1 600 gefallene US-Soldaten im Iraq
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If approved by Congress, the war money would push spending related to the wars toward a staggering half-trillion dollars.
Details of the requests are not final, but the 2007 budget proposal that President Bush will submit next week will reflect the totals for planning purposes. The president also will ask Congress to devote an additional $2.3 billion this year for prepare for a bird flu epidemic.
About $70 billion of the new war money will be requested for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year, bringing total spending on the two campaigns to $120 billion for the current budget year. The other $50 billion in new war money will be set aside in the 2007 budget for the first few months of the fiscal year that begins October 1. More money will likely be needed in 2007.
$320 billion already spent
The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that $320 billion has been spent on Iraq and Afghanistan since the attacks of September 11, 2001, including $50 billion that Congress sent Bush in December.
Administration officials said the new figures were estimates.
Joel Kaplan, deputy director of the White House's budget office, said the administration was "trying to balance the desire for transparency and accurate estimating with the unpredictable nature of war and the needs on the ground."
Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said the requests reflect the president's desire to "commit the resources that are necessary to fight and win the war on terrorism."
The requested money would cover troop salaries and benefits, repairing and replacing equipment, supporting U.S. embassies in the two countries and taking on the insurgency. It would cover the costs of continuing to train Iraqi and Afghan security forces and protect U.S. troops.
Kaplan said the $50 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan for 2007 is a placeholder and he suggested that the combined costs of the two campaigns could be different.
"We're still in the process of working out the details," he said.
"Thomas und Rene sind ohne politischen Hintergrund in den Irak gereist. Sie hatten nie die Absicht, Ihrem Land zu schaden", sagte eine der Frauen auf einem Video, das nach Angaben der ARD am Abend auch vom arabischen Fernsehsender Al-Dschasira ausgestrahlt werden sollte. Eindringlich baten die Mütter um die Freilassung ihrer mit dem Tode bedrohten Söhne. Allerdings gestalteten sich die Bemühungen um die Freilassung der beiden schwierig. Die Bundesregierung hatte auch rund eineinhalb Wochen nach der Entführung offenbar noch keinen Kontakt zu den Geiselnehmern. "Was die Arbeit des Krisenstabes angeht, kann ich Ihnen sagen, dass wir natürlich unverändert dabei sind, Kontakte herzustellen", sagte Außenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. In der sächsischen Heimat von Rene Bräunlich und Thomas Nitzschke bekundeten Bürger ihre Solidarität mit den Entführten. Am Abend nahmen mehrere hundert Menschen an einer Mahnwache vor der Leipziger Nikolaikirche teil.
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Die Familien hätten die Entführten im Fernsehen gesehen. "Wir haben große Angst um ihr Leben", sagte eine der Mütter, deren Namen nach Angaben des MDR absichtlich nicht eingeblendet wurden. "Wir appellieren an Ihre Barmherzigkeit und Gnade und bitten sie von ganzem Herzen, unsere unschuldigen Söhne zu verschonen. Bitte lassen sie Thomas und Rene frei", sagte eine der Mütter mit gebrochener Stimme.
Unklar blieb weiter, wann das Ultimatum ausläuft, das die Entführer der Bundesregierung zur Erfüllung ihrer Forderungen gesetzt haben. Auf der am Dienstagabend auf Al-Dschasira ausgestrahlten Videobotschaft hatten die Geiselnehmer der Regierung eine Frist von 72 Stunden gesetzt. Andernfalls würden die beiden Deutschen getötet. Die Geiselnehmer verlangen von Deutschland ein Ende der Zusammenarbeit mit der irakischen Regierung und eine Schließung der Botschaft in Bagdad. Zudem fordert die Gruppe Ansar al-Tauhid Wa-Sunna den Abzug aller deutschen Unternehmen aus dem Irak. Das Video war auf den 29. Januar datiert.
MUSLIM-ZENTRALRATSCHEF: ULTIMATUM NICHT ENTSCHEIDEND
Der Vorsitzende des Zentralrats der Muslime in Deutschland, Nadeem Elyas, wertete das Ultimatum als nicht entscheidend. "Das Ultimatum ist nicht unbedingt jetzt maßgebend, auch die nicht Forderungen", sagte Elyas Reuters TV. "Es ist alles flexibel. Aber die Gespräche müssen erst zu Stande kommen." Bei den Entführern handele es sich um eine politisch motivierte Gruppe, die aber nicht für überdurchschnittlich große Gewaltbereitschaft bekannt sei. "Das gibt uns zu hoffen", sagte Elyas.
