1 600 gefallene US-Soldaten im Iraq

Britischer Soldat bei Bombenanschlag im Irak ...

London (dpa) - Bei einem Bombenanschlag im Süden des Iraks ist ein britischer Soldat getötet worden. Drei weitere erlitten leichte Verletzungen, berichtet die BBC. Damit erhöhte sich die Zahl der im Irak umgekommenen britischen Militärangehörigen auf 104. Der jüngste Anschlag auf eine Gruppe britischer Soldaten sei von einem Selbstmordattentäter unweit eines Militärstützpunktes nahe der Hafenstadt Basra verübt worden.

 

Rund zwei Dutzend Tote bei neuer Gewalt im Irak

Bagdad (dpa) - Bei Anschlägen und Gefechten sind im Irak mindestens 25 Menschen getötet worden. Auf einem Marktplatz in Mahumdija riss ein Selbstmordattentäter mindestens neun Menschen mit in den Tod. Fünf mutmaßliche Terroristen und eine unbeteiligte Frau kamen ums Leben, als US-Soldaten ein Haus im so genannten Todesdreieck südlich von Bagdad stürmten. In einem Vorort der Hauptstadt starben bei der Explosion einer Autobombe in der Nähe einer Moschee fünf irakische Zivilisten.
 

USA planen zweite Befreiung Bagdads

Der tägliche Terror in Bagdad soll nach einer erfolgreichen Regierungsbildung im Irak endlich ein Ende haben. Einem Zeitungsbericht zufolge plant die US-Armee, die irakische Hauptstadt gemeinsam mit einheimischen Truppen in einer groß angelegten Militäraktion zu befrieden.


London - Das US-amerikanische Militär strebt einem Bericht der britischen Zeitung "Sunday Times" eine "zweite Befreiung Bagdads" an. Die Beruhigung der Sicherheitslage in der irakischen Hauptstadt ist unumgänglich für die erfolgreiche Einsetzung und Arbeit einer neuen Regierung. Auch kommt ein Abzug eines bedeutenden Teils der US-Truppen nur in Frage, wenn das tägliche Blutvergießen durch Anschläge und Angriffe auf Bagdads Straßen gestoppt werden kann.



AFP
Täglicher Terror in Bagdad: Explosion einer Autobombe am 11. April 2006
Dem Bericht zufolge werde die Militäraktion voraussichtlich gegen Ende des Sommers beginnen, um der noch zu bildenden Regierung Zeit zu geben, sich im Amt einzurichten.

Wie die "Sunday Times" berichtet, seien US-Kommandeure im Irak und auf dem Armee-Stützpunkt in Fort Leavenworth im US-Bundesstaat Kansas mit der Entwicklung strategischer und taktischer Pläne befasst. Die Leitung habe Generalleutnant David Petraeus, der für das Training irakischer Truppen verantwortlich gewesen sei.

Im zweiten Kampf um Bagdad   wollen die Militärs dem Bericht zufolge mit "Zuckerbrot und Peitsche" die Unterstützung der Bevölkerung für sich gewinnen. So sollen die Sicherheitskräfte den Menschen Schutz vor Gewalt bieten, wenn diese dabei helfen, Aufständische oder al-Qaida-Kämpfer aufzustöbern.


Unter Berufung auf Pentagon-Kreise berichtete das Blatt weiter, irakische Truppen sollten den Einsatz führen, während das US-Militär diese mit Luftschlägen, Spezialoperationen, Geheimdienstinformationen, Offizieren und Unterstützungstruppen unterstützt. Wahrscheinlich kämen bei der Aktion auch besonders wendige Hubschrauber vom Typ AH-6 "Little Bird", die mit Raketen und Maschinengewehren bewaffnet sind, zum Einsatz.

Laut Pentagon-Berater Daniel Gouré, Vize-Präsident des als militärischem Think Tank geltenden Lexington Institute, wollen die USA eine Entscheidungsschlacht, wie sie 2004 in der Rebellen-Hochburg Falludscha gesucht wurde, in Bagdad jedoch möglichst vermeiden. "Wenn man von Wohnviertel zu Wohnviertel vorgeht, lässt sich ein größerer Kampf um die Stadt verhindern", so Gouré.

"Bagdad ist der Schlüssel zur Stabilität"

Der genaue Plan sehe demnach vor, dass US-amerikanische und irakische Soldaten von Haus zu Haus vorrücken. In jedem Viertel sollen sogenannte "Sweat Teams" zurückbleiben. Das Akronym "Sweat" steht für "sewage, water, electricity and trash" - Abwasser, Wasser, Elektrizität und Abfall. Diese Teams sollen den Menschen helfen, ihre Lebensbedingungen zu verbessern, indem sie Krankenhäuser und Schulen ausbauen, eine geregelte Abfallversorgung einrichten und die Strom- und Wasserversorgung sicherstellen.

