Iraq's Deputy Health Minister accused of murder and kidnap ~ (Message to al-Sadr?)

Times UK ^ | February 08, 2007 | Sam Knight and agencies

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

(Ali Al-Saadi)

US military bootprints on a door in the Iraqi Health Ministry today, where the deputy minister was arrested for allegedly supporting sectarian violence (AliAL-Saadi/AFP/Getty)

Sam Knight and agencies

Iraq's deputy health minister was arrested by US and Iraqi soldiers for his alleged role in the country's sectarian conflict today in the first major act of the much-vaunted security plan to bring order to Baghdad.

Hakim al-Zamili, a member of the radical Shia movement loyal to the cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, surrendered to American soldiers when they raided his first floor office in the Health Ministry this morning, witnesses said. A US military statement later said the minister had allowed his department to assist in "sectarian kidnapping and murder".

His detention comes a day after the chief US military spokesman in Baghdad, Major General William Caldwell, announced that the joint US and Iraqi operation to swamp Baghdad with soldiers and crack down on the endemic violence in the city had begun.

It also follows months of allegations that the Health Ministry, its facilities and hospitals, have become de facto outposts for Shia militias, above all members of the al-Mahdi Army, the largest and most-feared Shia armed group in the country. Sunni MPs have complained of dozens of cases of Sunni Muslims being refused treatment in hospital and even being shot in their beds.

Iraq's Health Minister, Ali al-Shemari, another Shia Muslim who also has been linked to Moqtada al-Sadr, condemned the arrest. "This is a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty," he said. "They should have a court order to carry out a raid like this."

A US military statement refused to name Mr al-Zamili but said that the detained official was "suspected of funding rogue JAM (al-Mahdi Army) through large-scale employment of militia members".

“These militia members are reported to target Iraqi civilians using MoH (Health Ministry) facilities and services for sectarian kidnapping and murder. The suspect’s corruption is believed to have funnelled millions of US dollars into rogue JAM.”

In particular, Mr al-Zamili has been implicated in the disappearance of Dr Ali al-Mahdawi, a Sunni official who ran the Diyala Health Directorate. Dr al-Mahdawi and members of his staff have not been seen since they arrived at the Health Ministry headquarters in Baghdad for an interview last June.

Mr al-Zamili's Shia connections have made him a target of Sunni extremists. Last November, he survived an assassination attempt when gunmen attacked his convoy, killing two bodyguards. The day before, another deputy health minister, Ammar al-Assafar, had been kidnapped. Two days later, Sunni gunmen surrounded the Health Ministry, only withdrawing when US troops and aircraft and intervened.

A Health Ministry spokesman said Iraqi and American soldiers stormed the department's headquarters at the beginning of the working day. One of Mr al-Zamili’s bodyguards said he heard gunshots, then the US troops asked him to step aside and approached the deputy health minister, who introduced himself by name and title.

The minister was told he was on a list of wanted officials, the American soldiers said, according to the bodyguard, before being led away.

US forces and the Iraqi military have made strenuous, visible efforts in recent weeks to curb the influence of the al-Mahdi Army and officials perceived to be too close to Moqtada al-Sadr, claiming to have detained more than 600 members of the cleric's movement.

Breaking the Shia grip on Iraqi government departments is a priority for the US plan to halt the country's slide into civil war, but it is proving a severe test for Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shia Prime Minister, who relies on sectarian allies for his support.

In recent weeks he has been accused of leaving Baghdad's Shias open to attack from Sunni extremists because of the operations against Shia militias that, until now, have been able to provide protection. Last Saturday more than 130 people died when a massive truck bomb exploded at Sadriya market in a Shia neighbourhood.

Today a spokesman for Moqtada al-Sadr's faction said that the arrest of Mr al-Zamili marked a new level of interference among Shia officials. "Zamili is in the government. Maliki should not just keep watching. Maybe tomorrow they will arrest him too,” Abdel Mahdi al-Matiri told Reuters.