Auch bei der im November entführten und nach rund drei Wochen freigelassenen deutschen Archäologin Susanne Osthoff hatten die irakischen Geiselnehmer Medienberichten zufolge ein 72-stündiges Ultimatum gestellt. Ein ebensolches Ultimatum war Mitte Januar für die entführte US-Journalistin Jill Carroll gestellt worden, von der es am Montag dann aber ein neues Lebenszeichen in Form eines Videos gab.
SOLIDARITÄTSKUNDGEBUNGEN IN LEIPZIG
In ihrer sächsischen Heimat wuchs die Sorge um die beiden Männer, die am Dienstag vergangener Woche in der Stadt Baidschi nördlich von Bagdad verschleppt worden waren. In Leipzig legten Menschen vor der Nikolaikirche Blumen nieder und zündeten Kerzen an. Auch Bundesbauminister Wolfgang Tiefensee stellte zusammen mit Pfarrer Christian Führer vor der Kirche eine Kerze auf. Dies sei ein persönliches stilles Zeichen seines Mitgefühls mit den Geiseln und ihren Angehörigen, sagte der frühere Leipziger Oberbürgermeister. An der Mahnwache vor der Kirche beteiligten sic etwa 400 Menschen, darunter auch Angehörige und Kollegen der beiden Männer. Führer erinnerte an die Rolle der Nikolaikirche während der Bürgerproteste gegen die DDR-Führung im Herbst 1989. Auch damals hätten Mahnwachen und Kerzen viel bewegt.
Pfarrer Führer und die Geschäftsführung der Firma Cryotec riefen zudem die Fußballvereine in Deutschland dazu auf, am Wochenende bei Punktspielen ein Zeichen zu setzen. Bräunlich ist Fußballer beim SV Grün-Weiß Miltitz. Steinmeier zeigte Verständnis für die Aktionen. "Das ist hilfreich, und ich denke, das ist auch eine Unterstützung für all diejenigen, die ihre Angehörigen im Augenblick im Irak haben", sagte er.
MERKEL ZEIGT ENTSCHLOSSENHEIT IM ANTI-TERROR-KAMPF
Die "Süddeutsche Zeitung" berichtete aus Sicherheitskreisen, das Auftreten der Entführer in dem neuen Video deute darauf hin, dass die Geiseln nun von einer professionelleren Gruppe mit politischem Hintergrund gefangen gehalten werden. Möglicherweise seien sie an eine andere Gruppe verkauft worden.
Die Bundesregierung hat wiederholt erklärt, dass sie sich nicht erpressen lasse. Vor dem diplomatischen Korps hatte Kanzlerin Angela Merkel am Mittwochabend zudem ihre Entschlossenheit im Kampf gegen den internationalen Terrorismus bekräftigt. "Der Kampf gegen den Terrorismus verlangt den Einsatz aller politischer, wirtschaftlicher und - wenn nötig - als Ultima Ratio auch militärischer Mittel", möglichst unter dem Dach der UNO, sagte die Kanzlerin.
Three marines were killed on Monday in Hit, a town in the Sunni insurgent heartland of Anbar province. A roadside bomb, which the U.S. military calls an improvised explosive device (IED), killed another marine in the same province.
The roadside bomb is one of the deadliest weapons used against U.S. forces in Iraq.
At least 2,252 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the start of the war that toppled Saddam Hussein in March 2003.
Sarkawi-Vertrauter verhaftet
Im Kampf gegen die Terrororganisation El Kaida im Zweistromland ist den irakischen Sicherheitskräften ein enger Vertrauter von Abu Mussab el-Sarkawi ins Netz gegangen. Bei einer Razzia im Al-Adl-Viertel in West-Bagdad hätten Truppen des Innenministeriums Mohammed Dschasim, genannt Abu Dhurr, festgenommen, berichtete die regierungsnahe Zeitung "Al-Sabah" unter Berufung auf das Ministerium.
