On the road to Karbala, Shiite pilgrims take part in the religious observance of Arba’een, which happens 40 days after Ashura, a holiday that commemorates the death of Husayn bin Ali, grandson of Muhammad. During Arba’een, Shiites make the trek to Karbala, the site of the A.D. 61 battle in which Husayn and 72 of his followers were killed. The meaning behind the holiday is justice, and takes place as Iraq continues on its path to democracy.
March 20, 2006
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Soldiers from Multi-National Division – Baghdad’s 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, detained three individuals March 17 who are suspected in a drive-by shooting in northwest Baghdad.
The detainees’ vehicle contained multiple AK-47 rifles, a PKC rifle, cell phones and chest racks (load bearing vests). The detainees were brought to Camp Liberty for in-processing.
Elsewhere, elements of the 2nd Brigade, 9th Iraqi Army Division, and an Estonian platoon, found a weapons cache while on dismounted patrol northwest of Baghdad.
An Iraqi civilian tipped off the patrol to the cache’s whereabouts.
The cache consisted of two 37 mm rounds, three 125 mm rounds and an unknown amount of .50 caliber rounds.
By MULTI-NATIONAL DIVISION - BAGHDAD 4th Infantry Division - CAMP LIBERTY - BAGHDAD, IRAQ
BAGHDAD, March 20 (KUNA) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari said on Monday that questioning of terrorists revealed plots to ignite a sectarian war. The Prime Minister said the terrorists are deliberately committing these crimes and then putting large numbers of dead bodies in one place to give the impression the crime was committed for sectarian motives.
Al-Jaafari also said that the large number of dead bodies found in Baghdad is explained by the fact that there are a big number of media people in the capital and the criminals want to show the media that a sectarian war has effectively started in Iraq.
The Samarra bombings were clear indication that the terrorists are seeking a sectarian war among Iraqis, he added in a statement distributed by his office.
US turns attention to al-Qaeda in Iran
By Josh Meyer in Washington
March 22, 2006
AMERICAN intelligence officials, already focused on Iran's potential for building nuclear weapons, are struggling to solve a more immediate mystery: the relationship between the Tehran leadership and a contingent of al-Qaeda leaders living in the country.
Some officials, citing highly classified electronic eavesdropping, believe Iran is hosting much of al-Qaeda's remaining brains trust and allowing the senior operatives freedom to communicate and help plan the terrorist network's operations.
They suggest the President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, may be forging an alliance with al-Qaeda operatives as a way to expand Iran's influence or, at least, that he is looking the other way as al-Qaeda leaders in Iran collaborate with their counterparts elsewhere.
"Iran is becoming more and more radicalised and more willing to turn a blind eye to the al-Qaeda presence there," one US counterterrorism official said.
The accusations by US officials about Iranian nuclear ambitions and ties to al-Qaeda echo charges made about Iraq before the US invasion three years ago.
Those claims have been largely discredited. And in the case of Iran, some intelligence officials and analysts are unconvinced. If anything, they suggest, escalating tensions between Shiites and Sunni Arabs in Iraq would logically cause Iran's Shiite government to crack down on al-Qaeda, whose Sunni leadership has denounced Shiites as infidels.
Ties between Iran and al-Qaeda were detailed by the US's September 11 commission, which said Iran and al-Qaeda had worked together throughout the 1990s, trading secrets, including how to make explosives.
Iranian representatives to the United Nations did not return repeated calls seeking comment. Three months ago Iran declared there were no more al-Qaeda members in the country. US officials reject that claim.
Al-Qaeda operatives and family members have lived in Iran for years, many since late 2001 when they fled the US bombing of Afghanistan. Iranian Government officials have said the al-Qaeda members in their country have been kept under house arrest and that their activities have been monitored.
In Tehran, analysts said US officials were misreading Iran's intentions. The fact Iran had not turned over al-Qaeda suspects to the US should be no surprise given the relations between the two countries, said Nasser Hadian, a political analyst at Tehran University.
Some of the al-Qaeda members have been indicted in the US for attacks, including the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Africa. Among them is Saif al-Adel, thought to be one of the highest-ranking members of al-Qaeda, behind Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri.
¡The UN Security Council's five permanent members and Germany have failed to reach agreement on how to respond to the Iranian nuclear crisis but said they would continue trying to break the impasse.
Russia, backed by China, blocked agreement on a statement aimed at quashing Iran's nuclear ambitions. Both fear that action by the council may prompt Iran to cut contact with the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/us-turns-attention-to-alqaeda-in-iran/2006/03/21/1142703358742.html
Reuters