Elsewhere across Iraq, violence claimed the lives of at least 43 Iraqis while the US military announced that four soldiers had been killed in Anbar, the unsettled western province.

The US Embassy in Iraq said it was investigating reports that a US civilian helicopter had been shot down on January 31. If the aircraft was brought down by ground fire, it would bring to six the number of American helicopters destroyed by insurgents in the last two weeks, a trend that has prompted a review of flights in the capital.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From CQ:

Baghdad Surge Targets Political Figures

********************************AN EXCERPT **********************************

The US and Iraqi forces have not limited the new full-court press in Baghdad to just the foot soldiers of the insurgencies and independent militias, but also to those who give them political cover. The arrest of a near-Cabinet-level official in a raid specifically targeting the minister shows that the surge aims higher than expected:

US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad have arrested the deputy health minister during a raid at his offices. The minister, Hakem al-Zamili, is a key member of the political group led by radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr.

He is accused of aiding Shia militiamen and using ambulances to move weapons, a ministry source told the BBC. ...

Iraqi officials say US and Iraqi troops broke down doors in the ministry's offices in central Baghdad in their search for Mr Zamili.

The minister and some of his guards were arrested.

This seems very significant. Certainly few people expected the new military strategy to have this wide of a scope. In fact, Moqtada al-Sadr, who recently welcomed the surge strategy, strenuously objected to his ally getting caught in its net. Some speculated that Sadr supported the surge as a means of purging his own ranks of uncontrolled elements, but if so, it's not going according to plan. He accused the US of deliberately provoking a confrontation with his organization.

The arrest calls into question Nouri al-Maliki's alliance with Sadr as well. The cleric had helped carry Maliki into the position of Prime Minister when it appeared he would not have the votes to win it. He has provided political and military cover for Sadr, insisting at one time that the Americans abandon their efforts to attack Mahdi Army elements in Baghdad. Now he not only has unleashed US and Iraqi forces, he has allowed -- for the moment -- the arrest of a high-ranking minister selected by Sadr as the spoils of the political victory.

If nothing else, it shows that Maliki took President Bush seriously when Bush warned him of dwindling American patience for the Iraqi internal violence. That must have been some conversation in November, and now we understand why Sadr was so bitterly opposed to Maliki's meeting with Bush at the time. He must have known what the meeting would produce.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Making headway...

[SolidWood]

This is a very important development. Even highest positions witin the government should be targeted. THis arrest (and hopefully a trial) is a strong signal.

[blam]

String'em up!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From the BBC:

Top Iraqi official held in raid

**********************************************

Last Updated: Thursday, 8 February 2007, 18:11 GMT

Top Iraqi official held in raid

The US says Mr Zamili is implicated in several deaths

US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad have arrested the deputy health minister during a raid at his offices.

The minister, Hakim al-Zamili, is a key member of the political group led by radical Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr.

He is accused of aiding Shia militiamen and using ambulances to move weapons, a ministry source told the BBC.

The arrest came on the day Gen David Petraeus arrived in Baghdad to assume command of US forces in Iraq and oversee a push against militants.

Gen Petraeus will take over this weekend from Gen George Casey, who has been promoted to US Army chief of staff.

As well as the raid on the health ministry, there were another series of sectarian attacks in Iraq.

A car bomb killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens in a market in the predominantly Shia town of Aziziya, south of Baghdad, while 10 people died in a car bombing in a mainly Shia district in the eastern of the capital.

Elsewhere, 14 people said to be from one Sunni family were reportedly killed by gunmen in Balad, north of Baghdad.

'Offices ransacked'

Iraqi officials say US and Iraqi troops broke down doors in the health ministry's offices in central Baghdad in their search for Mr Zamili.

HAKIM AL-ZAMILI Iraqi deputy health minister Moqtada Sadr supporter Accused of corruption and funding Shia militiamen New pressure on Mehdi Army

Shattered glass littered the floor, computers were overturned and a large white boot print was left on the office door, the Associated Press news agency reported.

