As the original incident is now thought to have occured in Iraq, it's in the Iraqi section rather than the Global Hotspots one. Watch this space.

From the AFP via The Australian :

Eight British servicemen captured by Iran after their boats supposedly strayed into Iranian waters were “forcibly escorted” across the national boundary from Iraq, Britain's defence minister said today.

The six marines and two navy sailors were detained for three days in Iran last week, during which they were paraded blindfold on television and forced to publicly apologise for what they called a “mistake”.

Iran insisted that the boats were intercepted only after they entered Iranian waters on the Shatt al-Arab waterway that divides southern Iraq from Iran.

But in a strongly-worded written statement, British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon dismissed this version of events.

“In a recent debriefing the crews have said that they were operating inside the Iraqi border and were forcibly escorted into Iranian territorial waters,” he said.
“Our assessment continues and will be greatly assisted by the retrieval of navigational information in the Global Positioning System equipment carried by the crews,” he said.

This equipment, along with the three boats in which the servicemen had been travelling, had yet to be returned by Iran despite a deadline set by Britain of yesterday, Mr Hoon said.

This statement indicates a significant change of attitude in the UK's relations with Tehran. So far, the UK has bent over backwards to ensure that worsening relations aren't exacerbated by forthright and public criticism, while quietly exerting considerable pressure behind the scenes. So far, the Mullahs have kept their promises, but no longer, it seems. The gloves are now off. For a historical counterpoint, see USS Pueblo.

From The Australian :

a car bomb […] exploded outside a police headquarters in Samawah, 240km south of the capital
[…]
Meanwhile, police slapped a 9pm to 6am curfew on the Shiite holy city of Najaf yesterday, a day after discovering about 67.5kg of explosives in a white BMW, police Brigadier Ghalib al-Jazaari said.

One Libyan man who allegedly entered Iraq from neighbouring Syria to fight US forces was detained in connection with the incident, Brigadier al-Jazaari said.

The police chief also said militiamen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr kidnapped 25 policemen on Tuesday in Najaf, 160km south of Baghdad, in response to the arrest of two of their colleagues but released 16 of them yesterday.

Ahmad al-Shibani, an al-Sadr spokesman, confirmed the kidnappings, but said all 25 had been freed. “We just wanted to teach them a lesson,” he said.
[…]
…a 1st Armoured Division soldier was killed and four others were injured during a traffic accident near the Kuwait border last night, the US military said. The accident was non-combat related, the military said.

From The Australian :

… insurgents fired mortar rounds at a US base on the outskirts of Baghdad's airport, wounding 11 soldiers and starting a fire that burned for over an hour.
[…]
Guerillas fired at least 10 mortar rounds at the logistics base on the edge of Baghdad's airport at about 8:15 a.m., Lieutenant Colonel Richard Rael, their commander, said.

Black smoke hung over the airport for an hour after one of the 82mm mortar rounds struck a petroleum products yard. The fire caused no injuries.

The base has been subject to almost daily mortar attacks, but this was the first time the attacks caused significant casualties and damage.

From The Australian :

The US military launched another air strike early today against a suspected hideout of terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Fallujah, killing four people and wounding 10 others, US officials and residents in the city said.

The air strike was the fourth such attack in recent weeks against suspected terrorist targets in the city west of Baghdad.

US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations director for the multinational force, said the attack was carried out after “multiple confirmations of Iraqi and multinational intelligence”.

His statement gave no further details but residents contacted by telephone said US jets fired missiles at a house on the eastern side of the city. A doctor said four people were killed and 10 were injured.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein is expected to be charged in a Baghdad court today.

When he appears, Saddam will probably be charged with crimes stemming from the war with Iran in the 1980s and the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

The government of Kuwait has called for Saddam to be executed.

He is also likely to be charged with the gas attack that killed thousands of Kurds at Halabja in 1988.

Ali Hassan al Majid, a former senior aide to Hussein, better known as Chemical Ali for his role in the attack, will also be charged.

Plans are underway to televise the event.
[…]
Earlier, Saddam appeared before an Iraqi judge as the country's new interim Government took the first step towards bringing him to justice.

The deposed dictator and 11 of his lieutenants were turned over to face Iraqi justice nearly 15 months after US-led forces overthrew him.

They will stay under US military guard.

“Saddam said 'Good morning' and asked if he could ask some questions,” US-trained lawyer leading the work of a tribunal set up to try the former president, Salem Chalabi said.

Mr Chalabi said Saddam was told he should wait until his next court appearance.

REUTERS: Saddam Lawyer Says Trial Mockery of Justice

Saddam Hussein will not get a fair trial and his captors have already decided his fate, the deposed Iraqi president's defense lawyer said Wednesday.

“This is a mockery of justice. We are facing clear legal violations. … The allegations that this is going to be a fair trial is baseless,” said Mohammad Rashdan, one of a 20-member legal team appointed by Saddam's wife to represent him.

A U.S. official said the United States formally transferred Saddam and 11 of his top lieutenants before an Iraqi judge as Iraq took legal custody of them.

Saddam will remain in the physical custody of U.S. forces. He and his top aides are to be charged Thursday.

“Any trial of the president is illegal and unjust and it follows from the aggression that took place against Iraq. The trial is a farce and the guilty verdict had been issued even before the trial has begun,” he added.

Some information about the Iraq War was available as it happened. Some will no doubt be released in the future. Here's some that has only just been released. Updating a previous post.

From The Telegraph :

America's military commander in Iraq ordered British troops to prepare a full-scale ground offensive against Iranian forces that had crossed the border and grabbed disputed territory, a senior officer has disclosed.

An attack would almost certainly have provoked open conflict with Iran. But the British chose instead to resolve the matter through diplomatic channels.

“If we had attacked the Iranian positions, all hell would have broken loose,” a defence source said yesterday.

“We would have had the Iranians to our front and the Iraqi insurgents picking us off at the rear.”

The incident was disclosed by a senior British officer at a conference in London last week and is reported in today's edition of Defence Analysis. The identity of the officer is not given.

“Some Iranian border and observation posts were re-positioned over the border, broadly a kilometre into Iraq,” a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.

The incident began last July when Revolutionary Guards pushed about a kilometre into Iraq to the north and east of Basra in an apparent attempt to reoccupy territory which they claimed belonged to Iran.

Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez then ordered the British to prepare to send in several thousand troops to attack the Revolutionary Guard positions.

The Revolutionary Guard Corps has 125,000 soldiers, making it 25 per cent larger than the entire British Army, and is equipped with 500 tanks, 600 armoured personnel carriers and 360 artillery weapons.
[…]
The Iran-Iraq incident lasted around a week and was resolved by a telephone conversation between Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, and Kamal Kharrazi, his Iranian counterpart, British officials said.

“It did look rather nasty at the time,” one official said. “But we were always confident it was a mistake and could be resolved by diplomatic means. We got in touch with Baghdad and said, 'Don't do anything silly; we are talking to the Iranians.' “

While Mr Straw was trying to resolve the issue peacefully, British military commanders on the ground were calming their Iranian counterparts, the ministry said.

Not explicitly mentioned in the article is whether or not the Iranians went back to their start lines.

Hat Tip : reader Max.

EVENING STANDARD: Britain thinks Saddam will be executed

Britain accepts that Saddam Hussein is likely to be executed by the Iraqi government for war crimes, senior Government sources have revealed.

The former dictator is facing what one senior Iraqi called “the trial of the century” after he was transferred from American to Baghdad legal custody today. He will remain in the physical custody of US forces.

He is due to appear in court tomorrow along with 11 of his henchmen including former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz and Ali Hassan Al Majid, also known as “Chemical Ali”.

Iraq's interim government is reinstating the death penalty but will offer an amnesty to Iraqis who “do not have their countrymen's blood on their hands”, President Ghazi al-Yawar was quoted as saying.

The United States has transferred legal custody of Saddam Hussein and 11 of his top lieutenants to Iraq's new government, a U.S. official says.

Saddam will remain in the physical custody of U.S. forces. He is expected to be formally charged on Thursday.

Saddam fled when U.S. forces entered Baghdad on April 9 last year. He was found hiding in a hole near his hometown of Tikrit.

More:

After the transfer, which took place Wednesday morning, Saddam looked visibly shaken, Salem Chalabi, executive director of the Special Iraqi Tribunal said.

Saddam and his aides are no longer prisoners of war, although they will physically remain in coalition military hands until the Iraqi security apparatus is ready to hold them.

Legally, Saddam and his aides will be in Iraqi custody until their trials, which are not expected before next year.

Saddam was advised that he had the right to legal counsel, and he wanted to ask questions but was told he would be able to ask them during his court appearance Thursday, Chalabi said.

The former Iraqi leader is expected to be charged Thursday, however the formal indictment could take months.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Australia, the United States and Denmark have become the first countries to send ambassadors to present credentials to Iraq's interim President, just 24 hours after the country regained 'sovereignty'.

Australia's ambassador was the first to be officially welcomed by the Iraqi President followed by the US and Danish diplomats.

Australian ambassador Neil Mules joined his US counterpart John Negroponte, head of the world's largest American embassy and Denmark's Torben Getterman in handing their credentials to President Ghazi al-Yawar at the formal ceremony.

Australia First Again. Oi Oi Oi!

From the ABC :

Saddam Hussein could be tried after other members of his ousted regime, Iraq's ambassador to the United States has said.

Saddam will be handed over to Iraqi justice on Wednesday, two days after the country regained sovereignty from Washington, but US soldiers will still guard him to ensure he does not escape.

Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Tuesday that Saddam and up to 11 top members of his ousted government would appear before Iraqi judges to be charged on Thursday, although a trial was still months away.

“I have always believed that the sooner Saddam Hussein was brought in the courtroom, the better for Iraq”, Iraqi ambassador Rend Rahim said.

“We're approaching that trial,” she said at a conference called at a conservative Washington think-tank, the American Enterprise Institute.

“It could happen in the coming weeks, it might start with the trials of lesser persons, like Ali Hassan al-Majid (known as Chemical Ali)”.

She called the trials “a cleansing, reconciliation process” and “a kind of reverse trauma the Iraqis need to go through”.

“It's an important part of working out their legacy.”

Saddam would be charged with crimes against humanity for a 1988 massacre of Kurds, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war, said Salem Chalabi, a lawyer leading the work of a tribunal that will try the former Iraqi leader.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A British civilian contractor was killed in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Thursday while working as a security consultant, Britain's Foreign Office said.

”I understand that his vehicle was ambushed,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP, giving no more details of the incident.

“We have informed Mr (Julian) Davies' family and we would appreciate the maintenance of their privacy at this time in order for them to grieve their loss,” a spokeswoman for his company Global Risk Strategies said.

From AP

1. Saddam Hussein; president; detained Dec. 13

2. Ali Hasan al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali for his role in chemical weapons attacks against the Kurds; Number five on the most wanted list; detained Aug. 21

3. Aziz Saleh al-Numan; Baath Party Baghdad regional command chairman; number eight on the most wanted list; detained May 22, 2003.

4. Barzan Ibrahim al-Hassan al-Tikriti; presidential adviser and Saddam's half brother; number 38 on the most wanted list; allegedly the chief organizer of a clandestine group of companies and funds handling Saddam's money; detained April 16, 2003.

5. Kamal Mustafa Abdullah al-Tikriti; secretary of the Republican Guard; Saddam's son-in-law; number 10 on the most wanted list; detained May 17, 2003

6. Muhammed Hamza al-Zubaydi; retired revolutionary command council member; a leader of the 1991 suppression of the Shiite rebellion; number nine of the most wanted list; detained April 20, 2003.

7. Sabir Abdul Aziz Al-Douri; governor of Baghdad; head of military intelligence during the 1991 Gulf War; detention date not known.

8. Abid Hamid Mahmoud al-Tikriti, presidential secretary; he oversaw personal security force; detained June 16, 2003.

9. Sultan Hashim Ahmad; defense minister; number 27 on the most wanted list; detained Sept. 19.

10. Taha Yassin Ramadan; Iraqi vice president; revolutionary command council member; number 20 on the most wanted list; detained Aug. 20

11. Tareq Aziz; former deputy prime minister; former foreign minister; number 25 on the most wanted list; Detained April 25, 2003.

12. Watban Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti; presidential adviser and Saddam's half brother; detained April 13, 2003

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. This (updated) briefing is brought to you by Andrew Olmsted of Andrew Olmsted dot com.

TOP TOPICS

• JK: In a surprise move, the USA has handed over formal sovereignty to the new Iraqi government 2 days earlier than planned. That ought to distrupt a few terrorist timetables - and probably doesn't do Reuters and The New York Times any favours, either. Here's a roundup of reaction from the Iraqi blogosphere.

• Al Jazeera is reporting that an Iraqi terrorist group has captured a U.S. Marine and will behead him unless the U.S. released certain Iraqi prisoners. The Pentagon has confirmed that a Marine has been missing since June 21, but cannot confirm that this Marine is actually a captive or not. One thing is certain: if the Iraqis follow through on their threat and behead a Marine, terrorists facing Marines in future combats won't need to worry about being mistreated at Abu Ghraib.
  UPDATE: There are reports that PFC Keith Maupin has been executed.

• President Bush is meeting with the heads of state of NATO for a two-day summit in Istanbul that will include discussion of NATO's role, if any in Iraq as the transitional government takes charge. The U.S. is hopeful it can gain at least limited NATO support for training and technical assistance to the new Iraqi government. If successful, the summit will garner some valuable international support for the new Iraqi government; if not successful, the Bush administration may have to go to the well yet again to draw on American forces to provide the necessary training. More NATO analysis here.

Other Topics Today Include: how 1AD beat al-Sadr; Violence continues in Iraq; Car bombing updates; Sovereignty's limitations; A new (Iraqi) sheriff is coming to town; An al-Qaeda terrorist recants; Books for Iraq; Toys for Iraq; How to support the troops.

Read The Rest…

From The Australian :

The extremist group responsible for beheading two foreign hostages was releasing three Turkish captives “for the sake of their Muslim brothers”, Al-Jazeera television said today.
[…]
Supporters of al-Zarqawi, a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist, said on Saturday that they would behead the Turkish hostages within 72 hours unless Turkish companies stopped doing business with US forces in Iraq.
[…]
The following day, Turkey's defence minister, Vecdi Gonul, reportedly said Turkey would not give in to terrorists' threats.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A road-side bomb blast has killed an unknown number of US Marines in eastern Baghdad, a Marine at the scene says.

