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June 15, 2005

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The American army yesterday launched a new operation to crush the rebellion in al-Anbar Province in western Iraq near the Syrian border. About 1,000 Marines participated in Operation “Spear” to “eliminate the presence of insurgents and foreign fighters and to disorganize the guerilla support network in the region of al-Karabilah and the surrounding area.”

On June 11, the Marines attacked a concentration of insurgents in this same region, situated near the Syrian border, killing about forty rebels, according to the American army. The month before, the GIs led an operation in al-Anbar to try to eradicate rebel cells supposedly under the command of Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq. More than 125 rebels were killed, according to the U.S. Army.

Washington and Baghdad say that presumed fighters cross the Syrian border to enter Iraq in order to help with the rebellion. This has always been denied by Damascus. Al-Anbar Province continues to be a hotbed of rebellion where kidnappings and executions are on the rise. At the same time, Operation Lightning, launched at the end of May, is continuing in and around Baghdad to prevent guerilla actions. Citing blows dealt to the guerillas, American and Iraqi military officials are heralding the destabilization of al-Qaeda.

The spokesperson for the Iraqi defense minister, Saleh Sarhane, said that the arrest in Mosul of Mohammed Khalaf Shakar “proves that heads are falling one after another and that the terrorists are living their last days.” He is considered one of the closest collaborators of the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Jordanian Islamist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. “The head of Zarqawi’s group in Mosul is no longer in a position to do harm,” confirmed the general of the American Air Force, Donald Alston, on Thursday.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Steven Boylan, spokesman for the multinational force, 21 al-Qaeda officials in Mesopotamia have been killed or captured in recent months. “There is now a real cooperation by the population because it is noticing that the majority of the attacks target civilians,” stressed Mr. Sarhane. According to General Alston, a change in attitude is also noticeable within al-Qaeda. “The cells of this organization are worried about the consequences of their actions, which mostly target the Iraqi population.” But the spokesperson for the Iraqi defense minister went even farther, citing resisters “who volunteer to accompany the American and Iraqi forces during raids to show them where the insurgents are.” Even though these operations aim to reduce violence in the capital, five people were wounded when a car bomb exploded 100 meters form the Kamaliyah mosque in Baghdad, as two passing trucks apparently full of flammable material simultaneously caught fire.

In the north of the capital, four people were killed and 14 others wounded in the violence. Six corpses were discovered in the same region, including a businessman and two soldiers. Furthermore, five people, including two members of an Interior Ministry commando, were wounded yesterday by the explosion of a car bomb targeting a convoy of this elite unit in southeast Baghdad. In the United States, a poll by the Pew Institute published this week reveals that 46% of Americans want the GIs out of Iraq, versus only 36% in October. Despite these figures, the White House on Thursday reaffirmed its opposition to a schedule for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq that is requested by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. The new British ambassador in Baghdad, William Patey, made similar remarks. The president of the Iraqi Parliament, Hajem al-Hassani, warned against a rapid withdrawal of the multinational force, a potentiality that he calls “very dangerous.”

PROJECT TO CREATE JOURNALIST 'SAFE HOUSE'

The directors of French written and audiovisual press outlets decided yesterday to “think about setting up a journalists’ house in Baghdad” to ensure their security, Robert Ménard, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) told AFP. This proposal was made to Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin.

Robert Ménard made this statement following a meeting, in which he participated, with the main heads of the national editorial boards at the Maison de la radio in Paris, headquarters of Radio-France. According to him, the directors present “decided to think about the setting up of a journalists’ house in Baghdad, a secure place – a house or in a hotel – that would ensure security for all journalists in Baghdad.” This place would be “financed in proportion to the means of different media,” and RSF “has been charged with leading this project to see whether it is quickly feasible,” added the head of this organization that defends press freedom.