US-Präsident George W. Bush und sein Verteidigungsminister Donald Rumsfeld stehen unter immensem Druck, der US-amerikanischen Öffentlichkeit zu beweisen, dass der Irak nach der Befreiung durch die USA nicht in Anarchie und Chaos versinkt. Auch die neue irakische Regierung muss demonstrieren, dass sie ihren Regierungssitz unter Kontrolle hat. "Das wird die zweite Befreiung Bagdads", zitiert die "Sunday Times" Pentagon-Berater Gouré.

Larry Wilkerson, ehemaliger Stabschef im Außenministerium unter Colin Powell, erklärte, eine groß angelegte Razzia in Bagdad sei einer der wenigen Wege, mit der eine neue irakische Regierung die heimische Armee an sich binden und ihren Ehrgeiz beweisen könne. "Sie müssen beweisen, dass sie ihre eigene Hauptsstadt befreien können. Bagdad ist der Schlüssel zur Stabilität im Irak", sagte Wilkerson.

 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite Alliance on Sunday appeared close to reaching a deal to replace Ibrahim al-Jaafari as its nominee for prime minister, which could break a deadlock on a new government, officials in the bloc said.

The officials said they were close to an agreement to replace Jaafari with a member of his Dawa party.

"We are close to an agreement on Jaafari. It involves replacing him with a Dawa leader," one of the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters.


As the Alliance worked to reach a breakthrough, a suicide bomber in a car killed at least 11 people and wounded 23 near a market in the town of Mahmudiya south of Baghdad, a police official said.

It was further proof that Iraqi leaders are still unable to curb violence four months after elections they promised would deliver stability.

If the United Iraqi Alliance does replace Jaafari, it could break a four-month deadlock over a national unity government whose formation Iraqi politicians hope will avert a sectarian civil war.

But no prime minister will have any magic solutions to Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency, sectarian bloodshed and a battered economy that has scared away foreign investors.

LAST-MINUTE DEAL?
 

Acting parliament speaker Adnan Pachachi said Iraq's political blocs hoped to reach a last-minute deal on Sunday on top government positions before the assembly's next session on Monday.

He said failure to do so could delay a new government for at least another month and force the parties to choose a parliament speaker, a presidential council and prime minister in stages.

"The parliament will convene tomorrow morning and a deal is expected. If not the Shi'ite Alliance will ask for some more time," Pachachi told Reuters in an interview.

"If we cannot reach a concrete package deal then a president will be nominated and more time will be given to the Shi'ite Alliance to nominate a prime minister. We prefer one package. If they ask for more time, the parliament has a right to choose one position at a time."


Months of wrangling has hurt the credibility of Iraqi leaders, who promised to deliver stability after the elections.

Not all Alliance members were optimistic of a deal on Sunday.

Alliance official Khaled al- Attiya appeared on state television and said it would be useless to convene parliament unless all parties reach agreement.

"We are waiting for the nominees for the other political blocs for the positions of president and vice president and speaker," he told reporters.

"If this mission is not complete, what is the use of convening a session? I think it will be postponed
 

Earlier, a car bomb exploded near a mosque in Baghdad, police said. Four people were killed in the blast and seven others were wounded.

The political paralysis has worried Iraq's key allies the United States and Britain, who have repeatedly warned that political vacuum will play into the hands of insurgents and fuel sectarian tensions.

 

befürchtet..


BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Heavy clashes erupted overnight in the Sunni Arab district of Adhamiya in Baghdad and heavy casualties were feared, residents said on Monday.

Residents said ambulances were rushing to the northern district and a Sunni politician said he had received calls from people pleading for help.

It is not clear who was involved in the clashes but Sunni officials said they heard from residents that Iraqi forces had fought Sunni insurgents.

"I could not reach work. Adhamiya is cordoned off. There were fierce clashes last night. I head explosions. Fighting is still taking place but it is not as heavy," Adhamiya resident Ghina told Reuters by telephone.



Adhamiya is a stronghold of Sunni insurgents.

 

sollte eigentlich schon längst nicht mehr sein Amt ausführen dürfen...hat zuviel Dreck am Stecken...


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Democrats sought to raise the heat on embattled Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Sunday as Republicans and the Pentagon came together to defend him and the way he has conducted the war in Iraq.

The battle of words over Rumsfeld, his relations with military leaders and the Iraq war followed unusual public calls in the past week for his resignation from six retired generals, which prompted a rebuke from the Pentagon.

"My view is that the secretary should step aside," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a potential Democratic presidential candidate, told CBS's "Face the Nation" program. "Besides the fact that the Iraq war has been mismanaged ... we should listen to what these generals are saying."

Those urging Rumsfeld to step down include Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, and Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack, who led the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq, and former NATO commander Gen. Wesley Clark.


"These are six distinguished military officers," Richardson said. "They basically are saying that Secretary Rumsfeld, on issues relating to military strategy ... didn't listen to them. ... This reaches a new level ... of not being willing to admit mistakes, not being willing to change a course, policy that is just not working."

Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, speaking on "Fox News Sunday," said the United States had "wiped out a lot of the people who would do us harm" during Rumsfeld's tenure.

"I think the important thing to remember here is that we haven't been attacked again at home since September of 2001," McConnell said.