”I don't know how many died here, [they] killed some Marines,” the Marine said.

“It's very sad to see people die today.

“We are just trying to help and I don't know why the terrorists want to kill us. We just want to help Iraqis.”

A US military spokesman had no immediate word on the attack, which wrecked a Humvee vehicle in the Canal district.

And from The Australian :

The explosion took place about 10am, Army Major Phil Smith of the 1st Cavalry Division said.
[…]
A US soldier at the scene said several US troops were wounded or killed in the attack when a roadside bomb hit the lead vehicle.

Footage from Associated Press Television News showed blood inside a slightly damaged Humvee and a flak vest lying in the road.

More details as they become available.
UPDATE: From the AFP via the ABC :

Three US marines were killed and two wounded when their convoy was hit in a bomb attack in Baghdad early on Tuesday, the US military said in a statement.

”Three marines were killed and two wounded when a Marine convoy was attacked with a roadside bomb in east Baghdad at 2:00am on June 29,” the statement said.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Two planes built by an aircraft designer and manufacturer in Queensland have been sold to Iraq's new air force.

The Seeker aircraft will be used for oil, pipeline and border patrol.

Two planes manufactured by Hervey Bay's Seabird Aviation will be delivered to the southern city of Basra mid-next month.

A joint venture will see the aircraft assembled in Jordan.

Member for Wide Bay Warren Truss says the Seekers represent the rebirth of an air force that will fly in cooperation with coalition forces in Iraq for the first time in almost two decades.

Seabird Aviation managing director Don Adams says Iraqi pilots and engineers are being trained in Jordan to operate the planes.

The planes are fitted with surveillance systems and digital video recording hardware.

The pilots will pass on suspicious activity to Iraqi and Coalition forces.

From the AFP via The Australian :

The US-led coalition has officially agreed to hand jailed dictator Saddam Hussein and 11 members of his old regime over to Iraqi custody in the next few days, the country's war crimes tribunal said today.

Salam Chalabi, executive director of the Iraqi Special Tribunal, and the coalition forces agreed to the handover of Saddam, the tribunal said.

“As a consequence over the next few days, the Iraqi authorities will be taking custody of 12 senior members of the previous regime, including Saddam Hussein, this being the first transfer of those senior members who will be charged with the commission of serious crimes,” Chalabi said.

Update to story here.

This morning, we posted a story about Pfc. Keith Maupin, who was taken hostage in Iraq on April 9th.

Fox now has more on the story, though it's still not confirmed.

Iraqi militants killed an American soldier they have held hostage for nearly three months, saying the killing was because the U.S. government did not change its policy in Iraq, Al-Jazeera television reported Tuesday.

….

The Arab satellite station aired video showing a blindfolded man sitting on the ground. Al-Jazeera said that in the next scene, gunmen shoot the man in the back of the head, in front of a hole dug in the ground. It did not show the killing

.

As you're all aware, sovereignty was formally handed over to the interim Iraqi government yesterday, a couple days ahead of schedule (But do you know that a blogger scooped CNN et. al.?).

So, what are the Iraqi bloggers saying about all this?

AP — Strong Explosions Rock Central Baghdad

At least four strong explosions shook the heart of the Iraqi capital early Tuesday, hours after the U.S.-run coalition transferred sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government.

Three strong blasts reverberated through the city about 12:35 a.m. The cause of the blasts was unknown but it appeared the explosions occurred on the western side of the Tigris river where the U.S.-controlled Green Zone is located.

Cross-post from OTB

20 year old Pfc. Keith Matthew Maupin was declared missing after an April 9 convoy attack near Baghdad. He was the first American soldier captured after major combat ended in Iraq.

Now comes this report from Yahoo News:

There are unconfirmed reports that a soldier from the Tri-State kidnapped in April in Iraq has been killed, WLWT has learned.

Pfc. Matt Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, a member of the 724th Transportation Company, was captured April 9. His convoy was attacked by gunmen using rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons.

According to military representatives close to the Maupin family who spoke to WLWT, sources are reporting that the Al Jazeera TV network has a videotape of Maupin being shot.

The military has not changed Maupin's status, and the report of his death has not been confirmed.

A tape showing Maupin being held by guerillas was released about a week after Maupin was reported missing.

Looking for confirmation. Meanwhile, you can read more about Pfc. Maupin here.

Turkey - NATO leaders opened a summit Monday and agreed to help train Iraq's armed forces just hours after the new government in Baghdad took over sovereignty from the U.S.-led administration.
“We are united in our support for the Iraqi people and offer full cooperation to the new sovereign interim government as it seeks to strengthen internal security,” said a statement adopted in the opening session of the two-day summit.

***

A statement called on alliance officials to “urgently” discuss details of the training plan with the Iraqi authorities, who are struggling to contain a wave of deadly insurgent attacks. NATO said it would also urgently consider “further proposals to support the nascent Iraqi security institutions.”

MEMBERS of Iraq's new government took their oath of office today in a ceremony only hours after the US-run coalition transferred sovereignty, formally ending the US military occupation.

Members of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's new government each stepped forward to place their right hand on the Koran and pledged to accept their new duties with sincerity and impartiality.

Behind them, a bank of Iraqi flags lined the podium.

“Before us is a challenge and a burden and we ask God almighty to give us the patience and guide us to take this country whose people deserves all goodness,” said President Ghazi al-Yawer after taking his oath.

“May God protect Iraq and its citizens.”

Bremer's statement:

“As recognized in U.N. Security Council resolution 1546, the Coalition Provisional Authority will cease to exist on June 28th, at which point the occupation will end and the Iraqi interim government will assume and exercise full sovereign authority on behalf of the Iraqi people. I welcome Iraq's steps to take its rightful place of equality and honor among the free nations of the world. Sincerely, L. Paul Bremer, ex-administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority.”

Bremer left Iraq immediately after the handover.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

An unidentified group of gunmen in Iraq have kidnapped a Pakistani driver and are threatening to behead him within three days unless Iraqi prisoners are released, Al Arabiya television has reported.

”This man was taken after an attack on a US base in Balad,” said one of the masked gunmen on a tape Al Arabiya said it had obtained.

“You must release our prisoners held near the US base in Balad, in Dujail, in Yethrib, in Samarra and near Abu Ghraib. You have three days from the date of this recording and after that we will behead him. We have warned you.”

The tape also showed the Pakistani man, who was wearing an identity card given to contractors linked to the US military, urging Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to shut down his country's embassy in Iraq.

From the AFP via The Australian :

One British soldier has been killed and two have been wounded after a bomb attack on a military convoy in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the Ministry of Defence said today.

”I can confirm, unfortunately, that one British soldier has been killed and two have been injured,” a Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokeswoman said, without giving any information on the extent of the injuries.

“What we believe so far is that it was an improvised explosive device used against a mobile patrol,” she said. “We believe it exploded under part of the vehicle as it was driving through on its mobile patrol.”
[…]
The MOD said the incident occurred at 6:30 am GMT (15.30 AEST) and that the name and unit of the dead soldier would be released after the next of kin had been informed.

So far just rumors via Reuters, but we'll keep our eyes and ears out for this one:

The U.S. military says it is checking unconfirmed reports that al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been captured in Iraq.

The Jordanian-born Zarqawi, who Washington says is its number one enemy in Iraq, is accused of masterminding a string of suicide bombings and of the execution of an American and a South Korean hostage.

The reports suggested that Zarqawi had been captured near the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad and in the Polish military area of responsibility.

“We are working on that issue,” a U.S. military official said on Monday.

A Polish spokesman added: “I cannot confirm that information… When the operation is ongoing at the moment I cannot make any comment.”

The only other story I can find is from albalwaba news:

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the man believed to be leading the resistance in Iraq, has been captured, the US military said Monday.

Al Zarqawi was America's most wanted man in Iraq.

He is believed to have been behind a number of kidnappings and beheadings.

Reports indicated he had been captured in the town of Hilla, south of Baghdad. The area is under the responsibility of Polish forces

Via the comments, Gen, Kimmitt is dousing water on the rumor:

“It's not true, the reports are not true,” said Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the US military in Iraq.

“We've heard the reports about it, but they are not true.”

Update: U.S. says it was look-alike:

The U.S. military denied reports Monday that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant who Washington says is allied to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, had been captured in Iraq.

“It's not true, the reports are not true,” Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the U.S. military in Iraq, told Reuters. “We've heard the reports about it, but they are not true.”

Earlier, reports on a U.S.-funded Iraqi radio station had suggested Zarqawi had been captured near the town of Hilla, 100 km (60 miles) south of Baghdad, in an area controlled by Polish troops. Iraqi officials in Hilla said a man had been captured who resembled Zarqawi and spoke with a similar accent.

But Polish forces said the man was not Zarqawi.

Update to this story

VOA:

At a small ceremony Monday morning inside the heavily guarded Green Zone area of Baghdad, Iraq's chief American administrator, Paul Bremer, reading a statement, turned over legal documents to interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, officially giving Iraqis long-awaited sovereignty.

“We welcome Iraq's steps to take its rightful place with equality and honor among the free nations of the world,” said Mr. Bremer.

Prime Minister Allawi thanked the United States. “They helped us in liberating our country, we are very thankful,” said Mr. Allawi.

Mr. Allawi said he requested the early transfer of sovereignty because Iraqis needed to control their own destiny as soon as possible. He says the security of his people is his first priority.

Reuters:

“This is a historic day, a happy day, a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to,” Iraqi President Ghazi Yawar told the ceremony, which began at 10:26 a.m. (7:26 a.m. British time).

“This is the time when we take the country back into the international community.”

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari:

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said in Istanbul the handover was brought forward to try to avert attacks by insurgents mounting a campaign of bloody attacks.

“I believe that we will challenge these terrorists, criminals, Saddamists and anti-democratic forces by bringing even the date of the handover forward,” he told reporters.

“We want to prove to the Iraqi people and the world that we are in charge. We can manage our own security and can defend ourselves provided we are given the means and support to do that.”

“Those who are counting on Iraq being divided … should revise their assessment.”

Zebari conceded the interim government faced many security challenges but said he didn't think the possibility of civil war existed.

“(There is a) very deadly terrorist network operating there (in Iraq), but we will rise up to responsibility and face those challenges,” he said.

From the AFP via The Australian :

Power in Iraq has been handed over to the interim government, AFP reports.

The US overseer in Iraq, Paul Bremer, would leave Iraq today, a coalition official said, after the US diplomat handed sovereignty back to Iraq in an official ceremony.

Earlier Sky News in the UK said the handover was imminent.

It was possible it would happen within the next 12 hours, according to reports.

A formal announcement would be made later today, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said.

The informal announcement was made by Iraq's foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari.
[…]
“We will challenge these elements in Iraq, the anti-democratic elements, by even bringing the handover of sovereignty before June 30 as a sign we are ready for it,” he said.

UPDATE : From the BBC :

In a low-key ceremony in Baghdad, US administrator Paul Bremer gave legal documents to an Iraqi judge at 1026 local time (0626 GMT).

From The Australian :

An American passenger fatally wounded aboard an Australian RAAF C-130 Hercules in Baghdad was hit by the only bullet to penetrate the aircraft, the Australian Defence Force said today.

Defence spokesman Brigadier Mike Hannan said the aircraft was struck by ground fire soon after it took off from Baghdad airport yesterday.
[…]
“The information we have at the moment is that the person was in the cargo area. There were only three passengers on board the aircraft at the time so the probability of this individual being hit was extremely remote,” Brigadier Hannan said.

“Only one fragment or projectile came through the hull and hit the individual”.
[…]
Brigadier Hannan said the aircraft had transported personnel from the north of Iraq and was heading south. He said it was the first time an Australian aircraft had been hit.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Two Iraqi children have been killed and eight wounded in a mortar strike on the Tigris river bank near Baghdad's Sheraton Hotel, popular with Western media and businessmen, a local hospital said.

Earlier, a policeman at the site of the attack had said five people were killed by two mortars as they had just finished wading in the Tigris.

A doctor at Al-Kindi hospital corrected the officer's toll and his account of the incident.

The group of boys and young men had been playing football when two mortars burst, sending shrapnel flying, and killed two of them, said Dr Walid Hamid.

“Two children were killed and eight wounded, three of them seriously,” Dr Hamid told AFP.

“They were playing football along the river and Abu Nawas street. We don't know who fired the two mortars,” a witness said.

Blood stained the eastern bank of the Tigris river. The projectiles had gouged a hole in the dirt.

The mortar strike was the source of two loud blasts that shook central Baghdad at 7:05pm local time.

Fox:

An Arab satellite TV network broadcast a videotape Sunday showing a blindfolded man in military fatigues and said he was a U.S. Marine taken hostage in Iraq.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military, but the video showed a card identifying the man by a Pakistani name and as an “active duty” Marine. The man had a trimmed moustache and his eyes were covered with a white blindfold.

The Al-Jazeera network said the group claimed it infiltrated a Marine outpost, lured the man outside and abducted him. The station said the group demanded the release of all Iraqis “in occupation jails” or the man would be killed.

The group identified itself as “Islamic Response,” the security wing of the “1920 Revolution Brigades” referring to the uprising against the British after World War I.

There seems to be some confusion as to whether this is a new hostage or if this is the Pakistani taken hostage this morning. The earlier hostage is a civilian employee from Pakistan. From all appearances, the marine is a completely different, though Pakistani, man.

Update: Blogs of War has a still photo of the Marine hostage, showing his ID badge, though the story has still not been officially confirmed by any authority.

Here's the story at Al Jazeera. The AJ story says that the marine was captured after the militants infiltrated a U.S. base. Most other news sources say the hostage was lured into a trap by the group.

Update: The military has confirmed only that the Marine in question has been missing.

KBCI Boise and the AP report that:

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the United States has no immediate plans to send more troops to Iraq.

In an interview with the B-B-C, Rumsfeld says the task of security “is not to flood a country with more troops.”

He says he has approved a study of the practicality of sending more troops but that doesn't mean they'll be needed.

Noting that the number of troops in Iraq has increased to more than 140-thousand, Rumsfeld said the U-S doesn't want to become “an occupying power.”

News.com.au (Australia) is reporting that elections will take place in Iraq at the end of January, 2005 “as planned.”

FOXNews is reporting that officials have revised the death toll from the dual car bombings in Iraq from 40 to 23.

Back from some business travel, and I'm sorry to post the following, via CNN:

Two car bombs exploded near a mosque, killing 40 people and wounding 22 others Saturday night in the southern Iraqi city of Hillah, a coalition military official said.