Dschasim gilt als "Nummer vier" der von Sarkawi angeführten Organisation. Gegen ihn lag ein Haftbefehl unter anderem wegen der Beteiligung an Autobomben-Anschlägen vor. Unklar blieb, wann die Festnahme erfolgte. Sarkawis Gruppe hat sich zu zahlreichen Anschlägen, Entführungen und Morden an Geiseln bekannt.
Bangen um Geiseln
Von den beiden im Irak entführten Deutschen gab es am Montag keine Neuigkeiten. "Wir sind noch keine entscheidenden Schritte weitergekommen", sagte Außenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin. René Bräunlich (31) und Thomas Nitzschke (28) waren vor zwei Wochen in der nordirakischen Stadt Baidschi auf dem Weg zur Arbeit verschleppt worden.
Die Schiiten-Allianz verschob unterdessen ein Treffen, bei dem der neue Ministerpräsident aufgestellt werden sollte, auf Samstag. Als Grund wurden die Feiern zum Aschura-Fest angegeben, das bis zum Donnerstag andauert. Die Schiiten-Allianz hatte bei den Wahlen im Dezember 128 der insgesamt 275 Parlamentssitze errungen und war damit stärkste Kraft geworden.
Der syrische Präsident Baschar al-Assad empfing unterdessen in Damaskus den radikalen irakischen Schiitenprediger Muktada al-Sadr. Nach Angaben der staatlichen Nachrichtenagentur SANA ging es bei dem Gespräch um die Lage im Irak nach der Parlamentswahl. Assad rief die Iraker auf, die Reihen zu schließen und ihr Land von der Besatzung zu befreien. Al-Sadr bezeichnete die Beziehungen zwischen Syrien und dem Irak als gut, "aber unserere gemeinsamen Feinde Israel, Amerika und Großbritannien versuchen, unsere beiden Länder auseinander zu bringen ".
It is the first time such a request has been rejected since the former leader was allowed access to lawyers over a year ago, said chief defence lawyer Khalil Dulaimi.
"We were notified by the Americans today that neither I nor the rest of the defence counsel can meet the president or our other clients," Dulaimi said on Sunday in Amman, adding that the request had been made two days ago.
"They are moving to a speedy conviction ... they have already passed a sentence even before the trial has ended," Dulaimi said. There was no immediate comment from the court.
Saddam and seven co-defendants face hanging if found guilty of crimes against humanity.
The former leader, arrested in December 2003, was granted access to lawyers in December 2004 when he first met Dulaimi who was joined after the trial began last October by some Arab and foreign lawyers from the defence counsel.
"Preventing the visits is illegal and prevents the president from having a fair trial," Dulaimi added, saying no justification was given for the refusal.
"They are moving to a speedy conviction ... they have already passed a sentence even before the trial has ended"
Khalil Dulaimi,
Saddam Hussein's chief defence lawyer
The defence counsel boycotted court sessions on Wednesday and Thursday on the grounds that newly selected chief judge Raouf Abdel Rahman, whom they accuse of bias, should resign.
"I think they tied our stance on the court by preventing visits to our clients and this is proof of blatant intervention by the US authorities and their Iraqi backers," he added.
Before the latest showdown Dulaimi and his team spent hours with Saddam after the trial began but he said the boycott would continue until its demands were met.
Despite the absence of Saddam, his co-defendants and the defence team, Abdel Rahman has pressed ahead with the trial, choosing court appointed lawyers and calling a series of prosecution witnesses.
"We will not let our clients down and insist on our right to defend our clients but not to recognise any lawyer appointed by the court," Dulaimi said, adding that Saddam had refused to meet court-appointed lawyers.
The trial has been marred by delays, the murder of two defence counsel, the resignation of chief judge Rizgar Amin, who complained of government interference, and the replacement of his deputy after he was accused of belonging to the Baath party.
Reuters
Police said the dead were civilians. Five policemen and 15 civilians were wounded.
A crowd had gathered near the shop after one bomb exploded, when a second device went off.
The attack took place in the Bab al-Sharjee area, where suicide bombers have killed police, security forces and laborers in the past.
Rebels have frequently lured police and civilians to one bomb site and then attacked them with another bomb.
Sunni insurgents waging a bloody campaign to topple the Shi'ite-led government have killed many thousands of mostly Shi'ite security forces and civilians.
A Bush administration official, who asked not to be named, said around 70 U.S. "correctional experts" including prison wardens, managers and instructors, had been involved in getting the new Iraqi Correctional Service up and running.