Retired Brig Gen. James Marks, speaking on CNN's "Late Edition," said of Rumsfeld in the early days of the war: "I kind of had the impression that his mind and those around him had been made up in terms of what we were going to do and how we were going to go about doing it. ... And there were requests for forces that were denied."

PENTAGON MEMORANDUM
 

The Pentagon on Sunday released the text of a memorandum it sent to civilian military analysts and former top military commanders, some of whom appear often on television, to challenge criticism that Rumsfeld was deaf to the views of military leaders. The memo's existence was first reported by The New York Times.

"U.S. senior military leaders are involved to an unprecedented degree in every decision-making process," the memorandum said in part, noting Rumsfeld had held 139 meetings with the Joint Chiefs of Staff since the start of 2005.

Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia said on "Face the Nation" the criticism of Rumsfeld amounted to "scapegoating" and that firing him would not resolve the Iraq situation.

"What difference would that make?" he asked. "Would that mean anything to the terrorists? A lot of this focus on an individual is a way of maybe criticizing the president."


Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, said the critical comments from the retired generals could be considered a reflection of current senior officers not permitted to criticize Rumsfeld or Bush.

"We need a new direction in Iraq," he said. "We're looking at some incompetency in addition to the arrogance issues that have been raised. ... (Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice talked about a thousand tactical mistakes the other day in Iraq the other day. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement."

Richardson, who served in President Bill Clinton's Cabinet, said the continued high level of violence in Iraq and the failure to form a government in Baghdad suggests the U.S. presence in Iraq could be a detriment to U.S. objectives in the Middle East.

"What you're seeing is deep frustration in the military," he said, "deep frustration within our troops who are not getting enough armor. ... It is obvious that Secretary Rumsfeld did not listen to them. ... That's why we're in this morass."

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Experts confirmed the authenticity of Saddam Hussein's signature on documents connected to a crackdown on Shiites in the 1980s, prosecutors said Monday in a new session of the trial of the former Iraqi leader and seven co-defendants.

The report from handwriting experts said a signature on a document approving rewards for intelligence agents involved in the crackdown was Hussein's, prosecutors said, reading from the report.

In an earlier session, Hussein had refused to confirm or deny his signature. Some of his co-defendants had said their alleged signatures on other documents were forgeries.

The defense immediately disputed the experts' results. "We contest all the details of the report," chief defense lawyer Khalil al-Dulaimi said.

"We demand the appointment of other experts who are not employees of the Interior Ministry," defense lawyer Khamis al-Obaidi said. "We demand international experts with international expertise -- except for ones from Iran for its obvious hostility against Arabs and Islam."

After hearing the report, the judge adjourned the court until Wednesday to give the experts time to look at more documents.

Hussein and the seven former members of his regime are on trial for the deaths of 148 Shiites and the imprisonment and torture of others during the crackdown launched after a 1982 assassination attempt against the former Iraqi leader in the Shiite town of Dujail. They face possible execution by hanging if convicted.

Dressed in a black suit and white shirt, Hussein sat silently in court Monday along with his co-defendants.

The report said Saddam and his top co-defendant Barzan Ibrahim -- Hussein's half-brother and former head of the Mukhabarat intelligence agency -- refused to give the experts samples of their handwriting for comparison. So the experts compared the signatures to other documents not related to the case, the report said.

The experts confirmed Ibrahim's signatures on several documents connected to the crackdown, the report said. Among them was a memo requesting the rewards for six Mukhabarat officers involved in the Dujail crackdown, which Hussein allegedly approved. Another listed Dujail families whose farmlands were to be razed in retaliation for the shooting.

The defendants have insisted their actions in the crackdown were legal because they were taken in response to the attempt to kill Hussein as he drove through Dujail on July 8, 1982.

The prosecution has sought to show that the crackdown went far beyond the actual perpetrators of the attack to punish the entire mainly Shiite town. It presented intelligence and other documents from the time showing that entire families -- including women and children -- were arrested in the sweep that followed and imprisoned for years without trial. It says minors -- including an 11-year-old boy -- were among 148 Shiites sentenced to death for the attack.

Dujail residents, including several women, have testified in court that they were tortured with electrical shocks and beatings during their imprisonment.

 

Bagdad (Reuters) - Der Prozess gegen den früheren irakischen Machthaber Saddam Hussein ist erneut vertagt worden.

Kurz nach dem Beginn der Sitzung am Montag erklärte der Vorsitzende Richter Rauf Abdel Rahman, das Verfahren werde am Mittwoch fortgesetzt. Der Prozess werde vertagt, da Experten mehr Zeit benötigten, um Saddams Handschrift zu untersuchen, sagte Rahman. Mit der Analyse soll eine Verbindung zu dem Massaker an knapp 150 Schiiten im Dorf Dudschail 1982 hergestellt werden. Bislang haben Saddam, sein Halbbruder und ehemaliger Geheimdienst-Chef Barsan al-Tikriti aber eine Schriftprobe verweigert. Zu der Sitzung waren sowohl Saddam als auch sieben Mitangeklagte erschienen.

