Az-Zaman’s headline was “Tal 'Afar demands a public trial of the policemen, or Maliki’s resignation.” The “policemen” referred to here are those who allegedly participated –alongside with militias – in what Az-Zaman described as “one of the most ferocious sectarian killings” in Iraq, when members of the police went on a homicidal rampage in the Sunni neighborhoods of the city, which left over 70 dead. The sectarian attack was itself a “response” to several car bombs that killed more than 60 civilians in Shi'a-majority areas in Tal 'Afar.
After the initial chaos, 18 policemen were identified as being among the culprits and arrested. It was a shock when they were subsequently released; officials in the police force said that they were let go in order to attend funerals of their relatives (seemingly, they had lost family members to the car bombs), in addition to their “deteriorating psychological condition.”
Today, security officials said that the 18 policemen were arrested anew, in order to be interrogated about the Wednesday events. But Az-Zaman says that Tal 'Afar’s residents are suspicious of the police’s intentions to prosecute the matter to its end.
An employee of the Ministry of Justice, who was interviewed by Az-Zaman, said that “these limited arrests aim to cover up the real culprits among the police chiefs in Tal 'Afar and the leaders of the militias, who belong to religious parties that are represented in the government.” The interviewee added that the police chief in Tal 'Afar is a member of one such party, which explains, in his view, the lax manner in which the security forces dealt with the issue.
“Sources” also told Az-Zaman that “pressures” are being exerted on state officials in Mosul (the capital of Tal 'Afar’s Nineveh province) in order to curb the investigation. The sources also said that the original release of the arrested policemen came because of “pressures from Baghdad.”
Az-Zaman did not directly name the Shi'a party that was allegedly involved in the killings, but hinted that the most popular Shi'a party in the city is the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI,) while Sufi groups are quite popular among Tal 'Afar’s Sunnis.
In related news, aljazeera.net revealed that (as expected) the massacre of Tal 'Afar has caused a rebound in sectarian violence in Iraq, especially in the northern city of Mosul where up to 24 unidentified bodies were found yesterday. Mosul in the last few years enjoyed a relatively “peaceful” coexistence among its residents, compared to Baghdad.
Aljazeera.net also said that hundreds of Sunni families left Tal 'Afar after the sectarian confrontations.
Otherwise, Iraqi news are quite scarce in the major Arab newspapers, as the main focus in the Arab media is placed on the closing of the Arab League summit in Riyad. As it was expected, the Arab summit made a declaration that demanded some measure of reform in the Iraqi political system, and an end to the phenomenon of private militias.
The most notable Iraq headline from the summit was carried by Pan-Arab al-Hayat: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani admitted that “American liberation of Iraq ... has turned into an occupation, with tragic consequences on the country.” Talabani made these statements in his speech during the final session of the summit. Talabani also said that he is in full agreement with all the Arab recommendations concerning Iraq.
Despite Talabani’s positive pronouncement concerning the Arab League position on Iraq, there is a clear gulf between the perspectives of Iraqi diplomats and that of their Arab peers as to the origins of the crisis in Iraq.
The difference was apparent before the summit even began, and an op-ed by the editor-in-chief of government-owned al-Sabah, Falah al-Mish'al, maps out these disagreements.
Al-Mish'al complained that the Arab foreign ministers avoid focusing on the “terrorism” problem in Iraq, and insist on identifying the root of the crisis in the “occupation” or the “political system” or “sectarianism.” Al-Mish'al was especially disappointed by the words of King 'Abdallah of Saudi Arabia who said, “blood is being spilt in Iraq, because of an illegitimate occupation and a sectarian war.”
According to al-Mish'al, the “occupation” is but a distraction to the central issue that Iraq faces: “terrorism,” which many pro-government Iraqis claim to be supported by neighboring countries. While the Arab League statements insinuate that the American occupation has engendered the sectarian system in Iraq, and facilitated the explosion of sectarian violence; an influential group in the Iraqi government advances the thesis that it was “terrorism” alone that led to the current instability, and that the “occupation” is but an argument that terrorists use in order to cover their “sectarian agenda.”
