Hundreds of Iraqi flags were flown on the streets of Kut, in the Wasit governorate, above rooftops, government departments and in public squares and on buses and private vehicles, as part of a campaign by non-governmental organizations, political and religious movements to encourage Iraqi national unity and to oppose sectarianism and division. Ali Hamid, one of the campaigners, told the Voices of Iraq Agency that the goal is to symbolize Iraqi unity. “The idea was widely embraced by non-governmental organizations and the majority of political and religious parties in the governorate, in addition to citizens,” he said. Hundreds of flags of different sizes were seen decorating lampposts, telecommunication towers and commercial stores and on the rooftops of private residences. Similar scenes were reported in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
In Baghdad, the Iraq News Agency reports that Baghdadis are speculating on the group that is behind this initiative to fly Iraqi flags in the capital’s streets and public squares at a time when the country is witnessing sectarian violence that is unprecedented in its history. Hana Edward, secretary of the Iraqi Hope Society, said that she did not know of any non-governmental organization that has adopted such a program, but she expressed support. “I prefer that the Iraqi flag is flown, instead of meaningless flags and banners that serve to divide the different communities of Iraq,” she said. Eman Shamkhi, a university professor from Waziriya, demanded a whole week for Baghdad residents to raise Iraqi flags on their rooftops and on government buildings because it is the only remaining symbol that unites Iraqis, but she said it should not coincide with April 9 because it is an anniversary of occupation and not national unity.
The Sadrist Nahrain Net website claims that the Sadrist Movement is behind this phenomenon, which it described as a “first in Iraq since the invasion, and even before the invasion,” as a political message that Iraqis reject foreign occupation. The website said that followers of the Sadrist Movement throughout the country volunteered to paint the Iraqi flag on buildings and on bridges and in the streets, while millions of miniature flags and stickers were handed out to people to stick on their homes and on their vehicles.
The head of the International Committee for Solidarity with Iraqi Professors said that 232 Iraqi professors have been killed since April 2003, while 3 thousand others have fled the country and 56 have went missing. Qais Jawad Al-Azzawi, head of the international committee that has headquarters in Geneva and Paris, said during a visit to Dohuk in northern Iraq with a delegation of Reporters Sans Frontiers that these losses have forced the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education to close 152 educational departments in several Iraqi universities, a decision that has deeply affected the educational process in the country. Only 25% of Iraqi students continue to attend classes following the bombings that targeted the Mustansiriya University in January 2007.
The Islamic Army in Iraq, one of the main Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq, demanded in an Internet posting from Osama bin Laden to interfere and put an end to the actions of the Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia Organization. The statement, which could not be independently verified, was posted on several message boards frequented by Jihadi groups, and it called on “the leaders of Al-Qaeda Organization, headed by Osama bin Laden” to assume legal and organizational responsibilities for the militant group. The Islamic Army accused Al-Qaeda of killing “over 30 of the Mujahideen” from different armed groups, such as the 1920 Revolution Brigades, Ansar Al-Sunnah and the Jaish Al-Mujahideen. The statement also called on “clerics of the ummah” to perform their duty to “save the jihadi project in Iraq.”
Eyewitnesses in Basrah reported that fliers condemning the Fadhila Party were distributed in the southern city. The unsigned fliers accused the party of being behind the largest criminal and smuggling mafia and of forging local elections to dominate the governing council of Iraq’s wealthiest governorate. The fliers also said the party made use of its position in the United Iraqi Alliance, the largest Shi’ite bloc in parliament, to take control of the city, despite the opposition of supreme cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, and then withdrawing from the coalition. The party was also blamed for political and sectarian assassinations in Basrah as well as the deportation of Sunni families. Several mortar rounds hit the Sha’ab and Talibiya districts northeast of Baghdad killing and wounding ten civilians signaling a comeback for mortar attacks between different neighborhoods of the capital while the Imposing Law security operation enters its eighth week. In the Amil district south of Baghdad, which is witnessing a struggle between Mahdi Army elements and residents of a small Sunni enclave to control the area, several mortar rounds targeted the Abu Bakr Al-Sideeq Mosque and surrounding areas during Friday prayers yesterday. SCIRI’s Buratha News Agency reports that Shi’ite residents of the Yarmouk district west of Baghdad received fliers signed by the Islamic Army of Iraq ordering them to leave the neighborhood within 48 hours.
Al-Melaf quotes “informed sources” who said that former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi recently ended a new round of meetings with Sunni Arab leaders in the region sponsored by the governments of Qatar and the UAE. The former prime minister had started intensive efforts over the last few months to garner regional and local support for a secular political platform to replace the elected government of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. Allawi plans to achieve a majority in Iraqi parliament that could pass a vote of no coincidence in Maliki’s government. Al-Melaf had reported on secret negotiations between Allawi and the Shi’ite Fadhila Party that led to its withdrawal from the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shi’ite majority bloc in parliament. Allawi had also recently held talks with Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish region, to secure Kurdish support for his new alliance.