Die Verteidigung forderte das Gericht dazu auf, die Experten auszutauschen. Die derzeitigen Ermittler hätten unter anderem Verbindungen zum Innenministerium und seien daher nicht unabhängig, sagte ein Anwalt von Saddam. Die Anklage im Verfahren lautet auf Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit. Bei einer Verurteilung droht den Beschuldigten die Todesstrafe. Saddam muss sich zudem möglicherweise bald in einem weiteren Verfahren wegen des Vorwurfs von Völkermord an Kurden Ende der 80er Jahre vor Gericht verantworten.

 

Mehr als 50 Tote bei neuer Gewalt im Irak

Bagdad (dpa) - Die Gewalt im Irak reißt nicht ab. Bei Anschlägen und Gefechten wurden allein am Osterwochenende mehr als 50 Menschen getötet und viele weitere verletzt. Bei einer Offensive irakischer und US-Soldaten gegen mutmaßliche Terroristen wurden heute sechs Aufständische in der Stadt Mussajeb südlich von Bagdad getötet. Zuvor waren bei Gefechten nahe Falludscha und bei einem Bombenanschlag mitten in Bagdad vier Iraker ums Leben gekommen. Derweil wurde der Prozess gegen Ex-Machthaber Saddam Hussein auf Mittwoch vertagt.
 

Washington (Reuters) - US-Verteidigungsminister Donald Rumsfeld hat sich am Montag unbeeindruckt von Rücktrittsforderungen sowie Kritik früherer Generäle gezeigt.

"Wissen Sie, auch das wird vorbeigehen", sagte er einem Radiosender. Mehrere pensionierte Generäle der US-Armee, darunter Kommandeure aus dem Irak-Krieg, hatten Rumsfeld Arroganz vorgeworfen sowie Ignoranz gegenüber den Einschätzungen seiner im Feld eingesetzten Führungskräfte. Sie forderten, er solle sein Amt niederlegen. US-Präsident George W. Bush nahm seinen Minister jedoch öffentlich in Schutz. Rumsfeld selbst wies die Rücktrittsforderungen zurück.

"Bei diesen Dingen gibt es immer zwei Seiten, und je schärfer die Kritik daher kommt, umso schärfer fällt auch die Verteidigung aus von den Leuten, die mit den Kritikern nicht übereinstimmen", sagte Rumsfeld am Montag in der "Rush Limbaugh Show". US-Präsidialamtssprecher Scott McClellan hatte dem Minister zuvor erneut den Rücken gestärkt: "Wir stehen vor vielen Herausforderungen und der Präsident hat Minister Rumsfeld und unsere Kommandeure beauftragt, sich diesen Herausforderungen zu stellen und sie stellen sich diesen Herausforderungen."

 

RAMADI, Iraq (CNN) -- A coordinated attack from three directions on the governor's compound in Ramadi Monday left an unknown number of insurgents dead after an hourlong fight with U.S. Marines.

The insurgent assault -- which included car bombs, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun and small-arms fire -- occurred between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., the U.S. military said in a written statement.

Militants used a suicide car bombing to attack an observation point, wounding one Marine. Two other car bombs were stopped and destroyed by Marines firing from observation posts, the military said. (Watch troops under fire in governor's compound -- 2:45)

Insurgents also fired on the compound from a mosque about 330 yards (300 meters) away in the center of the city with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns.

The Marines called for air support against the fire coming from the mosque, but ground forces arrived first.

"The Marines returned fire but continued to be attacked from the mosque's minaret," the military statement said. "The Marines fired one 120 mm tank round and several 7.62 mm machine-gun rounds into the minaret, after which fire from the mosque ceased."

CNN correspondent Arwa Damon said she saw two tank rounds fired into the mosque.

"This is the fourth time in three-and-a-half weeks that the Ramadi Government Center has received attacks from the Fatemat Mosque," said Lt. Col. Stephen M. Neary, commander of 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment.

He said the Marines "only used the proportionate amount of force necessary."

"Coalition forces take significant measures to respect all religious sites," said Lt. Col. Bryan Salas, a Marine spokesman. "But we always maintain the inherent right of self-defense.

"When insurgents use holy places as safe havens from which to attack coalition forces, it is important that we act quickly to defend ourselves and innocent Iraqi civilians," he said.

U.S. military officials said some insurgents were killed in the mosque, but had no specific figures. The Marines also said they killed a three-man mortar team during the hourlong fight.

The governor was at the compound Monday but was not injured.

It was just another day in the restive provincial capital, where officials said the compound sometimes comes under attack four of five times daily.

Central Ramadi is the most dangerous part of the restive city, which is home to three Iraqi army brigades and what a U.S. military commander described as a growing police force.

Western Iraq's sprawling Anbar province has been the scene of some of the worst fighting in the 3-year-old Iraqi war.

Signs of torture
The violence in Iraq was taking place in a political vacuum left as politicians negotiate the formation of a unity government four months after parliamentary elections.

Iraq's parliament, the 275-member Council of Representatives, had originally been scheduled to meet Monday, but Speaker Adnan Pachachi said the session would be delayed a "few days." (Full story)

Police on Monday found 18 bodies in Baghdad, including a prominent Sunni politician's brother who had been missing about three weeks.