The minister and some of his guards were arrested.

The US military said Mr Zamili was allegedly implicated in the deaths of a number of ministry officials.

It said he had also allegedly channelled millions of dollars to Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army militia.

Offices inside Iraq's health ministry were ransacked in the search

Mr Sadr's group accused the US of provocation and urged the government to take immediate action to free the official.

"They are trying to drag the Sadrist movement to a confrontation. How else would arresting a deputy health minister without an arrest warrant be read," Abdel Mahdi al-Matiri, an official in Mr Sadr's movement, told Reuters news agency.

The raid on the Iraqi health ministry comes more than two months after suspected Sunni insurgents tried to storm the building, triggering a fierce gun battle.

In other developments across Iraq:

• A US air strike killed 13 suspected insurgents near Amiriya, west of Baghdad, the US military said

• Four Iraqi policemen and a civilian were killed during an attack on a patrol in Baquba, north of Baghdad

• Four US marines died from wounds sustained during fighting in Falluja on Wednesday, the US military said

Delay

US and Iraqi forces have announced a major offensive in the Baghdad area, aimed at ending spiralling violence by Sunni and Shia militants.

The BBC's Jane Peel in Baghdad says that in the past some members of Iraq's governing Iraqi coalition have provided militias with protection.

Last month the US military said operations had led to 16 senior members of the Mehdi Army being detained and one commander being killed.

On Wednesday Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki urged his military commanders to speed up preparations for the new security measures in Baghdad.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BBC:

New pressure on Mehdi Army

*******************************************************

ast Updated: Wednesday, 24 January 2007, 20:08 GMT

New pressure on Mehdi Army

By Mike Wooldridge
BBC World Affairs Correspondent, Baghdad

Moqtada Sadr is under pressure to re-engage in the political process

Within days of Moqtada Sadr's politicians returning to Iraq's coalition government after a two-month boycott, more evidence has come to light of the pressure being put on the radical Shia cleric's powerful militia, the Mehdi Army.

The US military said joint Iraqi and American operations had led to 16 "high-level" Mehdi Army militiamen being detained and one commander being killed.

The Americans said the number of Mehdi Army members in detention now stood at over 600, a figure higher than that given by Iraq's Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, only a week earlier.

'Balanced approach'

But this was said to be a result of 52 operations carried out over a six-week period and, pointedly, the statement giving details of these moves against the Mehdi Army also said there had been 42 raids targeting Sunni extremists.

The statement was headed: "Iraqi security forces and coalition forces combine in balanced approach to security" - foreshadowing the declared approach of the new security plan for the capital that is the centrepiece of President Bush's new Iraq strategy.

The radical cleric has vocal and well organised supporters

There are estimated to be several thousand Mehdi Army members in Baghdad alone and many thousands more around the country.

The Americans accuse the militia of being deeply involved in the sectarian violence that has taken root in Iraq since the attack on an important Shia shrine in the town of Samarra.

A recent Pentagon report said the militia was the largest threat to security.

It is said by some analysts here that the prime minister was originally less persuaded than some of his fellow politicians in the ruling Shia alliance of the potency of the Mehdi Army threat.

Whatever the truth, Mr Maliki put the emphasis on political engagement with Moqtada Sadr, a key political ally.

The issue played out in political developments within the alliance in the closing months of last year.

The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, says he believes Mr Maliki came to feel that political pressure on Moqtada Sadr was not producing results and he "changed the mix" to allow more use of force against the Mehdi Army.

Mr Maliki has given commitments both in public and in private that no group that is involved in violence will be off limits in the new drive to bring security to Baghdad.

Then came the decision by the Sadr movement to return to the political process after a boycott that was in part a protest against the prime minister meeting President Bush, and also to press the government for a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops.

Political initiative

It could signal that Moqtada Sadr wants more leverage with the government by being back inside at a time when the pressure is building on the Mehdi Army.