The U.S. experts established a training academy for Iraqi guards and administrators near Baghdad in December 2004, and the first class graduated the following month.
"They have now graduated 4,029 Iraqi correctional officers, including 20 women who have undergone nine-week training courses," the official said.
It was part of a program to help Iraqis build a new criminal justice system, including a police force, court system and prisons. The total cost of the prison program so far, according to an administration official, was $41.6 million.
The world was shocked in 2004 when pictures emerged from Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad of U.S. military personnel and contractors abusing Iraqi security detainees.
The new prison service is also using a wing of Abu Ghraib. Its mission is to house regular criminals rather than security detainees suspected of belonging to or helping insurgents fighting the U.S. occupation and the Iraqi government.
Seven soldiers were convicted in courts martial in 2004 and 2005 and sentenced to prison terms for their actions at Abu Ghraib.
Human rights groups said the abuse was part of a deliberate policy rather than isolated acts of "rogue" soldiers and that thousands of Iraqi "security detainees" continued to be held without trial in harsh conditions for months without access to a lawyer or contact with their families.
The new prison service only houses a fraction of detainees held in Iraq, which is racked by violence across religious and ethnic lines and by a fierce insurgency against the U.S.-led foreign force there. U.S. and Iraqi troops uncovered two Iraqi Interior Ministry detention centers late last year at which prisoners had been tortured and abused
One U.S. prison expert questioned whether the U.S. prison system offered the best model for Iraq to follow.
"I would have liked them to take a look at the practices of some of the European countries where they have an independent prison inspectorate, or Canada. The U.S. model is not exactly the best," said Jenni Gainsborough of Penal Reform International, which promotes cooperation between governments and non-governmental organizations to promote good prisons.
The U.S. prison and jail system, with around 2.2 million inmates, accounts for a quarter of all the world's prisoners. Reports of violence, rape, abuse and medical neglect regularly emerge from the system.
The official said conditions at the Iraqi prisons were "pretty basic." The only recreational facilities most provided was a soccer field within the prison grounds.
"We're not into rehabilitation at this point. There are health and food services at all the prisons but we don't have educational programs or sophisticated counseling," he said.
U.S. advisers had originally hoped to work with Iraqis who had staffed the prison system under former President Saddam Hussein but quickly abandoned the idea.
"There was broad-based, widespread corruption so the decision was made to start from scratch," the official said.
He said no abuses had been reported in the new system and Iraqi prison guards received human rights training.
"We're attuned to honoring human rights, avoiding abuse, maintaining appropriate levels of security and avoiding corrupt practices and prosecuting them if they occur," he said.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf
füx
The deaths bring to at least 2,263 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since March 2003, when U.S.-led forces invaded the country to topple Saddam Hussein.
Sunni Sheikh Adel Khalil Daoud Hassan Al Azzaawi was taken at 10 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) by the men, who arrived at his house in three vehicles, police said.
Two U.S. Marines died Thursday of wounds received when a roadside bomb exploded while they were on patrol in Anbar Province west of Baghdad, a military statement said Friday.
The Marines, assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were attacked near Falluja -- an area known for a strong insurgent presence.
Since the start of the war in Iraq, 2,267 U.S. troops have died there.
Meanwhile, abducted American journalist Jill Carroll appeared in a video broadcast on Kuwaiti television Thursday, urging the U.S. government to meet her kidnappers' demands. (Full story)
On the video, Carroll says she is OK.
"I'm here. I'm fine. Please, just do whatever they want. Give them whatever they want as quickly as possible. There is very short time. Please do it fast," she says. "That's all."
Das offizielle Endergebnis der irakischen Parlamentswahl ist heute von der Wahlkommission in Bagdad noch einmal bestätigt worden. Demnach behaupteten die Schiiten ihre dominante Rolle, verfehlten jedoch die absolute Mehrheit knapp.
Mit 128 Sitzen fehlen der regierenden Vereinigten Irakischen Allianz im neuen Parlament zehn Sitze, um wie bisher mehr als die Hälfte der 275 Abgeordneten zu stellen. Ihr bisheriger Koalitionspartner, der Kurdische Block, kam bei der Wahl vom 15. Dezember auf 53 Sitze. Die verschiedenen sunnitischen Parteien errangen dem bestätigten offiziellen Endergebnis zufolge zusammen 58 Sitze.