Taha Mutlaq, who disappeared in late March, had been shot several times in the head and appeared to have been tortured, police said.

His brother, Saleh Mutlaq, is the head of the National Dialogue Front, which won 11 seats in Iraq's parliament.

Police also found 17 unidentified bodies around the capital, all of them shot in the head and showing signs of torture.

Twelve of the bodies were discovered in Dora, a Sunni district in southern Baghdad.

Two other bodies were found in Khadhamiya, a Shiite area of northern Baghdad, and three turned up in the Shu'la neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad.

The discovery of bodies killed in similar fashion has been a regular occurrence in Baghdad since sectarian violence flared after an attack on a revered Shiite mosque February 22.

Attacks kill 4 civilians
Police said fighting between Iraqi security forces and insurgents broke out in the Adhamiya district in northern Baghdad on Monday, resulting in the deaths of three civilians.

A police station came under fire around 1 a.m., and Iraqi army units closed the area about four hours later for a security sweep.

In addition to the three civilians killed in the crossfire, eight people were wounded.

Also Monday, a roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi army patrol in central Baghdad, killing one civilian. One Iraqi soldier and two other civilians were wounded, police said.

Other developments

Saddam Hussein sat silently in court Monday as prosecutors presented a report from handwriting experts that linked the former dictator to a document approving rewards for intelligence agents involved in a crackdown on Shiites, according to The Associated Press. Hussein's lawyers objected to the report, requesting analysis by outside experts. The trial was adjourned until Wednesday. (Full story)


The media skirmishes over Donald Rumsfeld continued Monday, as four retired U.S. generals wrote an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal defending the embattled secretary of defense and suggesting that some of his critics don't understand the war on terrorism.  

lt. Pentagon: wenn die letzten 2 Wochen im April auch noch so verlustreich verlaufen sollten wie der Beginn, dann wirds wohl einer der bittersten Monate mit den größten Verlusten für die US-Armee seit Beginn des Krieges im Irak...


http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf


grüsse
füx  

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Snipers held rooftop positions as masked Sunni Arab insurgents said they were gearing up for another open street battle with pro-government Shiite militiamen in Baghdad's Adhamiya district on Tuesday.

The Arab Sunni stronghold is still feeling ripples from overnight clashes on Monday that appeared to be the closest yet to all-out sectarian fighting.

It's a reality that has Washington scrambling to avert civil war as Iraqi politicians struggle to form a government four months after parliamentary elections.


A U.S. military spokesman said 50 insurgents attacked Iraqi forces in the middle of the night in a seven-hour battle that killed five rebels and wounded an Iraqi soldier.

Fighting was so fierce that U.S. reinforcements were brought in to the northern district, home to some of Iraq's most hardcore Sunni guerrillas and the Abu Hanifa mosque, near where Saddam Hussein was last seen in public before going into hiding.

Sporadic fighting continued on Tuesday.

"There are six people among our dead and wounded. Just half an hour ago a sniper killed Ali," said Mohammad, a 28-year-old Adhamiya resident, of his friend.

While the February bombing of a Shi'ite shrine pushed Iraq to the edge of civil war and left hundreds of bodies with bullet holes and torture marks on the streets, the scenario in Adhamiya is more alarming, despite fewer casualties.  
 

Wieviele noch Mr. President!!!!!

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erste klare Anzeichen eines Bürgerkrieges...


It appeared to be the first example of a large-scale, open sectarian street battle in the capital, if not all of Iraq.

The boldness of the attack was a stark reminder of the security nightmare that will challenge the new government, which will face a Sunni insurgency that has killed many thousands of Shi'ite security forces and civilians.

"Today at noon a group of army soldiers came near the Abu Hanifa mosque and a sniper went on top of the roof. We managed to kill him with a grenade. I destroyed three of their vehicles with roadside bombs," said another rebel.

Insurgents setting up barricades said they saw Shi'ite fighters calling themselves The Army of Haidar closing in on the Abu Hanifa mosque from three directions.


DEATH SQUADS

"We expect them to come back again," said a man who only identified himself as Abu Bakr and said he was a former army officer under Saddam.

His description of the events of Monday night were even more dramatic than the U.S. military account.

"We saw about 100 to 150 men show up in cars. Some were wearing military uniforms and others were in civilian clothes," he said, as five gunmen stood guard over one of the main roads leading into Adhamiya.

Sunni leaders have accused the Shi'ite-led government of sanctioning militia death squads, a charge it denies.
 

What happened in Adhamiya is an evil act by an armed militia backed by security and government operatives," Dhafer al-Ani, a member of the biggest Sunni Alliance, told a news conference.

As Abu Bakr and his men geared up for a new fight, the Sunni town of Ramadi, 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad, was recovering from the latest rebel assault.

The U.S. military said marines repelled insurgent attacks at several locations in central Ramadi on Monday, including the local government center, which often comes under fire.

The multiple suicide car bombs, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns appeared to be closely coordinated, said the military.