The bombings took place near a building formerly known as the Saddam Mosque. The Polish-led multinational division responded.

Hillah is a largely Shiite town near the ancient city of Babylon and is along a road where many ambushes have occurred.

And militants who kidnapped three Turkish citizens are threatening to behead them in 72 hours if Turkey does not pull its companies out of Iraq, the Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera reported Saturday.

Terrorists loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were shown on Al-Jazeera television Saturday, holding three Turkish workers hostage and threatening to behead them in 72 hours, just as President Bush was arriving in Turkey for a NATO summit.

CNN:

Al-Jazeera broadcast a video showing three people seated, holding what appeared to be identification documents, while two armed masked men pointed guns at them. The network did not air any sound from the tape.

This is the same group that kidnapped and murdered both Nick Berg and Kim Sun-Il.

Iraq - Insurgents launched attacks in the strife-ridden city of Baqouba on Saturday, and nine people died, six of them insurgents, U.S. and Iraqi officials said. Attacks occurred in other cities north and south of Baghdad.

The attacks in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, came only two days after U.S. tanks and jets routed insurgents who assaulted police stations and government offices in the city as part of a widespread offensive that killed about 100 people nationwide.

In the Saturday attacks, rebels targeted offices of two political parties _ one of them run by Iraq's prime minister _ a police station and a government building in Baqouba. U.S. soldiers and Iraqi security forces took up defensive positions across the city, the center of Iraq's orange-growing region.

Update:

The attacks included an assault on a convoy carrying a Kurdish government official in Erbil and an attack on the office of a group affiliated with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

From The Australian :

[Australian]Defence said the attack occurred earlier today against an unnamed Iraqi Army Training Facility where Australian Army personnel were involved in the training of the New Iraqi Army.

It said six to eight mortar rounds were fired at the base but only one landed inside the compound.
[…]
Channel 9 said five Iraqis suffered shrapnel injuries in the attack, with two of them in a serious condition.

Nine reporter Robert Penfold, who was at the training base during the attack, said five mortar rounds had hit the compound.

Australian military officials planned to continue their involvement in training Iraqi troops, he said.

He said Australian troops appeared pretty relaxed about the situation, despite the attack.

From The Australian :

The blast from a car bomb injured a local Kurdish government official and five of his bodyguards today in the northern city of Irbil, a spokesman for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said.

The car bomb detonated just after 10am local time outside the Kurdistan Democratic Party's ministry of culture, leaving the street strewn with debris and shells of burnt-out cars.

The spokesman, who requested anonymity, identified the wounded official as Ahmed Mohammed, the KDP's minister of culture.

A favorable poll:

• 68 percent of Iraqis have confidence in their new leaders
• 73 percent of Iraqis polled approved of Allawi to lead the new government, 84 percent approved of President Ghazi Yawar and almost two-thirds backed the new Cabinet.
• Four out of every five Iraqis expected that the new government will “make things better” for Iraq after the handover, with 10 percent expecting the situation to remain the same and 7 percent anticipating a decline.
• two-thirds of Iraqis believed the first democratic elections for a new national assembly — tentatively set for December or January — will be free and fair, the survey shows.
• Seventy percent of Iraqis polled supported the new army, and 82 percent supported the police

The poll was taken in diverse regions.

Numbers to contemplate next time you hear someone say “They don't want us there.”

From the AFP via The Australian :

A US soldier was killed when his patrol was attacked early today by rocket propelled grenades in the centre of Baghdad, the US military said today.

”A coalition soldier died of wounds after a US patrol came under attack in central Baghdad,” the military said in a statement.

“The soldier died around 1.30am local time (7.30am AEST today),” it added.

Al Qaeda has now switched targets to two different foes: their traditional enemies, the Shiite 'Heretics', and their most dangerous enemy, democracy. From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation):

At least four people are reported to have been killed in an attack on Iraq's leading Shiite group in the town of Baquba.

The attack was carried out one day after the group's leader criticised the top Al Qaeda linked terrorist said to be operating in Iraq.

The Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq is Iraq's most influential and mainstream Shiite group.

Its headquarters at Baquba, north east of Baghdad has been attacked by dozens of armed men.

Yesterday a senior council member, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani called Osama Bin Laden, the Sunni Muslim leader of Al Qaeda, and the Al Qaeda linked operative in Iraq, Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, “filthy infidels”.

Men loyal to Al Zarqawi overran key parts of Baquba on Thursday.

Witnesses there today say the attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades at the offices of the Supreme Council.

Insurgents have also reportedly blown up the local headquarters of Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's political party in Baquba.

News straight from Iraq, via blogger Zeyad:

I just heard that Sistani's spokesman announced that one of the four most senior clerics of the Najaf Hawza has been assassinated. He also launched a strong verbal attack against Al-Qaeda. Since it is obvious that it wasn't Sistani, then we have one of the other three, Sayyid Bashir Al-Najafi, Sayyid Mohammed Ishaq Al-Fayyadh, or Sayyid Mohammed Sa'id Al-Hakim. This isn't good at all.

More as we get it.

Update: So far the only mention is one sentence on an Australian news site:

A prominent Shiite leader was assassinated in Iraq on Thursday night.

Accounts vary.
From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A leading sheikh, Abdallah Janabi, condemns the attacks as launched “under the pretext that Zarqawi is based in Fallujah”.

”There are no foreign fighters here”, he said.

Then there's an account published on Hammorabi, an Iraqi Blog :

The names of the (so called)”mujahdin” (i call them killers)Arab nationalities died in the last American attack on Fallujah on 19-06-2004

1.Muhamed bin Salem Al-asmari Saudi

2.Abdullah bin Baz Al-utaibi Saudi

3.Muhamed Al-zahrani Saudi

4.Sa'ad bin Khaled Al-shahri Saudi

5.Abu Muhamed Al-Kusaimi Saudi

6.Muftaah saed Abu-dajana Emirates

7.Sultaan Mutaseem Al-ashmuri Yemen

8.Zakaria Abu-alabaas Morroco

9.Saed Muhamed Abu-zaaker Algeria

10.Mahmud uthman Al-shaikh Syria

11.Abu-attah Lybia

12.Abu Abdullah Somalia

13.Kaari Handalh Somalia

14.Omaar Hamid Khlil Iraq (Kurdistan)

15.Saif Al-Turkstani China

16.Abu Al-waleed Mauritania

Original source for this is 'quoted as one of the Islamic (wahabi) web sites', but I have been unable to find which one. Can any readers help verify or debunk this?

A day late, as I've been down with the Dreaded Lurgy, but here we have from the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) the latest from Al Sadr :

Radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army has declared a truce by loud speaker in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City, saying it is ready to help protect important sites from terror attacks.

”Considering the exceptional circumstances that our people face, we have decided to stop from tonight the military operations in Sadr City until we receive new orders,” the militia's central committee said.

“All the Mehdi Army will respect this decision or face expulsion.”

The Mehdi Army is offering to protect Government buildings, hospitals, power stations, water stations, service stations and oil refineries.

Fighting has rocked the Shiite Muslim slum of Sadr City almost nightly since Sadr rose up against US forces in the first week of April.

The statement says the Mehdi Army is ready to protect “all those who might be targeted by terrorists notably in the coming two weeks,” referring to the June 30 handover of power in Iraq.

“The Mehdi Army proves day after day it cares for the greater interests of the oppressed people of Iraq,” it said.

Note that this announcement of 'protection' came before the latest round of attacks which have killed nearly 100 Iraqis.

A Lebanese national with ties to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted terrorist in Iraq, was picked up in Minnesota and charged Friday in a New York court with lying to the FBI about his ties to terrorists, Fox News has learned.

According to a federal complaint obtained by Fox, Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi, attended jihad training camps in Afghanistan in 1988 and ‘89, where he first met Zarqawi — who is believed to be directing the current attacks against U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq.

Officials say that more serious charges, such as material support to terrorism, may follow.

Update: Much more at Power Line.

U.S.-led coalition forces struck a suspected terrorist safehouse in Fallujah on Friday, hoping to cripple Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's network.

“Coalition forces conducted another strike on a known Zarqawi network safehouse in southeastern Fallujah, based on multiple confirmations of Iraqi and coalition intelligence,” said Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt. “This operation employed precision weapons to target and destroy the safehouse.”

As many as 25 people were in the house at the time but it was not clear how many were killed or wounded.

Dan Darling writes:

Today I was quite surprised to read this story in the New York Times because while I was quite familiar with the topic at hand, I can't in all honesty believe that the Times agreed to print this given that they've been sitting on it for quite awhile now.

I would strongly suspect that there's a correlation between when they got a hold of the story, and Mr. Clarke's debut back in April. The issue of when the Times chooses to publicize what it does is, of course, beyond my ken, so I will solely reside myself to killing a few common memes with respect to Iraqi ties to al-Qaeda.

“Contacts between Iraqi intelligence agents and Osama bin Laden when he was in Sudan in the mid-1990's were part of a broad effort by Baghdad to work with organizations opposing the Saudi ruling family, according to a newly disclosed document obtained by the Americans in Iraq.”

Read the Rest…

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday.

Auditions are in progress, and today's Iraq Report is brought to you by Thomas Moore of Backsight Forethought.

Top Topics

• The Green Side has a new letter up. The Green Side is a series of letters from USMC Major David G. Bellon, currently stationed in Iraq in the Fallujah area. Fans of primary intelligence will enjoy his site, as the news from the eyes of the boots on the ground is often at odds with what we see on the nightly news. In the same vein, Marine Corps Moms has daily updates with letters and articles about Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. Stories like this one make your visits worthwhile.

• Wretchard over at the Belmont Club, has a brief analysis of the Iraq insurgency. If you're not a regular reader of his, you should be.

• The Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq issued an appeal to the American media to provide more balanced coverage of the situation in his country. The appeal seems to have gone largely unreported.

Other topics today include: Zarqawi threatens Iraq's Prime Minister; More Falluajh action; Zarqawi claims responsibility for recent attacks; Reports from the Iraqi blogosphere; The ongoing saga of Sadr; End of Sadr's uprising?; Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary & Netherlands reaffirm commitment; Iraq/al-Qaeda ties controversy; World reactions to Kim Sun-Il's beheading; Abu Ghraib investigation; Interrogation techniques; How to support the troops; Spirit of America needs YOU!

Read The Rest…

HAARETZ: U.S. lawmakers: Use Israeli bullets for training only

Israeli-made bullets bought by the U.S. army to plug a shortfall should be used for training only, not to fight Muslim guerrillas in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. lawmakers told army generals on Thursday.

Since the army has other stockpiled ammunition, “by no means, under any circumstances should a round [from Israel] be utilized,” said Rep. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, the top Democrat on a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee with jurisdiction over land forces.

The army contracted with Israel Military Industries in December for $70 million in small-caliber ammunition.

MAARIV: Al-Zarqawi's wife says he's ''friendly and a good man''

The wife of senior al Qaeda leader, Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi, was quoted Thursday as saying he could not kill women and children. Al-Zarqawi has been blamed for several deadly attacks in Iraq, including the beheading of foreign hostages. But one of his two wives, identified just as Umm Mohammed told the Jordanian daily Addustur: “There’s no way that my husband could be a terrorist. He is friendly and a good man”.

Rebels have launched coordinated assaults on Iraqi police that turned several mainly Sunni Muslim cities into battle zones and at least 23 people have been killed, including three U.S. soldiers.

The simultaneous violence in Baquba, Falluja, Ramadi and Mosul on Thursday intensified a bloody campaign by Iraqi insurgents and foreign militants to sabotage the formal handover from U.S.-led occupation to an interim government in six days' time.

***

A statement quoted Thursday by a Saudi Web site claimed responsibility for the Baqouba attacks in the name of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who said the insurgents belong to his Tawhid and Jihad movement. He called residents to “comply with the instructions of resistance.”

**

Marines say a US helicopter was shot down, but no one was hurt.

***

CNN is reporting the death toll to 30:

In the biggest attack, a series of explosions struck the northern city of Mosul, killing more than 30 people and wounding 170 others.

The violence in Mosul — which includes three car bombings, a rocket attack, a raid on a security company and clashes between coalition forces and insurgents — has virtually paralyzed the predominately Kurdish city.

Four Iraqi police officers and two US soldiers are among the casualties. There are reports that insurgents are roaming freely around Baqubah with rocket launchers.

Update: Fox now has the death toll at 67, including three US soldiers.

Update: The death toll has been revised to 89. At least 318 have been wounded.

A man purporting to be Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has threatened to kill the new prime minister of Iraq.

A recording purportedly made by the apparent mastermind of bombings and beheadings of civilian contractors in Iraq vowed to assassinate Iyad Allawi and fight the Americans “until Islamic rule is back on Earth.”

An official with Allawi's office dismissed the threat, saying it would not derail the June 30 transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led coalition to the interim Iraqi government.

From The Australian :

A prisoner at the notorious Abu Ghraib detention centre outside the Iraqi capital died of a heart attack almost two weeks ago, the US military said today.

”An autopsy report confirmed a security internee being detained at Abu Ghraib died of a heart attack, June 10,” the military said in a statement.

“At the time of his death, the 52-year-old male was being treated for heart-related problems. He had been held as a security internee since October for offering a reward to anybody who would kill a US soldier.”

The prisoner's body will be handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross to transfer to the Iraqi government, the military said.

From The Australian :

Gunmen shot dead two Iraqi women working as translators for British forces in Basra, Iraqi officials said.

The women, who worked at the city's airport, were ambushed as they were riding home in the city's Kut al-Hajaj district, officials said. Their driver was wounded.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A poll shows the Federal Government is gaining support for its policy to keep the Australian troops in Iraq.

Half of the respondents to the Newspoll published in the The Australian say the ALP's [Australian Labor Party's] policy to bring the troops home by Christmas could damage Australia's alliance with the United States.

Forty-eight per cent think the troops should remain there until at least the second half of next year, while 45 per cent support Labor's Christmas deadline and 8 per cent were undecided.

A poll conducted in May found 47 per cent were in favour of Labor's policy of bringing the troops home from Iraq by Christmas, with 45 per cent against.

The poll was conducted before the latest ritual human sacrifice by Al Qaeda.

From The Australian :

The Coalition [John Howard's Liberal-National Government] is gaining more support for its policy of keeping troops in Iraq and maintaining a close relationship with the US.

