[wvns] Blackwater banned from Iraq
US security firm Blackwater banned from Iraq
Monday, 17 September 2007
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0917/iraq.html
US security contractor Blackwater has been banned from operating in
Iraq after eight civilians were killed in Baghdad yesterday.
Blackwater offers personal security to US officials working in Iraq
and is one of the better known firms involved in what critics call the
privatisation of the war in Iraq.
Yesterday, a US diplomatic convoy came under fire in the Iraqi
capital's western al-Yarmukh neighbourhood.
Blackwater members accompanying the convoy returned fire, leaving nine
people dead, one of whom was an Iraqi police officer.
All of the other fatalities were civilian bystanders.
Iraqi Brigadier-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf confirmed that a mortar had
landed close to the convoy and said the US firm had 'opened fire
randomly at citizens'.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has strongly condemned the
company's actions and denounced what he called the criminal response
of the US contractors.
And today Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani issued an order to
cancel Blackwater's licence and prohibit the company from operating
anywhere in Iraq.
Mr Bolani also confirmed that a criminal investigation had been
launched following the incident.
A US embassy official only said that security vehicles of the
'Department of State' were involved in an incident near al-Nissur Square.
Blackwater representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Thousands of private security contractors, many of them US and
European, have worked in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Following a number of similar incidents in recent years, foreign
private security firms have been accused of operating outside the law
with little or no accountability either to the Iraqi government or US
military forces.
===
Government said to have lost control of Basra
By Kareem Zair
http://www.azzaman.com/english/index.asp?fname=news%5C%5C2007-06-27%5C%5Ckurd.htm
As U.S. troops battle to retake Baghdad and surrounding areas, the
government is reported to have lost its control of Basra where almost
all of the country's oil exports originate.
The city, according to well-placed sources, is under the hegemony of
militias who do not run its streets only but have imposed levies and
taxes on oil output.
"It may be too late for Prime Minister Nouri al-Naliki to restore
control of Basra," one source working for Iraqi intelligence said.
The sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of
retribution, point to the growing Iranian influence in Basra and most
of southern Iraq.
The loss of Basra to Shiite militias is a blow to current U.S.
military operations mainly directed against Sunni rebels and elements
of al-Qaeda group in the country.
The four-month long operations in which tens of thousands of U.S.
marines are involved have foundered due to tough resistance from
various Iraqi groups particularly those linked to al-Qaeda.
British troops in Basra are almost powerless as their previous
military tactics to retake control of the city have all but backfired.
Attacks on British troops have increased significantly recently.
Roadside bombs target British armored convoys and their barracks come
under frequent mortar attacks.
The sources said Basra was in the midst of "huge chaos" with the
political factions and their militias dividing the city into zones of
influence.
Senior Iraqi officials, refusing to be named, said Maliki was
concerned about latest developments in Basra and other southern cities.
The decline of government control in these areas comes as Iraqi and
U.S. troops are engaged in fierce fighting with Sunni resistance and
armed groups across the central part of the country.
The officials said Maliki intends to deploy two army battalions and a
commando police force in the city to strengthen the provincial
government there.
But according to intelligence reports it will take a much bigger force
to take on the heavily armed militias in the city.
Control of border points is no longer under the control of government
troops and so are the city ports through which a sizeable portion of
the country's imports comes.
The Oil Ministry's supervision and administration of oil fields,
terminals and a major refinery is only symbolic with militias in
actual control of Basra's oil industry.
===
IRAQ: ULEMA COUNCIL ISSUES FATWA ON OIL LAW
http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.432030923&par
Baghdad (AKI) - Iraq's Council of the Ulema, a group of senior Sunni
Muslim clerics led by Sheikh Harith al-Darri, has emitted a fatwa
(religious edict) forbidding members of parliament from ratifying a
draft law on oil and gas which has already been approved by the
government of prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. The crucial oil law that
the United States is pressing Baghdad to pass to boost reconciliation
between the country's Sunnis and Shiites now goes to parliament for
debate.
The council which is the leading Sunni religious authority in Iraq
said in a statement Wednesday that "the approval by members of the
government of this terrible law is forbidden and null, and anyone who
does [vote for it] will be probed and called to account [for this]."
The statement explained that "the project falls within the accords
signed by politicians who have gained their positions thanks to the
occupation and this could lead to a huge waste of national wealth."
This, the Council argues, "is the opinion of various energy experts
who say the law allows foreign companies to exert their supremacy over
the resources of the country."
The fatwa states that anyone who expresses their opinion on the law,
let alone approves it, "will incur the wrath of God in that the
consequences of the connivance with the enemy in defrauding public
wealth will fall on those who commit this crime, which is a betrayal
of God, of his Prophet and of all Muslims."
The Ulema Council refuses to enter into government or to sit around a
negotiating table with the executive as long as multinational forces
remain on! Iraqi s oil
The draft law on oil and gas was approved by the government of Nouri
al-Maliki on Tuesday and has been sent to parliament for approval. The
work of the current parliament has been virtually paralysed for some
weeks now after the bloc loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr and the Sunni Concord Front - the main Sunni political
grouping - decided to boycott proceedings, meaning it is impossible to
reach the quorum required to pass legislation.
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