On Tuesday, residents said they kept their children home because insurgents ordered schools closed. Streets were mostly empty.

Washington hopes training will improve the performance of Iraqi forces and enable U.S. troops to start heading home.

But as the confusing Adhamiya fighting illustrated, it's hard to tell who is wearing Iraqi military uniforms, complicating the task of stabilizing the country.

 

Das Café wurde durch die Explosion zerstört

Bei einer Bombenexplosion vor einem Café in Bagdad sind sieben Menschen getötet und 22 weitere verletzt worden. Das Café liegt nahe dem sunnitischen Stadtteil Adhamija, wo sich seit Montag Aufständische mit amerikanischen und irakischen Truppen Gefechte liefern. Nach US-Militärangaben vom Dienstag wurden dabei fünf mutmaßliche Terroristen getötet und sieben weitere gefangen genommen.

Koalitionstruppen kämpften auch in der Stadt Ramadi gegen Aufständische. Nach Berichten des US-Senders CNN schlugen US-Marineinfanteristen am Montag einen Angriff auf den dortigen Sitz des Gouverneurs zurück. Eine unbekannte Anzahl von Aufständischen sei getötet worden, hieß es unter Berufung auf US-Militärangaben. Ramadi liegt im so genannten sunnitischen Dreieck, das eine Hochburg der Aufständischen ist.

In Tus Churmatu, rund 180 Kilometer nördlich von Bagdad, wurden in der Nacht zum Dienstag zwei Iraker ermordet, die für eine staatliche Sunniten-Stiftung arbeiteten. Unter den Mordopfern war nach Polizeiangaben ein Mitglied der Vereinigung der sunnitischen Religionsgelehrten.



 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, boosted by another strong endorsement from President George W. Bush, said on Tuesday no one is indispensable but he is not considering quitting in the face of criticism from a handful of retired generals.

Rumsfeld, an architect of the 3-year-old Iraq war who long has been a lightning rod for criticism, has faced in recent weeks an unusual spate of calls for his resignation from six retired generals. They accused him of disregarding sound military advice and ruling by intimidation.

"The president knows, as I know, that there are no indispensable men," Rumsfeld said. "Graveyards of the world are filled with 'indispensable' people."


Critics have accused him of bullying senior officers and contemptuously rejecting their advice, such as deploying more troops in 2003 to occupy Iraq. Asked whether he was arrogant and autocratic as critics claim, Rumsfeld said in his typically blunt way, "You know me."

Rumsfeld twice offered Bush his resignation in 2004 amid the Abu Ghraib prison scandal but when asked Tuesday if he would consider resigning to ease the burden on Bush and Republicans during a congressional election year, he said: "No. He (Bush) knows that I serve at his pleasure and that's that."

At a Rose Garden ceremony, Bush lauded the secretary as he did in a written statement last Friday.

"Don Rumsfeld is doing a fine job," Bush said. "He's not only transforming the military, he's fighting a war on terror -- he's helping us fight a war on terror. I have strong confidence in Don Rumsfeld.

'THE DECIDER'  
 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Clashes persisted for a second day Tuesday in a Sunni district of Baghdad between Iraqi forces and what appeared to be local militiamen who feared that Shiite death squads had infiltrated the community.

U.S. and Iraqi troops sealed off streets to the Azamiyah district, and residents reported the area appeared quiet after clerics broadcast appeals for calm over loudspeakers from the main Sunni mosque. At least 13 people died in the two days of fighting, Iraqi officials said.

There were conflicting reports about what triggered the clashes, which underscored the rising tensions between Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities that threaten to plunge Iraq into civil war.

The U.S. military said trouble began before dawn Monday when gunmen fired on an Iraqi army patrol. Fighting escalated four hours later when 50 gunmen assaulted a U.S.-Iraqi police checkpoint, prompting U.S. and Iraqi reinforcements to rush to the scene, a U.S. statement said.

Although the clashes ended Monday afternoon, they broke out again before dawn Tuesday when rumors swept Azamiyah that paramilitary commandos from the Shiite-led Interior Ministry had entered the area.

Many Sunnis consider Interior Ministry commandos, many of them veterans of the Shiite Badr Brigade militia, as little more than sectarian death squads responsible for kidnapping and killing hundreds, possibly thousands, of Sunni civilians during the past year.

"Just after 6 a.m., the mosques began calling 'Allahu Akbar' [God is great] over and over, which is the signal that there's trouble, that the neighborhood is under attack," one resident, Riyadh Zoheir, said by telephone from Azamiyah.

As the alarm sounded, masked gunmen took up positions on rooftops, firing at military vehicles. Gangs of armed men roamed from house to house, urging Sunni families to provide male members to help defend the neighborhood, residents said.

Defenders included members of a neighborhood watch group formed after the February 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra. The bombing triggered reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics, raising the specter of all-out sectarian war.

Several of the dead were members of the watch force, residents said.

"They came in wearing police clothes, but they weren't police," a watch group member said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. "We defended our neighborhood, our mosques and our honor."