As government ministers continue to press Mark Latham to specify how many Australian troops he would leave in Iraq, sentiment is moving towards the Howard Government's position of keeping troops there “until the job is done”.
[…]
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday that Labor had changed its policy seven times on the troop withdrawal.

He said Mr Latham's latest statement that all the troops would leave Iraq meant the Australian mission in Baghdad would have to close.

In a Newspoll survey of important issues, national security – inserted for the first time – was ranked third after health and education, and the Coalition was given a 2-to-1 advantage over the ALP.

For once (the first time in living memory), I think the spin on this is pro-Howard. The Australian population is split 45/45/10, as near as makes no odds, and it's an election year. The important point is that regardless of public opinion, if the ALP gets in, Australia does a Spain (unless the ALP backflips again), and if not, Australia stays the distance.
Rather like the situation in the USA.

From the ABC :

Key allies of the US in Iraq - Poland, Italy, the Netherlands and Hungary - have extended their deployment of troops until the end of the year.
[…]
The commitments come after the beheading of a South Korean hostage by Muslim militants in Iraq show had demanded troop withdrawal.

South Korea vowed to go ahead with plans to deploy 3,000 more troops, adding the 670 already in Iraq.

The US-led multinational force in Iraq numbers around 160,000 troops.

Polish Defence Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski has announced that Poland would extend its mandate in Iraq from June 30 to December 31, 2004.
[…]
The Polish Government was planning to maintain up to 2,500 Polish troops in Iraq until the end of December, while significantly reducing numbers in 2005, “upon the wishes of Iraqi authorities,” he added.
[…]
The Italian Government has also extended the country's 3,000 troops deployed in Iraq until the end of the year, according to a statement issued following a cabinet meeting.
[…]
The Dutch parliament has overwhelmingly backed government plans to keep some 1,300 troops in Iraq until March 2005, Dutch media reported.

Only a handful of Green and leftist MPs opposed the proposal put forward by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende's centre-right government, news agency ANP said.
[…]
Hungary will also keep its troops in Iraq, Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy said.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

South Korea has condemned the beheading of a South Korean hostage by Muslim militants in Iraq as an “inhumane act of terror” and vowed to go ahead with plans to deploy 3,000 more troops to the country.
[…]
South Korea has had about 670 military medics and engineers in southern Iraq since May last year.

The militants had demanded Seoul withdraw them and drop plans to send 3,000 more troops to help rebuild a Kurdish region in northern Iraq.

“Our Government's basic spirit and position has not changed,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Shin Bong-kil told reporters, reading from the council statement.

“We confirm that again because our troop deployment is for reconstruction and humanitarian aid support for Iraq.”

That explanation, repeatedly given by Government officials, had not impressed the militants.

One of the militants said on the video tape aired on Arabic television station Al Jazeera: “Enough lies. Your army is not here for the sake of Iraqis but for the sake of cursed America.”

Per Fox News, Reuters is reporting that 4 are dead inside a Zarqawi safehouse in Fallujah.

The deaths are a result of a raid by Coalition forces previously reported on by the AP via Fox News:

Witnesses said large explosions rocked Fallujah (search) late Tuesday in the same area as a U.S. airstrike last weekend. The Americans said the weekend attack targeted a safehouse used by the terrorist network of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search).

Ambulances raced to the area after the 10:30 p.m. blasts. Wounded and dead were being evacuated, said Iraqi army Col. Mekky Zeidan.

UPDATE: From the AP via Newsday:

The United States launched an airstrike Tuesday in Fallujah on a safehouse used by followers of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi — the second strike against the terror network in three days, the U.S. military said.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the U.S.-led coalition's deputy chief of operations, said the strike involved precision weapons to “target and destroy” the safehouse and was based on “multiple confirmations of actionable intelligence.”

“Wherever and whenever we find elements of the Zarqawi network, we will attack them,” he said.

Large explosions rocked the restive Sunni Muslim city west of Baghdad. Ambulances raced to the area after the 10:30 p.m. blasts. Wounded and dead were being evacuated, said Iraqi Police Col. Mekky Zeidan.

U.S. officials offered no casualty figures, but Al-Jazeera television reported that three people were killed and six were wounded.

Cross-posted at Backcountry Conservative.

Fox News quoted a South Korean news agency as saying Zarqawi's group could be holding up to 10 more foreign hostages.

Update from Big News Network:

Iraqi militants threatening to behead a South Korean civilian are holding 10 other hostages as well, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported Monday.

Kim Choon Ho, president of the trading company at which hostage Kim Sun Il is employed, said an Iraqi employee sent to Fallujah to negotiate Il's release reported that about 10 other non-Iraqis were also being held by the same insurgent group.

Cross-posted at Backcountry Conservative.

JERUSALEM POST: Report: Kurds deny Mossad active against Iran

An Iraqi Kurdish leader denied Tuesday reports that Israeli military and Mossad teams are operating in the Kurdish zones of northern Iraq.

Jalal Talabani told the Turkish news agency Anatolia that the reports were “total fabrications.”

The New Yorker published the initial story by Seymour Hersh quoting Israeli security sources as saying Israeli officers were training Kurdish commandos in northern Iraq. His report also claimed Israeli spies had entered parts of Iran to spy on its nuclear installations and was using its agents to spy on Syria, as well. Hersh's report was also confirmed by an unnamed US intelligence officer.

The report said Israel wants Kurdish troops to be trained to offset the booming influence of Iraq's Shia militia groups.

According to Al-Jazeerah, the South Korean hostage has been killed by his captors.

UPDATE:
CNN Report.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A car bomb killed two children in western Baghdad today witnesses said.

”The explosion went off while a civilian car was passing and two children were burnt in the back of the vehicle,” said a witness who owns a shop near the site of the attack.

He added that the children's parents were also wounded in the attack in the Amariyah district.

Four cars were destroyed in the blast and American forces had surrounded the area he said.

From the AFP via The Australian :

Fifty-two per cent of Americans believe the Iraq war was not worth fighting, according to an opinion poll released today.

The joint survey by America's ABC News and the Washington Post found seven in 10 Americans thought US casualties were “unacceptable”.

And the number of those confident the war had enhanced long-term US security was down 11 points since the beginning of the year, to 51 per cent.

The poll results follow a report by a bipartisan commission investigating the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States that found no co-operative ties between the former Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

That was contrary to the Bush administration's claims on going to war.

President George W. Bush also insisted Baghdad had a massive arsenal of weapons of mass destruction, but no such weapons have ever been found.

The poll found that approval for the president's handling of the US campaign against terrorism had fallen to 50 per cent.

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry was slightly ahead of him in terms of who was trusted to handle terrorism - 48 per cent to 47 per cent.

Actual questions and results are available. One extra-large Hat Tip to Outside the Beltway, which also has an excellent analysis.

Updating and correcting a previous post, from the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The chief organiser for a conference to select an advisory body for Iraq's interim government has said that nobody has yet been invited, contradicting his earlier announcement that a firebrand cleric had been asked to attend.

”The preparatory committee is currently studying selection criteria for about 1,000 people who will help at the National Conference, so no invitations have been sent out yet,” Fuad Maasum said, correcting an earlier statement.

Mr Maasum, head of the organising committee for the July conference, said he had “invited someone recognised as someone who knows about (Moqtada) Sadr, Ali Sumeissem, to take part in preparatory work”.
[…]
However, Mr Maasum said Mr Sumeissem had not turned up for a meeting about the preparatory work.

From CNN :

…a roadside bomb detonated in Baghdad, killing two Iraqi Civil Defense Corps soldiers and wounding 14 others, according to the coalition press office.

The Iraqi soldiers were on a foot patrol when the blast took place at about 11 a.m. (3 a.m. ET).

South of Mosul in northern Iraq, four Iraqi workers for a private company were killed and three others wounded Monday when a roadside bomb exploded next to their convoy, the coalition said. One of the wounded died later.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Four United States soldiers have been killed in an attack by Iraqi insurgents west of Baghdad.

Witnesses said today it was unclear when the soldiers, found in a building site in the town of Ramadi, had been killed.

From CNN :

U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said a quick reaction force found the bodies of the four Marines in Ramadi after they failed to report to commanders at a predetermined time.

”After we've notified the families, I think we're going to be a little more forthcoming on what happened up there,” Kimmitt said.

Video of what appeared to be four bodies in military uniforms was distributed Monday by The Associated Press Television News. A coalition spokesman had not seen the video but said it was likely footage from the same incident.

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from the global War on Terror that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Auditions are in progress, and today's Winds of War briefing is brought to you by Lilith Paloma of West Winds.

TOP TOPICS

• In anticipation of the June 30 “sovereignty” hand-over in Iraq, this was the “week that was”—so filled with newsworthy eyeopeners and horror one hardly knows where to begin. Let us look at the terrible truth that will not go away anytime soon: Terror up, not Down: U.S. Wrongly Reported Drop in World Terrorism in 2003

• Dan Darling has an exhaustive pair of reports on the 9/11 commission and its findings (Part 1 | Part 2). He says they missed a lot of basic stuff, and neglected some pretty elementary and widely-held conclusions from anti-terrorism experts. Is the commission's politicization and professionalism really that bad, he wonders, or is our intelligence? Neither offers cause for comfort.

• American Hostage Killed, Terror Group Says. “…The Web site showed three pictures of what appeared to be Johnson's severed head — one showed the bloodied head propped up on the back of a body in an orange jumpsuit with a knife leaning on the face.”

Other Topics Today Include: More on Johnson's beheading & Islamic practice; Iraq's leader believes insurgents are foreign; S. Korea will go ahead with troops to Iraq; Bombings in Iraq coverage; More on the 9/11 report; Iran moves troops to Iraq's border; Nukes; Iran Diary looks at all aspects of Iran.

Read the Rest..

From the AFP via The Australian :

Shiite Muslim firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has been invited to the July political conference to select a national council that will advise Iraq's interim government, an Iraqi official has said.

”An invitation has been sent to Moqtada al-Sadr,” said Fuad Maasum, the chairman of the committee preparing the conference.

“Moqtada al-Sadr has begun to transform his militia into a political organisation, which is considered a positive step and his movement has roots in the country,” Mr Maasum said.
[…]
Mr Maasum added that 1,000 people would be invited to the conference, which aims to have representatives of political movements, tribes and regions from across Iraq to select the country's 100 member interim national council.

The council will serve until January elections and have the power to approve the nation's 2005 Budget, veto legislation with a two thirds majority, call ministers in for questioning over policy and pick a new president, or deputy president, if one dies in office.
[…]
US officials have retreated from initial demands in April that Sadr “be killed or captured” and now refer to his trial as an internal Iraqi matter.

The young cleric signalled more than a week ago his willingness to accept the new government and his aides said Sadr's followers were now organising a political party.

It was not clear if Sadr would accept the invitation but his participation sidesteps a new anti-militia decree passed two weeks ago that bans figures from entering politics unless they have been out of their militia for three years.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, charged by the US-led coalition to oversee the selection of the new government, said on June 2 the conference would serve as a major step toward ending the nation's deep rifts.

Mr Brahimi argued strongly that those figures who support the insurgency but have not picked up weapons should have a seat at the table.

Of course, there's still that little matter of the murder charge hanging over him… but now, for good or ill, it's up to the Iraqis. That's what 'handover' means.

AP: Al-Jazeera Airs Video of S. Korea Hostage

The Arab satellite TV network Al-Jazeera aired a videotape Sunday purportedly from al-Qaida linked militants showing a South Korean hostage begging for his life and pleading with his government to withdraw troops from Iraq.

The kidnappers, who identified themselves as belonging to a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, gave South Korea 24 hours to meet its demand or “we will send you the head of this Korean.”

“Please, get out of here,” the man screamed in English, flailing his arms. “I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I know that your life is important, but my life is important.”

A South Korean television news station, YTN, identified the hostage as Kim Sun-il, 33, an employee of a South Korean company called Arab Trading. It said he was captured in the Fallujah area.

UPDATE:
According to Al-Jazeerah, Kim Sun-il has been killed by his captors.

FYI
Is it unfair to compare him to this?

REUTERS: Iraq Oil Pipeline Repair Completed

A team of engineers has finished repairing a sabotaged oil pipeline in southern Iraq and expects partial exports to resume early on Monday, an official in contact with the crew said.

“They are test running the pipeline now. How much flow the pipeline can sustain will be known in the morning,” said the official, who asked not to be identified.

AFP: US jailers likely to guard Saddam, under Iraqi legal custody

The United States and Iraq are close to a deal to transfer ousted dictator Saddam Hussein into Iraqi legal custody although he will remain under the lock and key of US wardens, a coalition source told AFP.

Saddam will be under Iraq's legal jurisdiction, but the US-led coalition would still guard the former head of state, the source said.

“This is the arrangement we're close to reaching,” the source said, adding: “This is probably what's going to happen.”

US overseer Paul Bremer broached the possibility of such an arrangement Tuesday after US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) expressed fears that the Iraqis could not guarantee Saddam stayed behind bars.

“If they ask for him, which I have every reason to believe they will … we'll turn him over,” Bremer told the Washington Post, adding that “legal custody and physical custody can be two separate things.”

REUTERS: Iraq Restructures Forces to Fight Insurgents

Iraq said on Sunday it plans to restructure its security forces to battle insurgents sowing havoc across the country and could impose emergency law once the U.S.-led occupation formally ends in 10 days.

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, leading Iraq's interim government-in-waiting, said the nascent army would back police squadrons dedicated to fighting “terrorists” and preventing devastating sabotage attacks on vital oil pipelines.

“The Iraq intervention force will enable us to defeat — anywhere in our country — those forces that oppose democracy and freedom, particularly those who choose to hide behind innocent Iraqis in our towns and cities,” Allawi said.

“In these difficult times, substantial elements of the army will have to assist in this effort against external threats to our national security,” he told a news

JERUSALEM POST: Iraq could execute Saddam, tribunal director says

Iraq could execute former leader Saddam Hussein after trying him, the director of the country's war crimes tribunal system said Sunday.

Salem Chalabi, who is in charge of setting up a special tribunal to try members of the ousted regime, said that once the Iraqi government gains sovereignty on June 30, it will have the power to end U.S. occupation chief L. Paul Bremer's suspension of the death penalty in Iraq.

“The Iraqi government has to affirmatively take that step to lift the suspension,” Chalabi told British Broadcasting Corp. television's “Breakfast with Frost” program. “If the suspension imposed by Ambassador Bremer is lifted then there is the possibility of the death penalty being imposed” on those convicted of murder or rape.

