Al-Melaf reports that the detention of Hakim Al-Zamili (Sadrist), deputy Minister of Health by U.S. and Iraqi troops yesterday was due to his association with the kidnapping of Ammar Al-Saffar, undersecretary of the Minister of Health for reconstruction affairs, also a Da’wa Party official, according to an “informed source” in the Iraqi government. Gunmen in military uniform abducted Saffar from his residence at Maghrib Street in Baghdad two months ago and his fate is still unknown. Dr. Ali Al-Mahdawi, director of the Diyala Health Department, and a member of the Iraqi Accord Front, also disappeared after a meeting with officials at the Health Ministry several months ago, and Sunni politicians blamed the Mahdi Army, which they said is responsible for security at the ministry. The source added that Al-Zamili is also facing charges of funding the Mahdi Army out of the ministry’s budget and providing ambulances for Mahdi Army operations. Al-Malaf also reveals that U.S. forces have prepared a list of prominent Iraqi members of parliament and officials in various ministries, such as the ministries of Interior, Health and Defense, to be detained for different charges.

The Iraqi National Accord Movement denied allegations by Najaf Governor As’ad Abu Gilel on Al-Hurra TV yesterday that former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi was connected to the Zarga operation two weeks ago. Abu Gilel had stated on television that “the personal hairdresser of the Jund Al-Samaa’ leader confessed that Allawi’s office in London was informed in advance about the Zarga operation.” The Iraqi National Accord Movement strongly denied any connection and described the Najaf governor’s statement as a “malicious plan aiming to slander the reputation of a patriotic figure that is regarded with high hopes by many Iraqis to save them from the tragedy they are suffering.” The movement also warned the Najaf governor “and those who stand behind him” that they reserve the right to respond legally to “these lies and fabrications,” and it reiterated its calls for an international investigation supervised by the U.N. to determine what happened in Najaf.

Al-Badeel Al-Iraqi claims to have photographic evidence that U.S. troops used banned weapons munitions, including chemical weapons, in its aerial assault during the Zarga battle near Najaf two weeks ago. The website says it will publish the photos as part of a comprehensive report very soon. Meanwhile, SCIRI’s Buratha News Agency reports on a demonstration in Zarga by members of the Hawatim tribe protesting claims on Sharqiya TV and by Speaker of Parliament Mahmoud Al-Mashadani that Iraqi security forces targeted the tribe and framed it as a confrontation with an unknown terrorist group. Leaders of the tribe pledged allegiance to the Iraqi government and the religious establishment (Marja’iya) of Najaf during the demonstration, which was attended by the head of the Najaf Governorate Council and other local officials. The Iraqi Rabita website alleged that the demonstration was staged under orders by Najaf Governor As’ad Abu Gilel (SCIRI) who threatened the tribe’s leaders if they do not toe the government line and deny the media reports.

The fundamentalist Islam Memo website reports that U.S. troops distributed fliers at Abu Ghraib, Taji, Ramadi and Fallujah promising large monetary rewards for anyone who offers information on the militants targeting U.S. helicopters. “The terrorists aim to destroy democracy in your country and are trying to steal away your lives,” one flier said, according to residents. They added that this was the first time U.S. troops offered unspecified sums of money in return for information.

Islam Memo also reports that U.S. troops issued an arrest warrant for MP Mish’an Al-Jubouri, head of the Iraqi Reconciliation and Liberation Bloc and the owner of the Zawraa’ satellite channel, on charges of “inciting terrorism and attacks against U.S. forces.” According to the website, U.S. troops raided the residences of relatives of Jubouri, north of Baghdad, as well as his offices in Kirkuk. The Zawraa’ channel, which operates from an unknown location, is rising in popularity in Iraq and the Arab world after it started broadcasting insurgent videos of attacks against U.S. troops, most of them downloaded from the Internet, in response to a ban by the Iraqi government following the verdict against Saddam Hussein several months ago. Al-Jubouri (Sunni), who was stripped of his parliamentary immunity after charges of financial corruption, is an outspoken supporter of the Iraqi insurgency and a strong critic of the occupation, the Iraqi government, and what he deems Iranian influence in Iraq. He is currently living in Syria but still maintains offices in Kurdistan and northern Iraq, where his tribe, the Jubour, are based. Islam Memo added that the U.S. also requested from Interpol to investigate Al-Jubouri’s whereabouts.

WNA News publishes statistics by the Iraqi Health Ministry and the Medico-legal Institute on civilian casualties in Iraq during 2006, based on governmental and media reports, as following:

January: 1,068 killed, 519 wounded. February: 1,110 killed, 1,338 wounded. March: 2,692 killed, 1,275 wounded. April: 1,155 killed, 885 wounded. May: 2,360 killed, 1,215 wounded. June: 1,459 killed, 1,277 wounded. July: 2,368 killed, 2,319 wounded. August: 3,009 killed, 2,774 wounded. September: 1,974 killed, 1,820 wounded. November: 3,156 killed, 1,642 wounded. October: 3,175 killed, 2,584 wounded. December: 3,352 killed, 5,746 wounded. -------------------------------------------------- Total civilians killed: 25,878. Total Iraqi security forces killed: 6,370. Total civilians wounded: 24,184.