Anschlag mit zehn Toten
Unmittelbar nach der Bekanntgabe des offiziellen Endergebnisses kamen bei der Explosion einer Autobombe in der irakischen Hauptstadt nach Angaben der Polizei mindestens zehn Menschen ums Leben. 28 weitere Menschen seien verletzt worden.
Monday 13 February 2006, 14:59 Makka Time, 11:59 GMT
Saddam walked out of the court in protest on 29 January
A fiery Saddam Hussein has been back in court after boycotting his trial, but has said he was forced to appear - and a main witness refused to testify, saying he had been dragged to the hearing handcuffed and blindfolded.
As soon as he arrived in court on Monday, Saddam roared: "Down with the traitor, down with traitors, down with Bush... long live the ummah [Islamic nation ... long live the ummah ... long live the ummah..."
"I was forced into the courtroom," the former president of Iraq told Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman, the chief judge.
Barzan al-Tikriti, his half-brother and former secret police chief, frequently interrupted the session as guards were seen pushing him down into his seat in the dock.
The appearance of Saddam was a surprise, given that a senior defence lawyer had told reporters earlier on Monday that all the defendants planned to continue boycotting the hearings.
Saddam and his defence lawyers walked out of the court during a stormy session on 29 January in protest at the new presiding judge's decision to forcibly expel Barzan for being disruptive.
'Law of the jungle'
Khalil al-Dulaimi, head of Saddam's defence team, said: "No international law can force people to attend trials.
"Unless you change the law and turn it into the law of the jungle."
"I was forced into the courtroom"
Saddam Hussein, former president of Iraq
The trial has frequently descended into farce, with sessions featuring long outbursts or walkouts by the defendants and their counsel, as well as the resignation of the previous chief judge.
Before Monday's court session, al-Dulaimi said the defence team had a number of conditions that had to be met to ensure their return, including replacing Rauf Rashid Abd al-Rahman, the presiding judge, and Jaafar al-Mussawi, the prosecutor.
He also called for improved security for the defence counsel and continuous television transmission of the trial without periodic cuts to ensure that it was "transparent and fair".
Al-Dulaimi, who calls the entire court illegitimate, said the proceedings were dangerously adrift.
"They don't know what to do, because for a court you need a judge, a prosecutor, defence and defendants - if two of them are not here, then there is no more court," he said.
Second phase
The trial has now moved to its second phase, from victims testifying about abuses of security forces to witnesses, including regime officials, shedding light on the events of that period.
"No international law can force people to attend trials"
Khalil al-Dulaimi, head of Saddam's defence team
A court official said three officials from the former regime would testify on Monday: Hasan al-Ubaidi, a former intelligence official, Ahmad Husain Khudair, a former presidential chief of staff and an anonymous third official.
The first witness, a former aide to Saddam, told the court that he had been forced to appear in the former strongman's trial but had nothing to say.
Ahmad Khudayir, the former presidential chief of staff, said: "I was brought here by force and I refuse to testify. I did not accept to be a witness."
Khudayir said he was blindfolded and handcuffed when he was brought to the court.
All eight defendants face the death penalty if convicted over the massacre of more than 140 Shias after an attempt on Saddam's life in 1982 in the town of Dujail.
They pleaded not guilty on the first day of the trial in October.
Wie der Korrespondent des US-Senders CNN weiter berichtete, ließ sich der frühere Machthaber nur widerstrebend in den Gerichtssaal führen. Im Unterschied zu früheren Auftritten vor Gericht habe Saddam diesmal keinen Anzug, sondern nur ein langärmliges T-Shirt getragen.
Prozess ferngeblieben
Saddam und sieben Mitangeklagte waren dem Prozess seit einer Auseinandersetzung mit den neuen Vorsitzenden Richter, Rauf Raschid Abdul Rahman, ferngeblieben. Sie müssen sich in dem ersten Verfahren des Sondertribunals für die Verbrechen des alten Regimes wegen der Hinrichtung von 148 Männern in der schiitischen Kleinstadt Dudschail im Jahr 1982 verantworten.
Erstmals sagen Untergebene aus
In dem Prozess sollen am Montag erstmals Untergebene des irakischen Ex-Diktators aussagen. Der TV-Sender El-Irakija berichtete vor Beginn der elften Sitzung des Prozesses, unter den geladenen Zeugen seien ein früherer Chef des Präsidentenbüros sowie ein ehemaliger Geheimdienstchef.