HAARETZ: Hezbollah fighters moved to Iraq for operations against U.S.

The radical Lebanese Shi'ite organization Hezbollah has been moving fighters to Iraq in recent months to battle American troops. According to American intelligence, the transfer has been carried out through Syria, following an Iranian initiative. The transit through Syrian territory is permitted by Damascus along its porous border with Iraq.

The Hezbollah fighters moving to Iraq are part of a broader force of pro-Iranian militants that operates in Iraq to destabilize the country and undermine the Americans there.

Analysts believe that the movement of the Hezbollah fighters to Iraq serves both Tehran and Damascus, which favor instability in Iraq for their own reasons.

Iran is eager to see the Hezbollah fighters establish operations in Iraq before a new regime is installed in Baghdad.

Spirit of America.NET founder Jim Hake is back from Iraq with some stories to tell. Some key excerpts:

“Back at Camp Blue Diamond we met with the two officers (Maj. Chandler and Maj. Dunham) responsible for providing the TV equipment donated by Spirit of America to the 7 Iraqi stations in Al Anbar. When we met about 1/2 of the equipment had been delivered to the stations and technical training was being planned. With the new equipment Iraqi personnel at one of the stations took to the streets with camcorders to do “man in the street” interviews. When they broadcast the interviews they received numerous calls with positive feedback. Things like that associated with a free press that we take for granted are entirely new in most of Iraq.

Also back at Camp Blue Diamond in Ramadi we met with the Director of Economic Development for Al Anbar Province. He is spearheading the creation of women's sewing centers in the Ramadi-Fallujah region. These centers will provide women with a chance to make money, some for the first time, and improve their lives and their families. Marines Commanding General Jim Mattis is very enthusiastic about the project- both for its economic impact and because it will provide women a place to discuss women's issues (day care is provided). He has asked if we can help by providing the sewing machines. For starters we are looking for people to buy the first 50 sewing machines costing $475 each…. If things go well with those, we'll do our best to provide 950 more, thus helping 1000 women.

Jim concludes with a look at their future strategic focus and promises some updates:

Read The Rest…

From The Australian :

In a bid to bolster security, all foreigners visiting Iraq after the interim government assumes power on July 1 will require visas, an Interior Ministry official said today.

Foreign visitors “without exception” must apply for visas at Iraqi embassies abroad, Hadi al-Muhanna, director of the Interior Ministry's travel department, said.

Temporary visas will not be given at Baghdad's international airport or at any of the country's land border posts, al-Muhanna said.

“These are the same rules that are followed in other countries,” he said.

The 150,000 American and other foreign soldiers deployed here will be exempt, al-Muhanna said.
[…]
Iraqis complain the relative ease of entry has led to an influx of foreign fighters, criminals and intelligence agents whose presence threatens internal security. Iraq maintained a strict visa policy during the rule of Saddam Hussein.

Al-Muhanna said the visa requirements were necessary to combat ongoing instability. Iraqi authorities have long blamed attacks, including sabotage of oil pipelines and a spate of car bombings, on foreigners.

From the AFP via The Australian :

Several Iraqis were killed or wounded in what a resident said was a US air raid today on the Sunni rebel stronghold of Fallujah.

”An American plane fired at about 10.30am local time (4.30pm AEST) on our houses,” said a resident of the Jbail district of the city, who did not want to give his name.

An AFP correspondent said casualties were pulled from the rubble of four houses and taken to hospital after the raid.

A US military source would not comment on the report.

“It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time,” he said.

If confirmed as a US raid, it would be the first operation on the city 50km west of Baghdad since US marines withdrew in the beginning of May after a month of fierce clashes.

UPDATE: From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

At least 18 Iraqis have been killed and eight wounded in the Sunni rebel stronghold of Fallujah in an attack local residents have blamed on a United States air raid.

”The number of dead registered at our establishment is at 18, with eight injured,” said Mohammed Ismail, a doctor at the local hospital.

However, local residents said 24 bodies had been buried, with some victims taken directly to the cemetery.

“The number of martyrs buried is 24,” resident Salah Hamdi told AFP, although this could not be independently confirmed.

Residents said a US aircraft fired a missile which destroyed two houses and damaged two others in the Jbail district of the town, 50 kilometres west of Baghdad.

From the AFP via the ABC :

A Portuguese telecommunications worker and two Iraqis have been killed in a roadside bombing near the southern Iraqi city of Basra, according to police and hospital sources.

”The body of a Portuguese man, registered under the name of Roberto Carlos, working for (telecommunications) company Al-Atheer was brought to Basra hospital after an attack on the road to Zubair,” said Ismail Mulla, an official with the emergency services.

An Iraqi policeman assigned to protect oil installations and an oil worker were also killed in the attack, which happened about three kilometres south of Basra, a local police officer said.

The Iraqi driver of the all-terrain vehicle belonging to Al-Atheer, which runs telecommunications services in southern Iraq, was wounded, he said.

Another police officer, who did not want to be named, said the driver of another car caught in the blast was also hurt.

Not just Abu Graib, but other Iraqi prisons too. And these are far, far worse than anything else seen before.

VERY GRAPHIC - NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN

I recommend you have a barf-bag near the keyboard, and unless you are a medical professional, I'm not joking.

27.5 MB .mpg file

This video was released on June 8th, by the American Enterprise Institute. Present were some of the actual victims, who were able to personally confirm the events and background.

From the Nation Review Online :

Two weeks ago, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators held a press conference at which they played a video of ritual prisoner torture by Saddam Hussein's regime. As of this writing, the only mainstream media outlet that has mentioned it is the New York Post, in an opinion column by Deborah Orin. None of the 24-hour news networks, not America's paper of record, etc., has deemed it newsworthy to reveal the details (or existence) of this video, much less elected to show clips or stills.

There is also a detailed description of what is on the tapes, should you want more information before deciding whether or not to view them.

And rather a lot of 'Insurgents', 'Militants' and 'Fighters' too.
From The Australian :

The three Iraqi civilians were killed in a coordinated ambush in Baghdad yesterday, which began when a roadside bomb exploded in the Kamalaya district in the east of the city, the US command said. Insurgents opened fire from the rooftops. US troops returned fire and the insurgents “sustained moderate casualties”, the statement said.

Several hours later, six mortar shells exploded at a US camp in southern Baghdad, killing an American soldier and slightly injuring a civilian contractor, the military said.
[…]
Elsewhere, insurgents attacked US troops yesterday at a police station in the Sunni Triangle city of Samarra, firing rocket-propelled grenades and rifles after warning shopkeepers to close, witnesses said. US troops returned fire, wounding two attackers, residents said by telephone. There was no report on US casualties.

In the south, British soldiers traded small arms fire overnight with Shiite fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Amarah, witnesses said. There were no British casualties but two insurgents were killed.

Municipal officials in Buhriz, a Sunni Muslim town located about 55km north-east of Baghdad, said at least 13 Iraqis had been killed in clashes since Thursday The fighting began on Thursday when American soldiers entered the town looking for insurgents, who opened fire on them, officials and townspeople said. Ten insurgents were killed and one American soldier was wounded in the ensuing firefight, spokesman Major Neal O'Brien said.

Fighting resumed yesterday when another patrol came under fire in Buhriz. At least five insurgents were killed, Major O'Brien said. There were no US casualties. Fighting persisted intermittently throughout the day, witnesses said.

Residents said about 20 Iraqis were wounded in the clashes yesterday, and that many townspeople had fled their homes to escape the fighting.

In an afternoon clash, insurgents wearing red scarves blasted a US patrol with machine gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades as the Americans tried to enter the market district.

“We are ready to defend our city against the invasion by the occupiers”, one youthful fighter said, refusing to give his name. Electricity was cut off in the city due to power lines damaged in the clashes.

When is a NATO Force not a NATO force? When it's a 'British-led International Force'.

From the Guardian via The Australian :

London and Washington are reportedly drawing up a plan to send a NATO force including up to 3000 British troops to Iraq to support the interim Iraqi government as it takes over power.

The troops would be “temporarily extracted” from NATO and labelled a British-led international force to make it more politically acceptable to members of the alliance - notably France and Germany - that were opposed to the war, Britains Guardian newspaper said.

The force would come from NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, based in Germany under the command of a British general, Richard Dannatt, reinforced by a British battle group, the newspaper said.

About 60 per cent of the corps was British, it reported.

Officials told The Guardian that the plan was expected to be formally agreed at the NATO summit in Istanbul on the eve of the official handover of sovereignty on June 30.
[…]
More than 600 Royal Marine commandos will be sent to Iraq from next week, replacing two other units whose tour of duty is about to end.

That will result in a net increase in the number of British troops in Iraq of 270, taking the total to about 9200.

People calling other readers “idots.”

People suggesting that all conservatives are morons.

People calling the President and Vice President “idots.”

People calling US journalists “rat fuckers.”

People calling Arabs “bad demographics.”

People suggesting that we kill all Arabs.

People suggesting that we kill all liberals … fellow Americans, who are liberals.

Boy am I proud of this site. It’s nice to know our open forum can devolve into a pile of shit when the news runs hot. And don’t for a second … not for a second … say this is a liberal or conservative thing. The comments came from both sides of the aisle.

That’s how the world is, I suppose. I guess it’s the price of admission for having comments in the first place. But the good news is that it’s our sandbox. We’ve banned the IPs and will continue to do so. Maybe someday soon I’ll be able to read our comments and not be ashamed, or maybe we really do need to shut them down. But frankly, today was embarrassing. Thanks to the readers who gave us the heads up … you help us police the comments, and please continue to do so.

BBC: Madonna Esther compares Bush to Saddam

Madonna has said US President George Bush and ex-Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein are alike because “they are both behaving in an irresponsible manner.”

(Okay, people. All together now…)

JUST IN CASE:
Just in case you took this seriously, here's a little extra to pin the tail on the cuckoo:

At the inquiry hearing in Shaftesbury last month, lawyers for Madonna and her film-director husband Guy Ritchie argued that the designated land was not open countryside and allowing the public access would cause an invasion of their privacy and breach their human rights.

(Forget the Kurds, Marsh Arabs, and Kosovo Muslims… Madonna's human rights are being violated… Stop the presses! Wake up the World Court!)

I'm very, very sad to see that Paul Johnson, the American defense contractor held hostage by Saudi Arabia-based terrorist, has been killed. Fox News reported it moments ago.

Update: CNN report

[Ed note: Comments on this post have been deleted and closed. Bannings will occur. There will be no warnings on these bans, nor will we change our mind]

From the AFP via The Australian :

Iraqi kidnappers have released a Lebanese construction worker kidnapped this week, Lebanese government officials said today.

Jamil Deeb had been released, according to Lebanese diplomats in Baghdad, the officials said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity.

Now this is interesting.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Russia warned the United States on several occasions that Iraq's Saddam Hussein planned “terrorist attacks” on its soil, President Vladimir Putin said today.

”After the events of September 11, 2001, and before the start of the military operation in Iraq, Russian special services several times received such information and passed it on to their American colleagues,” he told reporters.

Mr Putin said Russian intelligence services had many times received information that Saddam's special forces were preparing terrorist attacks in the United States “and beyond its borders on American military and civilian targets.”

“This information was conveyed to our American colleagues,” he said.

He added that Russian intelligence had no proof that Saddam agents had been involved in any particular attack.

Note that Russia maintained diplomatic relations with Iraq until the war, and had a large number of agents in place.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

United States forces clashed with insurgents south of the town of Baquba on Friday in a second day of fighting in which several Iraqis have been killed, residents and the US military said.

Families fled their homes to escape the violence north of Baghdad in a largely Sunni Muslim area where US forces have frequently been attacked by insurgents, residents said.

The US military said the latest clashes broke out on Thursday when a US patrol returned fire after being attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms south of Baquba, killing several of the attackers.

There were no reports of US casualties.

It is usual in Reuters reports for any civilian or Coalition casualties to be emphasised, so it is likely that all casualties were enemy combatants.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Three Iraqi civilians have been wounded after a roadside bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in the northern city of Mosul, according to police.

”Three civilians were injured in Mosul this morning,” said Lieutenant Colonel Hisham Ahmed Shihab, adding that no policemen had been hurt in the attack.

The blast occurred in Al-Ghabat, a tourist area in the north of the city, 370 kilometres from Baghdad, Lt Col Shihab added.

Dr Osama Mohamed al-Sumaiydah from the Mosul city hospital said one of the wounded was in a critical condition.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The first Hungarian soldier to die in Iraq has been killed in a blast south of Baghdad.

The 27-year-old soldier was with a 47-member convoy that came under attack as it headed for a Ukrainian base with supplies of water.

From The Australian :

BRritish soldiers clashed with Shi'ite fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in southeastern Iraq today after coalition troops detained one of the militia's leaders.

No one was hurt, a British military spokesman said.

Three British military vehicles were fired upon early today with small arms fire and a rocket propelled grenade in two separate attacks in the city of Amarah, 290km southeast of Baghdad, the spokesman said.

None of the vehicles was damaged.

The attacks happened after British forces detained militia leader, Ahmed Hachi. A British military spokesman said three people were arrested just after midnight on Wednesday. He did not identify those arrested.

According to the witnesses, the fighting lasted about an hour and a shop was burned.

Thanks to the sharp eyes of reader Julian, the original presentation showing the results of an opinion poll of residents of Baghdad, Basrah, Mosul, Hillah, Diwaniyah, and Baqubah on 14-23 May 2004 is available.

This is the poll that lead to an AP article by Jonathan Solomon which said, in part :

A poll of Iraqis commissioned by the U.S.-governing authority has provided the Bush administration a stark picture of anti-American sentiment more than half of Iraqis believe they would be safer if U.S. troops simply left.

That particular piece of analysis appears to be correct, others… we report, you decide.

• Confidence in Coalition Forces grew by nearly 50% from April to May… but that was from a pitiful 7% to a woeful 10%.
• 63% thought the Interim Government would make things better, 15% thought worse.
• 51% felt 'very safe' in their neighbourhoods, but only 1% attributed that to the Coalition's activities, and 45% to neighbours-and-friends.
• Concern about inter-sectarian violence has nearly halved, but concern about Improvised Explosive Devices has nearly doubled.

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Auditions are in progress, and today's Iraq Report is brought to you by Larry Ice.

TOP TOPICS

• The 2 week warning has sounded, with only 14 days until the handover the bad guys are mounting an all out push with attacks on infrastructure, individuals, and military targets. It can be argued that the latter attack is a smokescreen for the former attacks, as James Carville is so fond of saying, “It's the Economy Stupid!”

