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Tariq Karbala, a website that documents attacks against Shi’ite civilians in Iraq, reported sectarian clashes in southwestern Baghdad between Sunni gunmen from the Girtan and Duwanim districts on the southern edge of Baghdad and “popular committees” of the Shia-majority Shurta Al-Rabi’a and the Shurta Al-Khamisa districts. The rural areas surrounding the districts east of the Baghdad International Airport are inhabited by the Sunni pro-insurgent tribes of Girtan and Zoba’, and gunmen based in these areas often stage mortar and sniper attacks and incursions against the Shia districts of Ma’alif, Suwaib and Shurta Al-Khamisa. (See map.)
The Iraqi People’s Congress, one of the three main Sunni parties represented in the Iraqi Accord Front in parliament, demanded the Iraqi government interfere to stop the targeting of “Sunni-majority districts” with mortars. The statement said that the Adil district, west of Baghdad, was hit with over 50 mortar shells that were “produced in Iran with a production date of 2006” since Friday morning by “terrorist militias.” The Sunni bloc, which is led by Adnan Al-Dulaimi, also called for an investigation to determine how Iranian-made mortar rounds fell in the hands of militias to be used against the Sunni community. The nearby Shia-majority Hurriya district was also targeted with three mortar shells Saturday afternoon, probably fired from the Adil district in retaliation, killing and wounding six civilians. The headquarters of the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq at the Umm Al-Qura Mosque in Ghazaliya, west of Baghdad, was also reportedly hit with mortars fired from the nearby Shu’la district.
The Sunni fundamentalist Islam Memo website, on the other hand, reported that “Mahdi Army militiamen disguised as Iraqi soldiers” abducted over 30 residents of the Sunni-majority Adhamiya district, north of Baghdad. The website also reported fierce clashes between unidentified gunmen near a Sunni enclave in the Amil district, south of Baghdad, in the vicinity of the Shukour Mosque. (See map.) The Iraqi Rabita website reported that the mixed Sahha district, south of Baghdad, was being taken over by Shi’ite militiamen slowly moving north from the Shia district of Abu Dshir. The only mosque in the neighborhood was rigged with explosives and destroyed a few days ago by militiamen aided with police forces from the adjacent Bilat Al-Shuhadaa’ Police Station, according to the website. The mosque was closed to prayers a week before after U.S. troops detained the mosque’s guards and locked its gates. Sunni families of the district now fear an imminent campaign to displace them in order to turn the area into a Shi’ite district similar to what happened in Hurriya two months ago.
The residents of Samarra vowed today to fight any governmental force that arrives in their city for the excuse of providing protection for, or the reconstruction of, the Shi’ite shrine of Imam Al-Askari that was destructed in February 2006, prompting widespread retaliation against Sunni mosques and districts. Representatives of the city met with the mayor of Samarra and head of its municipal council and asked him to relay their message to Baghdad. Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, head of SCIRI and the main Shi’ite bloc in Iraqi parliament, had stated that Iraqi security forces would be deployed to Samarra to protect the damaged shrine.
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Republic of Iraq Higher Judging Council Bureau of the Chief Judge
12/28/2006
(Classified)
To: The esteemed Prime Minister
In response to your memo numbered 4226/4/4 on 12/27/2006 in regard to our legal position on the execution of defendants Saddam Hussein, Barzan Ibrahim and Awwad Al-Bandar: The order should be presented to the Presidency Council and it should be approved unanimously before the verdict is carried out, otherwise the execution order would be unlawful and unconstitutional.
Respectfully,
Midhat Al-Mahmoud Chief Judge of the Higher Judging Counil
Copy to/ - Ministry of Justice/ Bureau of the esteemed Minister. - Prosecutor General.