There are signs that Moqtada Sadr is not seeking a confrontation with US forces after their battles of the past

If so, the issue then is how will his political group use its influence?

Some say Moqtada Sadr might not be averse to action against renegade members of his militia.

The US ambassador welcomed the return of the Sadr political group to the government but he suggested it could also be a tactic to try to keep the militia safe during the current operations against them.

Away from the spotlight of the capital, there are other places where the heat is clearly on the Mehdi Army.

Residents of villages some 25 miles (40 km) north of Baghdad say they have seen US troops carrying out raids targeting the militia - hunting down individual figures.

There is one other factor in the pursuit of the Mehdi Army.

Recent bombings in Baghdad that have killed scores of people and appear to be the work of Sunni insurgents are only likely to reinforce the view of many Shias that, for now, the Mehdi Army are their most realistic protectors.

There are signs that Moqtada Sadr is not seeking a confrontation with US forces after their battles of the past.

But the new drive to pacify Baghdad has, of course, hardly begun.

[tobyhill]

Hakim al-Zamili has been a primary source for the media. It figures they would take the word of a kidnapper and murderer.

[Enchante]

Time to search out all his past quotes and media relationships, Freepers!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I saw that earlier today....but wasn't aware of that....would be nice to find some good articles on that fact....

[musicman]

I hope this "Deputy Health Minister" HAD a decent "bookkeeping system" for folks on the "payroll"....


BTTT !!!!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Yes....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

It could happen!

[Bahbah]

US military bootprints on a door in the Iraqi Health Ministry today

LOL. They skipped the knock knock part.

Nice work, guys, as always.

[Enchante]

Finding all sorts of "interesting" material on the Health Ministry and this guy in particular. Seems to have been a real cesspool of Shi'a militia activity. Just a sampling:


http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/85912983-F83C-490F-8FFF-E216EA942249.htm

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770122001


http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/11/07D3C687-F550-468B-9B9B-1B2681D4B4B7.html

Before the attacks in Al-Sadr City on November 23, the Health Ministry was also attacked the same day. The ministry building was hit by several mortar rounds, followed by an armed attack on the building by gunmen. Hundreds of ministry workers were trapped as security guards attempted to repel the attackers, believed to be Sunni insurgents.

Health Minister Ali al-Shammari is a member of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's movement, and the ministry is widely believed to be a Sadrist stronghold. Al-Sadr's militia, the Imam Al-Mahdi Army, has been widely accused by U.S. and Sunni officials of being responsible for attacks on Sunni Arabs.

Al-Sadr's militia -- future Shi'ite foot soldiers? (epa)Health Ministry officials were also targeted in a series of attacks prior to the November 23 assault. On November 19, several gunmen, some in military uniforms, abducted Deputy Health Minister Ammar al-Saffar from his Baghdad home. Then, the following day, Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili survived an assassination attempt when gunmen ambushed his convoy in Baghdad.

The series of coordinated attacks against the Health Ministry and its personnel may be an extension of the sectarian conflict. The attacks may have been retaliation for the kidnapping of hundreds of staff and visitors from the Sunni-dominated Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research on November 14. In that attack, witnesses said the gunmen were wearing police commando uniforms and several Iraqi officials indicated that the abductions were the work of Shi'ite militiamen who had infiltrated the Interior Ministry.

[tobyhill]

http://it.news.yahoo.com/17012007/38/immagine/doctor-shows-an-x-ray-to-deputy-health-minister-hakim.html

probably someone he murdered himself. Every death toll for the day which derives from the Health Ministry comes from him.

[tobyhill]

Some of the more controversial articles that derive from the Health Ministry comes from him but the media uses "official within the health ministry".

[greyfoxx39]

BTTT

[Mr. Lucky]

Doesn't the most critical evidence against those United States Marines charged with crimes in Haditha rely upon the credibility of the Iraqi Health ministry?

[tobyhill]

Kind of funny, he whacks them then reports them but no one notices. Murderer in the open.