• Iraqis have identified their assailants as out-of-towners, and Al-Qaeda, in their never ending quest to become martyrs and get laid, has been kind enough to take credit.

• Meanwhile, back at Galactic Headquarters, it is easy to imagine the military versus political arguments are flying behind closed doors regarding the handover of the great evil one himself. Of course, his defense lawyers, like all great lawyers who can simultaneously defend their client and shamelessly promote themselves, are insisting the the interim government is unfit to try him.

Other Topics Today Include: U.N. Explains WMD Mystery; Iraqis Anger Proved in Poll; $500 million for Army Reconstruction Fund; Mehdi Army retreats; Al Sadr changes tactics; A fine Zarqawi wine; Iranian Army on the Move; Concerns about Future Iranian Influence; and Contractor Immunity.

Read The Rest…

From The Australian :

At least 32 people were killed and 120 wounded when a powerful car bomb exploded at the gates of a recruitment centre for the new Iraqi army in Baghdad today as volunteers queued to sign up.

Bloodied and battered bodies lay tangled in the street outside the recruitment centre, as ambulances struggled to deal with the chaos, an AFP correspondent on the scene said.

Rescue workers heaped badly mutilated casualties into ambulances and police trucks, while dazed Iraqi army men in uniform stood watching the carnage.

“They attacked the Iraqi army recruiting centre with a car bomb, we are trying to rescue people,” first lieutenant Saad Idan said.

“It is an attack on the Iraqi army.”
[…]
A US military spokesman confirmed there had been a suspected car bomb blast in central Baghdad at about 9:00 am (1400 AEST) but had no other details.

At the three hospitals closest to the scene of the blast, medics said the casualty toll kept rising as more bloodied and twisted bodies were brought in.

Abdul Moneim Hussein, chief of the emergency department at Karama hospital, said that the number of dead there had risen to nine from eight previously, while the injured count rose to 127 people, including a woman.

At least 10 vehicles were damaged when the car, packed with explosives, detonated, shattering windows and scattering glass across the street.

“About 100 of us were standing in front of the Iraqi army recruitment centre,” Issam Jassem, 32, a former member of Saddam Hussein's disbanded forces, said.

“An officer was in the process of reading out a list of people accepted to take part in the new army and had told us that we had to return on June 26 when the explosion happened,” the young volunteer recalled.

Body parts lay strewn in the streets as survivors attempted to make sense of what happend.

“It was a car bomb. We don't know the type of car, we just have an engine and a gear box,” Saad Mafaa, a police officer who witnessed the attack, said.

“It was loaded with cannon shells and it exploded at the gates of the recruitment centre.”

Four unexploded artillery shells still lay in the street, the AFP correspondent said.

And from the BBC :

Many of the injured are reported to have been badly mutilated by the force of the explosion.

”All of the victims who came here are poor people trying to earn a living. They wanted to volunteer to support their families,” said Yas Khudair, a member of the Iraqi security forces.

“There were no Americans nearby when the explosion took place.”

UPDATE : Picture slideshow available at the BBC.
Hat Tip, reader Max.

UPDATE: Casulaty Figures revised upwards. From The Australian :

A Suicide car bomb exploded outside an army recruitment base in the Iraqi capital killing 35 people and wounding 138, in the latest attack aimed at sowing chaos before the June 30 transfer of sovereignty.
[…]
“A suicide bomber, his hands clutching the steering wheel, launched his car, loaded with explosives, against the people who were waiting in front of the centre,” said army commander Khaled Jamal Said.

CNN is reporting (no link yet) that a rocket attack on U.S. base in Iraq has killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded 23.

More at Fox:

A rocket slammed into a U.S. logistics base near the city of Balad Wednesday afternoon, killing two U.S. soldiers and wounding 21 people, the military said.

Fourteen of the injured were taken to the U.S. Army's 31st Combat Support Hospital and seven were treated at a clinic on the U.S. base, known as Camp Anaconda, according to a military statement.

From The Australian :

Nine people were killed, including four foreigners, and 10 wounded when a vehicle was bombed in a western Iraqi town, a medical source said.

A roadside bomb exploded today in the previously peaceful town of Ramadi this morning.

“We have the bodies of five Iraqis and four foreigners,” said Mohammed Jalal, a doctor in the neighbouring town of Fallujah, 50 kilometres west of Baghdad. “In addition, 10 injured Iraqis were admitted to our hospital,” he said. An Iraqi police officer was among those killed this morning.

US Marines secured the scene as Iraqi police recovered a badly burned body from one of two vehicles destroyed in the blast.

Associated Press Television News footage showed a sport utility vehicle and a sedan smouldering as ambulances drove by.

From the ABC (Australian Bropadcasting Corporation) :

The US Deputy Defence Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, has arrived unannounced in Iraq to discuss the transition to sovereignty.
[…]
His visit coincides with a wave of renewed violence targeting officials in the interim government and Iraq oil industry.

The security chief for the rich oil fields around Kirkuk in Iraq's north has been gunned down outside his home.

He was related to influential Kurdish leader, Jallal Talibani.

An oil pipeline in the same area also exploded in an attack officials have blamed on saboteurs.

Also from the ABC :

Ghazi Talabani, a member of Kurdish political chieftain Jalal Talabani's family, headed security for the Northern Oil Company, which presides over oil production in northern Iraq.

”He was attacked by armed men outside his home near the governorate building and he died instantly,” said Kirkuk police chief General Turhan Yussef.

“One of his bodyguards was seriously wounded.”
[…]
Saboteurs also attacked an oil pipeline serving domestic needs near the city of Kirkuk in Iraq's north, affecting supplies to local refineries.

Attempts to use a second pipeline to keep the oil flowing failed because it was in a state of disrepair.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Thai troops will leave Iraq by September after completing a one-year deployment, the country's military authorities have said.

Thailand's military Supreme Commander Somdhat Attanand approved the departure of 451 Thai troops by September 20 and said that the United States would shoulder the cost of the exercise.

“The Supreme Commander has approved the pull-out of the task force after the Thai troops finish their one-year mission,” the military said in a statement.

The defence ministry and task force chief could still order a withdrawal or a move to another neighbouring country if the security situation deteriorated, it said, adding that an emergency contingency plan was already in place.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ordered the one-year deployment of a contingent of engineers, medics and a surveillance platoon last September after remaining neutral during the invasion of Iraq.

From the AFP via The Australian :

US Marines arrested six members of the Iraqi Civil Defence Corp on suspicion of involvement in a roadside bomb attack this morning in western Iraq that wounded at least five locals, the US military said.

It was reported an Iraqi police officer was killed when the bomb exploded in the centre of Ramadi, 100 kilometres west of Baghdad.

The six, along with an Iraqi civilian who ran out of a nearby building after the blast in eastern Ramadi, were carrying hand grenades and were taken to a coalition base for questioning, a US military spokeswoman said.

From The Australian :

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr today ordered members of his militia to leave the holy cities of Nafaj and Kufa in Iraq unless they live there.

Today's order fulfilled a key aspect of an agreement meant to end fighting between his militia forces and US troops.

Al-Sadr called on fighters who had come here from other parts of Iraq to help fight the US to return home “to carry on their duties as God wants,” a statement from his office said.
[…]
Although al-Sadr's forces are still fighting US troops periodically in Baghdad's Sadr City district, the Americans forced the militia to abandon another Shiite city, Karbala and to accept a truce this month in Najaf and Kufa.

Gunmen opened fire on a car carrying Ghazi al-Talabani, the security chief for Iraq's Northern Oil Company, killing him and wounding his driver as he left his home in Kirkuk for work Wednesday, according to a police source in the northern Iraqi city.

AP

Insurgents stepped up their campaign against Iraq's infrastructure Tuesday, blasting two oil pipelines and cutting the country's oil exports. Gunmen also attacked a convoy of civilian contractors, killing some of them.

Authorities curbed oil exports through the Persian Gulf by half - from an average of 1.85 million barrels per day to more than 800,000 barrels - after saboteurs blasted the two pipelines on the Faw peninsula of southern Iraq.

The attacks sent temporary ripples through international petroleum markets, but crude futures ended lower. Contracts for U.S. light crude for July delivery rose as high as $38.40 during New York trading, before easing back to settle at $37.19 per barrel, down 40 cents. July contracts for Brent crude rose as high as $35.90 at one point before retreating to $35.29, down 20 cents in London

.

Hmmm….

Beirut, Lebanon, Jun. 15 (UPI) — Iran reportedly is readying troops to move into Iraq if U.S. troops pull out, leaving a security vacuum.

The Saudi daily Al-Sharq al-Awsat, monitored in Beirut, reports Iran has massed four battalions at the border.

Al-Sharq al-Awsat quoted “reliable Iraqi sources” as saying, “Iran moved part of its regular military forces towards the Iraqi border in the southern sector at a time its military intelligence agents were operating inside Iraqi territory.”

Al Sadr may be coming in from the Cold. But there are a few minor issues to be resolved first…
From the AFP via The Australian :

Shiite firebrand Moqtada Sadr could join national politics if he is found innocent of murder charges and agrees to disband his militia, Iraq's new president Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar said today.
[…]
“I kept on saying consistently that if I were in his shoes I would try to go to the political arena instead of raising arms. He has supporters, he has constituents, he should go through the political process and I commend this smart move on his side,” Yawar said.
[…]
But Yawar warned that Sadr still needs to be cleared of abetting the April 2003 murder of a moderate pro-US cleric, Abdul Majid al-Khoie, before he tests the political waters.
[…]
“First of all, in the new Iraq nobody is above the law. However, he (Sadr) is not convicted, his name has been brought as a suspect in a certain incident. So he has to make sure he clears himself. This is step number one,” Yawar said.

”Second, it is not true that ex-militia leaders cannot go to political parties,” said the new president.

“Most of the new leadership in Iraq were ex-militia leaders but they are disbanding their militias, they are becoming Iraqi leaders and he can do the same. It is never too late for anybody in Iraq.”

Provided, of course, he's not found guilty.

From The Australian :

US troops raided the home of an official working for Muqtada al-Sadr and detained him, an official in the radical cleric's office said today.

The military detained Ridha al-Hassani, who works in al-Sadr's office, following the pre-dawn raid yesterday, officials in al-Sadr's office said.

There were no reports of injuries or clashes during the raid. The military would not comment the report and it was not clear why al-Hassani was detained.

From The Australian :

The US military will transfer security responsibility in a key northern province to the Iraqi civil defence authorities on October 1, the US Army announced today.

Maj. Gen. John R.S. Batiste, commander of the 1st Infantry Division, said he was confident that the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps would be ready for the assignment in Salahuddin province as planned.

The province includes the cities of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, and Samarra, both of which had been major centres of the Sunni Muslim resistance.

The division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team is currently responsible for the province's security.

The Americans plan to transfer more security responsibility to the Iraqis after the transfer of sovereignty at the end of this month, although US officials say the timetable will be determined by how quickly Iraqi forces can be trained and equipped.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Militants in Iraq have released a video of a Lebanese hostage and there are reports that two more Lebanese contractors have been abducted.

In the video, Habid Samoor says he travelled to Iraq to poll the opinions of Iraqis for a market research company.

In a statement accompanying the video, his captors accuse him of running a spy cell.

He pleads for the Lebanese Government to come to his aid.

A Lebanese newspaper says two more Lebanese nationals have been abducted and their employer is negotiating over a ransom.

The body of a fourth Lebanese man was found in Baghdad on Sunday.

'Militants' again.

Deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and all Iraqi detainees will be handed over to Iraqi authorities in the next two weeks, Iraq's interim prime minister says.

But Pentagon officials insist they are not aware of any immediate plans calling for the United States to hand over Saddam or any detainees.

They say U.S. forces will continue to hold Saddam and thousands of other detainees even after power is transferred to the Iraqi government at the end of June.

So, which is it?

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Iraq's interim Government is planning a security crackdown in the lead-up to the official handover of power on June 30.
[…]
The head of public affairs for Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has told the ABC the Government plans to make a noticeable difference to Iraq's security before the end of the month.

Meanwhile, the fledgling Iraqi security forces continue to come under attack.

Five Kurdish recruits in the new Iraqi Army have been killed near the town of Samara, north of Baghdad.

They were ambushed when their car broke down and their bodies were burned. They were heading home after completing military training.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he expects any further NATO role in Iraq to be limited to training security forces.
[…]
“I don't believe we will see further troops come through NATO,” Mr Blair told Parliament.

”But I hope, and if the new Iraq government wishes it, we will see assistance with training provided for the Iraqi security forces.”

US President George W Bush and French President Jacques Chirac clashed over NATO's role in Iraq at a Group of Eight (G8) summit last week.
[…]
Mr Chirac remained reticent about NATO involvement even when Mr Bush sought to clarify his earlier remarks by saying he expected NATO to train Iraqi forces rather than offer more troops.

Mr Blair said the idea had always been that NATO soldiers would help with training.

He said he did not think NATO members would oppose that role provided the request came from the Iraqi Government.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Four British soldiers will be court-martialled on charges of abusing Iraqi detainees.

The four Royal Fusiliers members are accused of assault, indecent assault and prejudicing good order.

They are the first British officers to be charged over the alleged abuse.

British Attorney-General Lord Goldsmith says the charge of indecent assault involves making the victims engage in sexual activity between themselves.

In a statement, he says the abuse allegedly took place while the civilians were temporarily held, but not in a prison or detention centre.
[…]
A date for the military trial is yet to be set but the proceedings will be public.

The Attorney-General says at least four other cases are likely to be referred to the Army prosecutor in the near future.

Another case concerning an alleged killing of an Iraqi during his arrest has been referred to Crown prosecutors and the metropolitan police are investigating.

From the AFP via the ABC :

Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Nakib says the people who carried out a suicide car bombing in Baghdad that has killed at least 13 people were foreigners from outside Iraq's immediate region.
[…]
Mr Nakib has told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television station that “according to initial information, those who carried out the blast were not Iraqis”.

”They came from abroad … They are not from a country neighbouring” Iraq, he said.

But Mr Nakib did not specify the attackers' nationality.

Two of the foreign contractors killed were British, one French and one American.
[…]
Major Mohammed Saleh, the senior policeman at the scene, said a suicide car bomber drove between vehicles in the convoy and blew himself up.

Mr Nakib says the nature of the terrorist attacks in Iraq and the people involved suggest that the same mastermind is responsible.