Saddam Hussein: "Wir sind seit drei Tagen im Hungerstreik."
Der frühere irakische Machthaber Saddam Hussein befindet sich nach eigenen Angaben seit dem vergangenen Wochenende im Hungerstreik.
Zu Beginn des zwölften Prozesstages vor dem Sondertribunal für die Verbrechen seines Regimes in Bagdad sagte Hussein am Dienstag: "Wir sind seit drei Tagen im Hungerstreik." Die anderen Angeklagten äußerten sich nicht dazu und auch die Richter gingen auf seinen Einwurf nicht ein.
Neue Zeugen vernommen
In dem Verfahren müssen sich Hussein und sieben hochrangige Funktionäre seines Regimes unter anderem wegen der Hinrichtung von 148 Einwohnern der schiitischen Kleinstadt Dudschail nach einem fehlgeschlagenen Attentat auf den Präsidenten 1982 verantworten.
Zu den Zeugen, die am Dienstag angehört wurden, gehörte ein ehemaliger Assistent des früheren Geheimdienstchefs, der den Irak als Botschafter unter anderem in Moskau vertreten hatte. Er erklärte, er habe damals die Freilassung der zum Tode verurteilten Männer aus Dudschail vorgeschlagen.
Ein anderer Zeuge, Ex-Kulturminister Hamed Jussuf Hammadi, der einst auch Husseins Sekretär gewesen war, erklärte, er habe von dem Attentat damals in einem iranischen Radiosender gehört und die Nachricht für eine Propagandalüge gehalten.
Erneut Schlagabtausch mit Richter
Zwischen Hussein und dem Vorsitzenden Richter Rauf Raschid Abdul Rahman kam es erneut zu einem verbalen Schlagabtausch. Auch Husseins Halbbruder Barsan el Tikriti rief mehrfach laut durch den Saal.
Der Prozess wird am 28. Februar fortgesetzt. Die arabische Zeitung "El Hajat" berichtete in ihrer Ausgabe vom Dienstag, das Verfahren werde wahrscheinlich bald abgeschlossen.
keine unangenehmen wahrheiten mehr, die er über seine ehem. geschäftsfreunde ausplaudern kann...
One of the sources said he suspected the roadside bomb was intended for a police patrol that usually passes by the area in the al-Fadhil area of central Baghdad.
The move -- which calls for what a British official referred to as a "period of noncooperation" -- comes amid the Muslim protests over Danish cartoons and the alleged beatings of Iraqis by British troops.
Mohammad Zaher Sadoun said the Basra Provincial Council demanded the withdrawal of Danish troops and an apology to Muslims worldwide from the Danish government amid the publications of caricatures of Islam's Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper. Picturing the Prophet Mohammed is forbidden in Islam.
The council also demanded that soldiers accused of beating "innocent Iraqis" be brought to justice and demanded clarity from the British government on the incident seen on the videotape.
The incident that has outraged Iraqis was shown on a 2004 videotape, released Sunday by a British tabloid. The video appears to show eight British soldiers dragging three young men behind a wall, where the troops kick and hit the Iraqis with batons and fists.
The British military has announced the arrests of three people in connection with the incident. The British Ministry of Defense said one person was arrested Sunday and two were detained Tuesday. No other details were disclosed. (Full story)
Sadoun said the council's demands are not threats but the government needs the requests to be met to be able to work with the Brits and Danes.
"We will make efforts to continue cooperation, but if local council does not want cooperation, this will be difficult," said Mark Alker, a British military official.
He said the military had worked with the Basra council on security and some basic services such as sewage drainage.
Basra, one of the largest cities in Iraq, falls under the British armed forces' command.
The coalition contingent in southeast Iraq comprises troops from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Holland, Italy, Lithuania, Romania and the United Kingdom, according to the British military.
Hussein on hunger strike
Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said Tuesday he and several other defendants, including his half brother, are on a hunger strike.
A defiant Hussein told the Iraqi court the defendants were protesting "the treatment from you and your masters."
As the lead judge banged the gavel and called for order, Hussein told him to "take that hammer and knock it on your own head."
