaliate against the gangs. Bernard Kerik, the Coalition Provisional Authority's (CPA) adviser to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, said that a raid on August 4 resulted in the release of several hostages and the capture of a gang of nine kidnappers.