Washington has fingered Jordanian militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, with known ties to Al Qaeda, as the chief suspect behind a long list of bloody attacks in the country.

UPDATE : From The Australian :

A large car bomb killed at least 16 people, including five foreign contractors, and injured more than 60 after it tore through a main commercial boulevard in the Iraqi capital, officials said today.

The US military said two British, one French and one American contractor had died in the attack yesterday. A diplomatic source identified the fifth foreign victim as a Filipino.

The bomber targeted a convoy of four-wheel drive vehicles in the city's second car bombing in 24 hours.

The earlier strike killed seven people and wounded more than 20, some two weeks before Iraq's sovereignty is due to be returned to an interim government.

Following the blast, another civilian contractor was killed in an ambush on a coalition convoy in east Baghdad, while the Turkish embassy said it was searching for two Turks feared taken hostage.

David Gompert, US overseer Paul Bremer's senior adviser on Iraq's national security, warned the violence would continue.

“It's going to be a while. The terrorists are hardened. They are professionals,” he said.

In Mosul, northern Iraq, insurgents attacked an Iraqi police station killing one police officer, while a Kurdish official said a funeral had been held for five Kurdish recruits to the new Iraqi army killed near Samarra, north of Baghdad.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Two Turkish nationals have been taken hostage in Iraq, local television station CNN Turk has reported, but there were no immediate details on their identities or who seized them.

A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said officials had not yet received any information about a fresh abduction.

RADIO AUSTRALIA: Tonga deploys soldiers to Iraq

A contingent of Tongan soldiers is heading to the Middle East to join American forces in Iraq.

The 44 Tongan troops will travel to Kuwait first, and after acclimatising will then join the First US Marine Division.

Their exact role hasn't been determined, but at first it is likely they will be confined to camp duties and training.

The Tongan Government says the Kingdom's contribution to the effort to bring peace and stability to Iraq is relative to what the country can afford.

HAARETZ/REUTERS: U.S. to hand over Saddam to Iraqis within 2 weeks

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein will be handed over to the new Iraqi government for trial within two weeks, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said on Monday.

“Saddam and the others will be handed over to the Iraqis, to the government,” he said in comments to Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera. The trials would start “as soon as possible.”

“All the current detainees, without exception, will be handed over to the Iraqi authority. The handover will take place within the next two weeks,” he said.

From The Australian :

The International Monetary Fund will not make a recommendation on forgiving Iraq's debt, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato said today, calling it a decision for Iraq's creditors.

”We are providing technical analysis. It's up to the creditors to make any decisions on that respect”, Rato told an IMF conference in Madrid.

Last month, the IMF presented the Paris Club of 19 government creditors an estimate of Iraq's total debts and a range of scenarios for debt relief. The IMF is not making the findings public.

The Paris Club has set a goal of reaching a debt relief agreement for Iraq by the end of 2004. The group estimates that Iraq owes them about US$42 billion (Aus$61bn), with the largest debts owed to Russia, Japan, France and Germany.

The latest estimates have put Iraq's total debts at about US$120 billion (Aus$175bn).

Kudos to the Japanese for their principled stance before the war.

From The Australian :

Britain's defence minister made a surprise visit to Basra today and pledged to work closely with Iraqi officials to improve security coordination before the June 30 handover of power.

Defence Minister Geoff Hoon held a number of meetings with officials in Basra to discuss ways of maintaining stability and security throughout the country.

“We believe we can play a very useful part in helping to rebuild Iraq,” Hoon said. “Crucial to that is the security of Basra and the rest of the country.”

Hoon reiterated that British troops will remain in Iraq after handover of sovereignty, but stressed that their presence in the country after that date was contingent on approval from the new interim government.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

New Zealand Army engineers working in southern Iraq have come under mortar attack, Radio New Zealand has reported.

Quoting a Defence Department official it said three mortar rounds had hit their encampment in Basra.

There were no reports of death or injury and no other details were immediately available.

New Zealand has around 80 engineers in the region attached to the British Army.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Five Iraqis have been killed during clashes with US forces in a Shiite slum district of Baghdad, officials of rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's group say.

”Three of the dead were civilians, two were members of the Mehdi Army,” one official said.

One of the dead is Karim Daraan, a Mehdi Army field commander in the sprawling Sadr City slum, which is home to over 1 million Shiite Muslims.

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Auditions are in progress, and today's Iraq Report is brought to you by Joel Gaines of No Pundit Intended.

Our “Winds of War” coverage of the global War on Terror is also up for perusal.

TOP TOPICS

• Twenty Al Samoud 2 missile engines were found in a Jordanian scrap yard. Along with the missile parts, other equipment which could be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction was found - including some equipment, which appeared to be new and had not been tagged by UN weapon's inspectors for monitoring.

• Al-Sadr “militia” thugs broke the Najaf ceasefire on Thursday by overrunning a police station. The “militia” killed five Iraqis and wounded 29 more, while releasing prisoners, overseeing looting in the neighborhood, and burning eight new police vehicles. Questions are being raised about whether or not Al-Sadr is still in control of his “militia”.

• Foreign Ministry Director, Bassam Qubba, was assassinated in a drive by shooting on Saturday. The attack occurred in the al- Adhamiya district of Baghdad. His driver was wounded in the attack.

Other Topics Today Include: Troop movements; Analysis of the American Soldier; Wounded Army Chaplain Update; Marines honor iraqi soldiers; BlackFive Presents Colonel Morganthaler; Iraqi citizens foil refinery attack; Al-Sadr supports new government; US Super-Embassy Baghdad; Dutch troops extending their commitment; South Korea to send more troops; US Led Democracy from viewpoint of Iraqi Blogger.

Read The Rest…

Update to story below.

Fox is reporting at least eight have been killed; othe sources put the number killed as high as twelve.

Five of the workers were French contractors working on rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure. At least two of the dead were Britons and one was American.

KPLC Reports:

Baghdad, Iraq-AP — A strong explosion has rocked central Baghdad, and police and witnesses say a car bomb has exploded.
Dozens are said to have been wounded.

Remains of a car could be seen scattered along the street on the eastern bank of the Tigris River. Passing motorists shouted “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great” and “Down with the U-S-A.”

The blast shattered a building near a bridge leading to the Green Zone headquarters of the coalition authority.

FOX News just reported that Iraqi police reported that a suicide car bomber detonated as a US Convoy drove by (no text available yet). FOX reported that there were several almost simultaneous explosions in different parts of Baghdad, possibly as many as three or four. Live video showed a large column of dark smoke.

It is not clear if the FOX report is about the same event as the KPLC report.

UPDATE from Reuters:

A suicide car bomber blew himself up on a busy Baghdad street on Monday as a convoy of foreigners in civilian cars drove past, partly demolishing a nearby building, police at the scene said.

Policeman Hassan al-Mali said the bomber's car had been driving along the street when it exploded. He said there were casualties but it was too early to say how many.

Locals raced to the area and tried to pull people from the rubble of the damaged building, which had its front torn off.

Dozens of people gathered around two of the vehicles damaged in the blast, hammering on them, waving debris and jumping on their roofs, chanting: “America is the enemy of God.”

From the ABC : (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A Turk and an Egyptian hostage have been in Iraq, a mediator says.

The mediator, who requests not to be identified, says the men have been released after talks with people close to their captors yesterday.

He has given no details.

A group calling itself 'The Jihadist Groups' released a statement on Thursday warning that the two hostages would be killed yesterday.

From the NewYork Times via The Australian :

At least 50 failed airstrikes were carried out against senior officials in Saddam Hussein's regime during the 2003 Iraq war, the New York Times reported today, quoting senior military and intelligence officials.

Some of the strikes caused numerous civilian casualties, the Times reported, noting that only a few of the attacks were made public.

Aside from two well publicised strikes against Saddam himself, during the one-month period that began on March 19, 2003 at least 13 top Iraqi leaders were targeted with precision-guided munitions.

Targets included General Izzat Ibrahim - Saddam's second in command, who is still at large - as well as Major General Rafi Abd al-Latif Tilfah, the former head of Saddam's directorate of general security, who is also at large.

Both generals are current leaders in the anti-US insurgency in Iraq, the Times reports, citing a May briefing document prepared by the Defence Intelligence Agency.
[…]
The attacks apparently failed due to poor intelligence, the Times reported.

Officials are still debating whether the intelligence was plain wrong or based on deliberate misinformation either by double agents or Iraqis who suspected US officials were listening in on their communications.

From The Australian :

An explosion today hit Saddam Hussein's former main palace in Baghdad, now used by the US-coalition, in the first such direct strike but no casualties were reported, officials said.

A rocket or a mortar struck the roof of the Republican Palace, causing minor damage, said an official working for the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority, which occupies the heavily-fortified Green Zone where the grand building in situated.

A second foreigner, who was in the palace at the time of the attack, said the blast broke several windows.

From the AFP via The Australian :

A senior official at Iraq's ministry of education was shot dead in Baghdad today, an official said.

Kamal Jarrah, the ministry's director of cultural relations, was gunned down in front of his home in the west of the capital as he left for work, he said.

“Unknown attackers opened fire on Kamal Jarrah in front of his house in the Ghazalia quarter, killing him immediately,” the ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Also from The Australian :

An Iraqi geography professor, Sabri al-Bayati, was shot dead today moments after leaving a Baghdad university campus, said a witness and a medical official.

”It was 12.15pm (6.15pm AEST). I heard three shots and I saw a man collapse on the street,” said Sabah Shukur, whose shop stands directly across from Baghdad University's College of Literature in the western district of Bab al-Muawdam.

A homicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a U.S. military camp in Baghdad on Sunday, killing 12 people and wounding 13, the military said.

The bomb went off about 300 yards from Camp Cuervo as a police patrol stopped the bomber, who was traveling in the wrong direction on the road.

Lt. Col. James Hutton, a spokesman for the 1st Cavalry Division, which runs Camp Cuervo, said 12 were killed and 13 were wounded in the blast. He said there were no U.S. casualties.

Among the dead are four policemen and the bomber, said police Capt. Abdul-Razzaq Kadhem.

“I think this is the last gasp of the terrorists,” Kadhem said. “Iraq will not die. We will survive this, we will survive this.”

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

The Dutch Government has announced plans to keep its troops in Iraq until March next year.

The decision by Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende is expected to be put to the Lower House of the Dutch Parliament for approval within the next two weeks.

There are currently about 1,300 Dutch troops serving as part of the coalition force in southern Iraq.

Meanwhile in Australia, the Opposition is backpedalling over their previously absolute, unconditional and immutable policy to get all Australian troops out of Iraq by Christmas. Also from the ABC :

Federal Opposition leader Mark Latham has admitted he may leave Australian troops in Iraq to protect diplomats there, if the Foreign Affairs Department recommends it.

Mr Latham has previously promised that Labor would withdraw Australia's forces from Iraq by Christmas if it wins government.

But on commercial radio yesterday, Mr Latham said Labor would take advice on whether a protective force needed to remain behind.

Apart from the Company-sized protective force and the standing Naval forces in the Gulf who will also stay, there's only a few dozen trainers and air traffic controllers, all of whom are due for replacement in the next few weeks anyway.

From Reuters via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Seven Turkish hostages seized in Iraq this week have been freed, a Turkish diplomat says.

”They have been released, they are in good health,” the diplomat said.

The Turks, who were kidnapped in the restive town of Fallujah on June 7, are being returned home to Turkey.

It was not clear who is responsible for their abduction, or the reason for it.

And from The Australian :

The seven men were released in Fallujah and were travelling to the northern city of Mosul, said Serdar Adali, a director of the Turkish construction company Serka Ltd.

”They are free as of now,” Mr Adali told CNN-Turk television.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Two bombs exploded in the restive Iraqi city of Baquba, wounding two soldiers and a pair of Iraqi policemen.

A military spokesman says a bomb blew up on the western edge of the city, wounding two soldiers from the US-led coalition.

Most soldiers in the area are US forces.

The spokesman says a second bomb also exploded by the western edge of the city, wounding two policemen.

Baquba, 60 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, is a hotbed of the Sunni Muslim insurgency against the US-led coalition.

AP: Iraqi Kidnappers Kill Lebanese Hostage

Iraqi gunmen kidnapped three Lebanese in Iraq and killed one of them, a Lebanese Foreign Ministry official said Saturday.

One other was released and the third remains in captivity, the official said on condition of anonymity. It wasn't clear when the three Lebanese were taken or by whom.

The main who died, Hussein Ali Alyan, was tortured and killed in “grisly circumstances,” the official said.

Iraqi foreign ministry director Bassam Qubba, aged 60, was assassinated in Baghdad’s Al-Adhamiya district, ministry spokesman Thamer al-Azami has said, adding that he was attacked as he was travelling to work. Early reports suggest that the assassins (two or three gunmen) opened fire from a car, spraying the foreign ministry official’s vehicle with bullets. Qubba was rushed to hospital with gunshot wounds to the abdomen and died at 08.30 local time.

More at Fox

Moktada al-Sadr says he supports the new Iraqi interim government. The New York Times reports:

The anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr on Friday endorsed the new interim Iraqi government and appeared to urge his followers to honor a week-old cease-fire that has been frayed by continuing violence.

A senior aide to Mr. Sadr, Sheik Jabir al-Khafaji, used a sermon during Friday Prayers in the Sadr stronghold of Kufa, 120 miles south of here, to announce that Mr. Sadr now approved of the interim government he had previously mocked and that he wanted its leaders to set a timetable for the departure of occupation forces.

” 'From now on, I beg you to start afresh for Iraq for the sake of peace and safety,' ” Sheik Khafaji quoted Mr. Sadr as saying. ” 'We have to avoid pushing humiliation and aggression on others and go forward with the independence of Iraq and not respond to the occupiers.' “

Those words represent a radical reversal of Mr. Sadr's past position. They could also represent an effort by Mr. Sadr to become involved in the politics of the nation, rather than continue as a leader of a 10-week-old insurgent struggle.

[. . .]

Another Sadr aide said after the sermon that Mr. Sadr's change of position did not mean that he supported the occupation or American involvement in the new government, but rather that he hoped the new government would work for the interests of Iraqis. Mr. Sadr met last Saturday with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, but it was unclear whether Ayatollah Sistani had persuaded Mr. Sadr to reverse his opposition to the new government.

At the same time that Mr. Sadr's faction appeared to soften its hard-line position, imams at several Sunni mosques in Baghdad delivered sermons beseeching former officers of the Iraqi Army to join the insurgency and drive out the American-led occupation forces.