After hearing from three witnesses, the judge adjourned the trial until February 28. (Full story)
Coalition soldier killed
A roadside bomb in western Baghdad killed one coalition soldier and wounded two others, the U.S. military said Tuesday.
The military press office said it did not know the nationality of the victims, who were struck while riding in a military vehicle in the Abu Ghraib neighborhood.
Since the U.S.-led invasion nearly three years ago, 2,472 coalition troops have died in the Iraq war.
Another coalition convoy was attacked in Baghdad's western Salaam area, wounding four soldiers.
Other developments
Bombers in Baghdad wounded 10 people Tuesday, including two police commandos.
An Iraqi army major and his son were killed in Taji, just north of the capital Tuesday morning. Taji is 20 miles (32 kilometers) from Baghdad.
Col. Nathem Al Zoubeydi, head of communications for police in Diyala province, and one police officer were wounded by men who shot at his vehicle in Baquba, a provincial official said. Baquba is about 37 miles (60 kilometers) north of Baghdad in Diyala province.
Late Monday, gunmen killed Baghdad Police Col. Mehdi Mutlag in a drive-by shooting in the southern Iraqi neighborhood of Dora.
Soldiers from Task Force Band of Brothers killed one member of a suspected terrorist mortar team and wounded another near Samarra on Monday evening, the U.S. military said. Samarra is 75 miles (121 kilometers) north of Baghdad.
The blast in the Shi'ite district of Shula occurred at about 11 a.m., police said.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's human rights minister called on U.S.-led forces on Thursday to hand over all Iraqi inmates at U.S.-run prisons to the Iraqi government, following more footage of prisoners being abused.
"We are very worried about the Iraqi detainees in Abu Ghraib. The multinational forces and the British forces should hand them over to the (Iraqi) government," Zuhair al-Chalabi told Reuters.
"This is a very dangerous issue that the Iraqi government should review," he said. "The Iraqi government should move immediately to have the prisons and the prisoners delivered to the ministry of justice."
In an interview, Chalabi condemned the previously unpublished images as "major human rights violations" and compared them to abuses committed under dictatorships. The footage was broadcast on Wednesday by an Australian television station.
"These are major (human rights) violations that turned to crimes. When you torture and hit in this brutal way it doesn't make any difference from the dictators' systems."
U.S. forces are holding about 14,000 detainees in Iraq.
The report from the International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental organization that tries to solve conflicts, noted the insurgency "no longer is a scattered, erratic, chaotic phenomenon."
"Groups are well organized, produce regular publications, react rapidly to political developments and appear surprisingly centralized," the report said.
It noted the insurgency, a predominately Sunni Arab movement, has grown "more confident, better organized, coordinated, information-savvy."
"That it has survived, even thrived, despite being vastly outnumbered and outgunned, suggests the limitations of the current counter-insurgency campaign," the report said. It added that the insurgents' emergence "carries profound implications for policymakers."
The report, "In Their Own Words: Reading the Iraqi Insurgency," used voluminous insurgent communications culled from Web sites, videos, tapes and leaflets.
Advice for U.S.
The study was critical of the United States fighting "an enemy it hardly knows," and called its labeling of insurgency groups as Saddamists, Islamo-fascists "gross approximations and crude categories."
It said U.S. and Iraqi forces must "reach out to the Sunni Arab community, amend the constitution and build a more inclusive policy."
Its release came a day after an Australian TV network broadcast previously unpublished images of apparent prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison. (Details)
The report advised the United States and Iraqi government to listen to what the insurgents are saying and halt practices that harm the U.S.-led coalition's credibility and bolster insurgent legitimacy. Bad conduct plays into the hands of insurgents, it said.
"The harm from excessive use of force, torture, tactics that inflict widespread civilian injury and reliance on sectarian militias outweighs any military gain," the report said.
The United States also must hold the new Iraqi government accountable, stressing that relations "depend on disbanding militias, halting political killings and respecting human rights," the study advised.
The report also urged the United States to make "repeatedly clear at the highest level" that Iraqi's oil resources "belong to the Iraqi people and no one else," and that withdrawal will occur as soon as the new government requests it.
Sunni Arabs have opposed Kurdish and Shiite demands for autonomous regions, arguing that they won't be able to benefit from the oil riches in those areas.