Rumors spread that some of the outsiders included armed men "who did not speak Arabic well -- meaning they were Iranians or Iranian-Iraqis," Zoheir said, referring to young Shiites who grew up in Iran and returned after Saddam's fall.

Iraqi officials moved quickly to contain the violence. Local police commanders issued statements assuring Azamiyah residents of their safety. A leading Sunni cleric, Abdul-Salam Kubaisi, broadcast an appeal over a mosque loudspeaker, urging Sunnis to "resume normal lives."

Iraqi army units patrolled the streets. Sunni Arabs tend to favor the army, which is controlled by the Sunni defense minister, over forces of the Shiite-led Interior Ministry.

"For the past days, the situation was miserable," said Ziyad Younis, a university lecturer. "I didn't dare peek my head out of my house. Everybody said the Interior Ministry commandos had moved into the neighborhood."

Sunni Arab politicians expressed outrage over events in Azamiyah, which lies between heavily Shiite Sadr City and Shiite districts across the Tigris River to the west.

"We have evidence that some officials and militias are up to their necks in the killings and kidnappings that take place daily in Baghdad," Sunni politician Dhafir Ani said on Al-Arabiya television.

Another key Sunni politician, Adnan Dulaimi, accused the Shiite-led government of conducting "the ugliest form of ethnic cleansing" against Sunni communities around Baghdad, including Azamiyah.

Dulaimi blamed the deteriorating security situation on "the existence of unleashed militia, including some militia backed by foreign powers who have only one goal -- that is to see Iraqis slaughtered in a sectarian war."

The Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, led by Sunni politician Saleh Mutlaq, also demanded that government officials "stop their raiding, kidnapping and looting operations in Azamiyah."

Iraqi officials estimate tens of thousands have been displaced -- the majority of them Shiites but also Sunnis and Christians who have left mixed areas for the safety of communities dominated by their own sect.

Sunni anger has welled in a time of political instability as Iraq's ethnic and religious factions struggle to form a government of national unity. Talks have been stalled for months over the issue of who should be the next prime minister, with the Sunnis and Kurds steadfastly rejecting the Shiite nomination of incumbent Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Al-Jaafari has refused to give up the nomination that he narrowly won in a Shiite caucus. Shiite leaders met Tuesday to discuss the possibility of a new Shiite candidate, but prospects for a quick end to the stalemate were in doubt as al-Jaafari's Dawa party pledged to support him for a second term.

Other developments:

Seven people were killed when a bomb exploded outside a cafe in eastern Baghdad, police reported.


A policeman was shot dead near his home in Basra, officials said.


Two bodies, both shot in the head, were found in southwestern Baghdad.  

Der irakische Ex-Diktator hat Anfang der 80er-Jahre höchstselbst die Hinrichtung von schiitischen Bewohnern der Kleinstadt Dudschail angeordnet.

Der Vorsitzende Richter im Prozess gegen den Ex-Diktator, Rauf Abdel Rahman, bestätigte am Mittwoch nach Angaben des britischen Senders BBC, dass die Unterschriften Saddam Husseins unter den Hinrichtungsbefehlen laut einer Prüfung von Sachverständigen echt sind.

148 Männer ermordet

Saddam und sieben frühere Funktionäre seines Regimes müssen sich wegen der Ermordung von insgesamt 148 Männern aus Dudschail verantworten. Die Männer waren 1982 nach einem gescheiterten Attentat auf Saddam in der vorwiegend von Schiiten bewohnten Ortschaft getötet worden. Den Angeklagten, die am Mittwoch geschlossen im Gerichtssaal erschienen, droht die Todesstrafe.

„Die Unterschriften unter diesen Dokumenten sind nach dem Gutachten (der Sachverständigen) echt", erklärte der Richter laut BBC zum Auftakt des 22. Prozesstages in Bagdad. Die Verteidigung beharrt dagegen darauf, dass die Unterschriften gefälscht sind.

Neun Leichen gefunden

Die irakische Polizei fand unterdessen in der Gegend zwischen Mussajeb und Iskanderija südlich von Bagdad neun Leichen, denen die Augen verbunden worden waren. Die Opfer wiesen Zeichen von Folter und Schusswunden auf. Sie seien an den Händen gefesselt gewesen.

 

Washington (Reuters) - In der Diskussion um seine Person ist US-Verteidigungsminister Donald Rumsfeld in die Offensive gegangen.

Mit der breiten Rückendeckung von Präsident George W. Bush wischte der 73-Jährige jeden Gedanken an einen Rücktritt vom Tisch und bekräftigte, sich den entsprechenden Forderungen mehrerer pensionierter Generäle nicht beugen zu wollen. Er äußerte zudem Zweifel daran, dass es in den militärischen Rängen tatsächlich eine breite Unzufriedenheit mit seiner Amtsführung gebe. Die massive Kritik an Rumsfeld und dessen Irak-Strategie lasten auf der gesamten republikanischen Regierungspartei, die Umfragen zufolge nicht zuletzt deshalb bei der Kongresswahl im November mit Verlusten rechnen muss.