From California Yankee.

From the ABC :

US soldiers have foiled a new sabotage attempt against Iraq's key oil sector following three successful attacks earlier in the week, the US military says.

Local residents have alerted troops in the town of Qayyarah, between the main oil pipeline hub of Baiji and the northern capital of Mosul, to a bomb at a nearby refinery.

“Soldiers quickly discovered the device, which was connected to a timer, and notified the explosive ordnance disposal team who destroyed the device,” a spokesman said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned yesterday that the country has lost more than $US200 million over the past seven months due to 130 separate attacks on its pipeline network.

He blames terrorists and foreign fighters for targeting the industry, which generates more than 90 per cent of Iraq's revenues.

From the AFP via the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Two Iraqi children have been killed and 23 people injured in overnight clashes between US soldiers and militiamen in the Baghdad Shiite neighbourhood of Sadr City.

”We received the bodies of two young children and admitted 23 wounded people over the course of Thursday evening, including two women,” D Hasan Najim, the Sadr City general hospital, said.

A US military spokesman says assailants, who are believed to be militiamen loyal to Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr, have targeted US troops with rocket-propelled grenades.

The troops were conducting regular patrols in the battle zone neighbourhood on Thursday night.

“Yes, we did have clashes … we returned fire,” spokesman Captain Brian O'Malley said.

“We think they [the attackers] may have been from Sadr's militia.

“There were minor casualties on the anti-Iraqi forces side.”

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

A car bomb has exploded near a US convoy on a Baghdad highway, wounding three US soldiers.

”A man got out of his car and left in another one. Then the car exploded when an American convoy passed by,” policeman Amjad Mohammed said.

“There were no Iraqi civilian casualties.”

A military spokesman said: “Right now we have got three wounded, no deaths. Two of the wounded returned to duty.”
[…]
Iraqi witness Abu Ahmed says he noticed a man spending a long time apparently trying to repair a grey Mercedes at the roadside before being picked up by another man in an Opel saloon.

“A few minutes later, there was an explosion,” he said.

Blogger Arthur Chrenkoff ha posted his lates roundup of “good news from Iraq” here. In his note to us he writes:

My favourite story: the Kurds are building their first commercial airport on the grounds of an airfield that Saddam had used to launch his chemical weapons attacks against the Kurds back in 1988. What a great illustration of the Iraqi's will to have a “normal” future.

Shiite gunmen seized a police station Thursday in Najaf in the first outbreak of fighting since an agreement to end weeks of bloody clashes between U.S. troops and militia forces. Four Iraqis were killed and 13 were injured, hospital and militia officials said.

Gunmen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took control of the Ghari police station just 250 yards from the Imam Ali Shrine, witness Mohammed Hussein said. The station was looted and police cars were burned.

“We sent a quick-reaction unit to assist the policemen defending the station, but they were overwhelmed by al-Sadr fighters,” Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi said. “We will solve this problem as soon as possible. We will ask for the help of the Americans, if necessary.”

U.S. forces were not involved in the clashes, and it was unclear whether the violence marked the end of the cease-fire in Najaf, mediated by Shiite leaders and al-Sadr's militia, or resulted from police attempts to crack down on petty crime in the city.

U.N. weapons experts have found 20 engines used in banned Iraqi missiles in a Jordan scrapyard along with other equipment that could be used to make weapons of mass destruction, an official said Wednesday.

The discoveries were revealed to the U.N. Security Council by acting chief U.N. inspector Demetrius Perricos during in a closed-door briefing. The text was obtained by The Associated Press.

The U.N. team was following up on an earlier discovery of a similar Al Samoud 2 engine in a scrapyard in the Dutch port of Rotterdam. Perricos said inspectors also want to check in Turkey, which has also received scrap metal from Iraq.

Perricos told the Security Council said U.N. inspectors do not know how much material that they had monitored orginated in Iraq.

Update: Tim Worstall explains the consequences of these engines.

Welcome! Our goal at Winds of Change.NET is to give you one power-packed briefing of insights, news and trends from Iraq that leaves you stimulated, informed, and occasionally amused every Monday & Thursday. Auditions are in progress, and today's Iraq Report is brought to you by Scott Talkington of Demosophia.

Our “Winds of War” coverage of the global War on Terror is also up for perusal today.

TOP TOPICS

• It almost goes without saying that the biggest news is the ahead-of-schedule dissolution of the Governing Council and the creation of the Iraqi Interim Government, with the appointment of a PM: Iyad Allawi, and President: Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer. The Kurds, however, feel a little left out. (See item under Iraqi Politics subheading.) Also take a look at The Khalifa and JFK from Omar, for a “buck-up” local perspective, and this WSJ article by Paul Wolfowitz for administration perspective on where and how it will be going.

• Major militias agree to join Civil Defense Force raising the number of anti-“insurgent” troops by 100,000. So far the militias being folded into the pack don't include Muqtada al-Sadr's gang. The Christian Science Monitor is one of the few mainstream media sources presenting a balanced account of events in Iraq, and it has a nice story on the militia agreement. Their take is that Allawi is proving his worth, but there's an outstanding question about the allegiances of these co-opted fighters.

• In a major victory for the White House the UN unanimously approved a US-British resolution formally ending the occupation and authorizing a US-led peacekeeping force. The mandate is set to expire in January 2006, but unless the Iraqis ask the US-led coalition force to leave early the US only pledges to “coordinate” with the Iraqi government, which will not have the veto over military actions that France and Germany prefer. However, because ultimate authority for the presence of outside troops (if not their actions) rests with the Iraqis the measure unambiguously constitutes full sovereignty for Iraq.

Other Topics Today Include: Coalition rescue of Italian and Polish hostages; Car bombings in northern Iraq; Oil sector reclaimed from UN babysitter; Thoughts from Iraq the Model on leadership; Kurds make a tactical threat of independence; Lessons Learned Report from Operation Iraqi Freedom released; John Keegan publishes new book on Iraq War; Hugh Hewitt writes about the milblogs; and a concise good news roundup from Chrenkoff.

Read The Rest…

The original Sunday Times article is subscription only (at least for foreign viewers), but Normblog has a large section of it.

Iraq today is no bed of roses, I know. I have just come back from a tour of the country. But I don't recognise the place I have just visited as the war zone depicted by the Arab and western media.

It is true that Saddamite leftovers and their allies have stolen enough money and arms to continue their campaign of terror and disruption for some time yet. But they have no popular following and have failed to develop a coherent national strategy. The Iraqi civil defence corps has gone on the offensive, hunting down terrorists, often with some success. At the same time attacks on the Iraqi police force have dropped 50% in the past month.

There is also good news on the economic front. In the last quarter the dinar, Iraq's currency, has increased by almost 15% against the dollar and the two most traded local currencies, the Kuwaiti dinar and the Iranian rial….

I recommend you read the whole thing. As for me, I'm seeing if I can buy Iraqi Dinars on the Foreign Exchange market.

From the AP via The Australian :

Iraqi officials today said the interim government had assumed full control of the country's oil industry ahead of the June 30 handover of sovereignty from the US-led occupation administration.

”Today the most important natural resource has been returned to Iraqis to serve all Iraqis,” Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said.

“I'm pleased to announce that full sovereignty and full control on oil industry has been handed over to the oil ministry today and to the new Iraqi government as of today.”

The announcement came as Mr Allawi and Oil Minister Thamir Ghadbhan toured the al-Doura oil refinery in southern Baghdad.

After meeting and shaking hands with the refinery workers, the two ministers expressed their gratitude to oil sector workers.

“We are totally now in control, there are no more advisers,” Mr Ghadbhan said.

“We are running the show, the oil policies will be implemented 100 percent by Iraqis.”
[…]
“We have to protect these precious natural resources,” Mr Allawi said. A force has been established solely for the protection of the oil infrastructure, made up of about 14,000 guards.

“This will help protect the oil pipelines and eliminate oil smuggling, with the help of coalition forces and Iraqi allies,” Mr Allawi also said. “By this, we shall serve all the Iraqis, instead of a small select group of criminals.”

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Iraqi Kurds are warning they might resign from the interim government because they are unhappy with the new United Nations Security Council resolution on sovereignty.

The new resolution does not mention Iraq's interim constitution, which guarantees autonomy for the Kurdish people.

The Kurdish Minister for Public Works in Iraq's interim government says the results of the Kurd's struggle last year have all been lost.

Nasreen Berwari says the Kurds have now seen how democracy can be usurped.

The influential Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, objects to the constitution's safeguards for the Kurds.

Yesterday he warned there would be serious consequences if the constitution was mentioned in the new resolution.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Saboteurs have blown up a portion of the Kirkuk-Turkey oil pipeline, the second such attack in less than 24-hours, an Iraqi security chief in northern Iraq says.

”A bomb placed 80 kilometres west of Kirkuk exploded at 8:20am [local time] on the main pipeline to the Ceyhan terminal,” Iraqi Civil Defence Corps chief Anwar Hamed Amin said.

Northern Oil Company fire chief Jumaa Ahamd says the pipeline to Turkey is still ablaze.

Earlier, saboteurs ruptured a pipeline linking Iraq's largest fuel refinery at Baiji, 200 kilometres north of Baghdad, to a power station.

From the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) :

Assailants in a speeding car have raked a US military convoy, setting a truck ablaze, while two civilian contractors have been hurt in an ambush.

Thick black smoke billowed over the truck an hour after the attack on a road in the north-western Baghdad neighbourhood of Al-Khadra, the scene of frequent anti-US attacks.

A crowd gathered to curse the firemen dousing the flames and demand they let it burn.

“One soldier ran away from the truck and got into another vehicle,” Burhan el-Din Hussein, who nearby when the speeding car shot up the convoy, said.

He says the attack took place between 10:30am and 11:00am [local time].

A second witness, Othman Hamadi, 17, describes the assailant's vehicle as a red car.

He says US soldiers fired off warning shots to make the crowd of angry onlookers back off.

A US soldier says the truck was set on fire by a Molotov cocktail.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the US military says a coalition convoy came under small arms fire in eastern Baghdad at about the same time.

It is unclear whether it is the same incident.

“Two civilian contractor drivers were wounded during a small arms attack on a coalition convoy in eastern Baghdad around 10:40am,” she said.

Separately, the US military reports that two bodyguards for a Baghdad politician have been shot dead by assailants in an assassination bid.

The politician, a member of Al-Rashid District Advisory Council whose name has not been disclosed, has been wounded in the attack.

“A task force Baghdad patrol found the council member's disabled vehicle and provided immediate medical assistance,” a US military statement said.

“The council member was evacuated to a local hospital with wounds to the leg, shoulder and chest. He is in serious but stable condition.”

From The Australian :

Three Italian hostages freed by coalition forces in Iraq were given an emotional welcome home today by family, friends and government officials after nearly two months in captivity.

The three security guards - Maurizio Agliana, 37, Umberto Cupertino, 35, and Salvatore Stefio, 34 - appeared in good health as they stepped from a plane into the arms of their families and the glare of media attention at Rome's Ciampino airport.

Dressed in T-shirts and jeans, they were immediately engulfed in the embrace of their families and friends after the flight from Kuwait City.
[…]
Centre-left opposition figures warned the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - a top US ally in Iraq - not to try to make political capital out of the rescue, just days before European and local elections at the weekend.
[…]
Stefio's father Angelo, who has campaigned for the men's release by carrying the Italian tricolour everywhere in public, sank to his knees as he embraced the three men in turn - still clutching the flag.

In homage to the men who rescued him, his son wore a “Coalition Force” T-shirt.

The three Italians and a Polish national who was kidnapped last week were rescued in a raid by US and Polish special forces on Tuesday.

Details of the conditions in which the men were held captive were not released, but foreign ministry official Alessandro Cevese told journalists they “have not been treated particularly well”.

Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini and Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Defence Minister Antonio Martino headed the official welcome party, which also included Rome mayor Walter Veltroni.

But the absence of the slain fourth hostage, Fabrizio Quattrocchil, made it a bittersweet homecoming.

Quattrocchi was executed after two days by their “Green Brigade” captors to “punish” Berlusconi for his refusal to withdraw the 3,000-strong Italian military contingent in Iraq, one of the conditions set for their release.

From The Australian :

A Japanese activist taken hostage by Iraqi insurgents in April has filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government, saying its deployment of troops in the region angered his kidnappers and was to blame for his ordeal.

Nobutaka Watanabe, 35, is demanding 5,000,000 Yen (Aus$65,809) in damages for mental and physical hardship he suffered during his four-day captivity, his lawyer Masatoshi Uchida said today.

“Mr. Watanabe believes his kidnapping was the result of Japan's military presence,” said Uchida. “His captors told him that he had been taken because he was from a country that had sent troops to Iraq.”

Watanabe, who filed his case yesterday, had earlier written dispatches for his activist group from the southern city of Samawah, protesting Japan's deployment of some 550 ground troops there on a humanitarian mission to rebuild infrastructure.

He was taken hostage along with freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda while travelling near the besieged city of Fallujah on April 14. The two were released and later said they were treated more like detainees than hostages.
[…]
Officials publicly reproached the hostages for ignoring government warnings to stay out of Iraq. All were billed by the government for part of the costs of their travel home.

Watanabe is asking the court to rule that he has no obligation to pay the 23,000 Yen (Aus$302) he has been charged, Uchida said.

I think the story speaks for itself. If not, try Jethro Tull on the subject.

Updating and correcting a previous post, from The Australian :

An explosion that killed six soldiers serving with Polish-led forces in Iraq this week was caused by a mortar attack, Polish army general Piotr Czerwinski confirmed today.

”The explosion was caused by a mortar attack,” Czerwinski told a news conference in Iraq broadcast on Polish private television station TVN24.

Earlier in the day, ministers from Poland and Latvia had said the blast on Tuesday had “probably” been caused by a mortar attack.

Officials had initially blamed the deaths of three Slovakian, two Polish and one Latvian soldier on an accident that occurred during a de-mining operation at an old munitions depot dating back to the Saddam Hussein era.
[…]
“Everything leads us to believe that it was a mortar attack,” said Poland's deputy defence minister, Janusz Zemke.
[…]
Atis Slakteris, defence minister of Latvia, which lost its first soldier since regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, told AFP: “Most probably it was a mortar attack, not just an incident during a demining operation.”

“Last night I spoke to Igors Rajevs, our commander in Iraq. He was rather convinced it was a mortar attack,” he said.