Four main groups identified
The report identified four main groups behind the insurgency: al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi; Jaish Ansar al-Sunni; the Islamic Army in Iraq; and the Islamic Front of the Iraqi Resistance. Two other less sophisticated levels were cited as well.
"Over time they have developed recognized, proficient and uninterrupted channels of communication through which, among other things, they regularly take responsibility for armed operations," the report said of the four groups.
From May 2003 to the present, three phases "in the evolution of the insurgents' discourse" emerged, the report said.
"Competition between groups for greater visibility generated increasingly bloody and controversial deeds, which in turn initiated vigorous internal debate from mid-2004 to mid-2005 and ushered in the current phase of apparent consensus on critical issues," it found.
The report said insurgents "have been effective at ... generating new recruits and mobilizing a measure of popular sympathy among its target audience."
Other trends cited:
A "gradual convergence around more unified practices and discourse and predominantly Sunni Arab identity."
"There is little sign of willingness by any significant insurgent element to join the political process or negotiate with the United States. While covert talks cannot be excluded, the publicly accessible discourse remains uniformly and relentlessly hostile to the occupation and its 'collaborators.' "
"The groups appear acutely aware of public opinion" and are "increasingly mindful of their image."
"The insurgents have yet to put forward a clear political program or long-term vision for Iraq."
"The insurgency is increasingly optimistic about victory."
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister called on Britain on Friday to pull its troops out of the southern Iraqi city of Basra, saying their presence was destabilizing the city.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran demands the immediate withdrawal of British forces from Basra," Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters through an interpreter during a visit to Lebanon.
"We believe that the presence of the British military forces in Basra has led to the destabilization of the security situation in the city," he said, adding that the British presence had also negatively affected the security situation in southern Iran itself.
Mottaki was apparently referring to a spate of recent bomb attacks in southern Iran. Tehran has accused the British military in Iraq of cooperating with the bombers who killed eight people in attacks in January.
The minister also denounced what he said were human rights violations by the British forces in Basra.
Iran last month accused the British military in Iraq of cooperating with bombers who attacked targets in the Iranian oil city of Ahvaz, killing eight people.
The probe was announced after a U.S. general said that 22 Interior Minister traffic policemen were arrested while on an alleged mission to kill a Sunni.
"We have found one of the death squads. They are part of the police force," U.S. Maj Gen Joseph Peterson, who commands the civilian police training teams in Iraq, told the Chicago Tribune.
The 22 policemen, dressed in police commando uniforms, were detained late January at an Iraqi army checkpoint in northern Baghdad. When questioned, they said they said they were taking a Sunni man away to be shot dead.
"The amazing thing is... they tell you exactly what they're going to do," Gen Peterson said.
Sunni Arabs have repeatedly accused the Interior Ministry of operating “death squads”, but the allegations have never been supported.
"The Interior Minister has formed an investigation committee to learn more about the Sunni person and those 22 men, particularly whether they work for the Interior Ministry or claim to belong to the ministry," Iraq’s Deputy Interior Minister Maj Gen Hussein Kamal told the Associated Press news agency.
A spokesman for the country's main Sunni Arab party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, welcomed the launch of the investigation and said the perpetrators must be brought to justice.
"For a very long time we have been talking about such violations and we have been telling the Interior Ministry officials that there are squads that raid houses and arrest people who are found later executed in different parts of the capital," Nasser al-Ani said.
"Who are these guys?”
Gen Peterson said four of the “death squad” policemen were being detained at the Abu Ghraib jail and that the 18 other men were being held at an Iraqi jail. The Sunni man, who was going to be killed, is also being detained.
He also alleged that the four men in U.S. custody are linked to the Badr Organization, which belongs to one of Iraq's main Shia parties, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Gen Peterson also said he was convinced Iraqi Interior Minster Bayan Jabr wasn’t aware or involved in the death squads.
"Who are these guys? That's what the minister is trying to find out," he said. "They are discrediting him and his organization. He wants to find these guys. He does not support them."
But Gen Peterson said he believed other death squads were operating within the Iraqi security forces. "It's an issue of loyalties, of allegiance," he said. "If you're still wearing your Badr T-shirt under your uniform, that's a problem."
Iraq’s Human Rights Minister Narmin Uthman said she believed lower-level officials were helping the death squads. "These officials are helping the criminals by informing them on where targeted people are going or where people are living," she told AP.