"Der Präsident weiß so gut wie ich, dass niemand unersetzlich ist", sagte Rumsfeld am Dienstag bei einem Auftritt vor der Presse. "Die Friedhöfe der Welt sind voll von Menschen, die als unersetzlich galten." Er aber werde nicht zurücktreten. "Er (Bush) weiß, dass ich ihm zur Freude diene und so ist es." Sechs ehemalige Generäle der US-Armee - darunter Offiziere, die im Irak-Krieg eingesetzt waren - haben dem Verteidigungsminister vorgeworfen, Ratschläge des Militärs systematisch zu missachten, Mitarbeiter massiv unter Druck zu setzen und beim Irak-Einsatz viele strategische Fehler gemacht zu haben. Die Kritik gibt es seit langem, sie wurde aber bislang nicht so laut und nicht von solch hochrangigen Vertretern geäußert.

Bush stellte sich kurz vor Rumsfelds Pressekonferenz zum zweiten Mal innerhalb weniger Tage mit Nachdruck hinter seinen Minister: "Ich höre, was gesagt wird. Ich lese die Titelseiten. Ich kenne die Spekulationen", sagte Bush bei einem Auftritt vor dem Weißen Haus. "Aber ich entscheide. Und ich entscheide, was das Beste ist. Und das Beste ist, dass Donald Rumsfeld Verteidigungsminister bleibt." Er habe großes Vertrauen in ihn.

Viele US-Kommentatoren vertreten die Ansicht, Bush könne sich die Entlassung seines obersten Irak-Strategen wenige Monate vor der Wahl nicht leisten, da ihm die als Eingeständnis eines Scheiterns in dem Golfstaat ausgelegt werden könnte. Der ölreiche Irak steht mehr als drei Jahre nach dem US-Einmarsch am Rand eines Bürgerkriegs und immer mehr US-Wähler haben Zweifel daran, dass Bush und seine Regierung die Probleme in den Griff bekommen.

Rumsfeld zeigte sich dagegen scheinbar unbeirrt von der ungewöhnlich hartnäckigen Diskussion um seine Person. Auf die Frage, ob er so arrogant sei und sein Amt so autokratisch ausübe, wie von seinen Kritikern behauptet, antwortete er in seiner typisch freimütigen Art: "Sie kennen mich." Angesprochen darauf, warum er im vergangenen Jahr zweimal seinen Rücktritt angeboten habe, dies nun aber nicht einmal in Erwägung ziehen wolle, sagte er: "Oh, nennen sie das einfach eigenwillig."

Zur Frage einer breiten Unzufriedenheit im Militär ließ Rumsfeld Generalstabschef Peter Pace zu Wort kommen, den er zur Pressekonferenz mitgebracht hatte. Dieser bestätigte seinen Dienstherrn: Hochrangige Offiziere hätten viele Möglichkeiten, ihre Sicht der Dinge der Führung des Verteidigungsministeriums darzulegen. "Aber am Ende, nachdem wir nach bestem Wissen unsere militärischen Empfehlungen abgegeben haben, muss einer entscheiden", sagte Pace. "Und wenn der Verteidigungsminister eine Entscheidung gefällt hat, machen wir das, was uns gesagt wird, solange es nicht illegal oder unmoralisch ist." Rumsfeld reagierte witzelnd: "Sie sollten das nicht einmal erwähnen - illegal oder unmoralisch."

In der Kritik mischen sich persönliche und fachliche Vorwürfe. Teile der Armee haben beispielsweise immer mehr Personal für den Irak-Einsatz gefordert, um die mannigfaltigen Aufgaben dort zu erfüllen. Rumsfeld habe sich aber nie in seinen Einschätzungen beeinflussen lassen und von vornherein zu wenig Soldaten eingeplant und entsandt. US-Außenministerin Condoleezza Rice hat angesichts der anhaltenden Gewalt im Irak wiederholt Fehler bei der Planung und Umsetzung des Einsatzes eingeräumt.


 

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's political leaders, under pressure from Washington, were set to meet in parliament on Thursday in hopes of breaking a deadlock over the formation of a unity government seen as the best hope to avert civil war.

But legislators from the Shiite Alliance, the largest bloc in parliament, threatened to boycott the sitting, which would throw the U.S.-backed political process into further disarray.

The United States hopes a government comprising Shiites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds will foster stability and set the stage for an eventual drawdown of U.S. troops. It has grown increasingly anxious as Iraqi politicians struggle to form an administration four months after elections in December.


The cause of the political paralysis is Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's refusal to heed calls from Sunni Arabs, Kurds and even some Shiites to withdraw his nomination for a second term.

Raising the possibility that Thursday's scheduled parliament session could be delayed for a second time in a week, a member of the powerful Shiite Alliance said the bloc would boycott the sitting if all parties did not agree beforehand on key posts, including the assembly speaker and a presidential council.

"We agreed that we will hold a meeting in parliament only if all parties agree on all key posts," Ali al-Adeeb, a member of Jaafari's Dawa party, told Reuters.

He said the Alliance would announce later on Thursday if it would attend the session, scheduled for 4 p.m.