51,000 and Counting
A Surge in Iraqi Detainees
CIARA GILMARTIN
Amid all the talk about the U.S. military “surge” in Iraq, little has been said about the accompanying “surge” of Iraqi prisoners, whose numbers rose to nearly 51,000 at the end of 2007. Four years after the Abu Ghraib scandal, occupation forces are holding far more Iraqis than ever before and thousands more languish in horrendous Iraqi-run prisons…

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IRAQ: Running Out of Water in Rising Heat
Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*Water supply is drying out in what was once the agriculturally rich Diyala province north of Baghdad. Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, is now running out of water both for drinking and for irrigation. Water supply has been hit by power failures. The central pumping station has been running short of electricity supply over the last two years. The pumping station is located between two districts in conflict — Hwaider, which is predominantly Shia, and Jupenat, mostly Sunni. For two years now, fighting between Sunnis and Shias here has led to reduced water supply…

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Heavy bombardment on Sadr city despite ceasefire
Voices of IraqThree large parts of Sadr city were subjected to heavy bombardment that was continuously carried out by U.S. helicopters, starting from Saturday 3:30 p.m. until now, despite the Iraqi government and representatives of the Sadr movement having signed an agreement to stop confrontations in the city. Reporter of Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI) said that airstrike operations covered the areas of Jameela, al-Gayiara, and al-Dakhil, but he could not contact medical sources to learn whether there were any casualties among Sadr city’s residents. Earlier on Saturday, the Sadr bloc’s official spokesperson said that the bloc brokered a deal with the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to stop fighting in the troubled eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City, and end the crisis between the two sides. “A 14-point agreement was reached with a delegation from the ruling Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) to end the crisis in Sadr City,” Sheikh Salah al-Ubaydi told VOI…

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Iraqi army in Mosul offensive
BBCThe Iraqi Army has launched a major operation in the northern city of Mosul against al-Qaeda and its allies. Around 10,000 Sunni tribesmen from Mosul who are loyal to the government are taking part in the operation with an armoured brigade of Iraqi troops. Reinforcements are due to move into the area in the coming days for what is being called Operation Lion’s Roar…

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Israel Foreign Affairs Ministry: Lies are Truth
Mary Rizzo, Palestine Think TankThe people in the press staff of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry are talented science fiction writers. Almost nothing that they write has any bearing on reality, and it seems that they use Orwell’s 1984 as a guidebook for news dispatches. All that they need to do is look at the facts on the ground (terminology that was invented by the hasbara commission, more than likely, because it is something different than reality. It has a bit of the sense of imposition of a negative reality that cannot however be challenged by ‘ordinary’ people), and turn them on their heads. War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength. That’s exactly how the Israeli PR staff represents reality with their warped mirror….

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Sadrists say struck deal with PM, govt. confirms
Voices of IraqShiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s bloc brokered a deal with the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to stop fighting in the troubled eastern Baghdad district of Sadr City and end the crisis between the two sides, a bloc’s official spokesman said on Saturday. “A 14-point agreement was reached with a delegation from the ruling Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) to end the crisis in Sadr City,” Sheikh Salah al-Ubaydi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI). An official spokesman for the government confirmed the agreement reached with the Sadrists on Friday evening with the objective of “sustaining the stability and security in Sadr City.” “There are talks between a UIC delegation and the brothers from the Sadrist bloc, and a 14-point agreement was reached,” Ali al-Dabbagh told VOI on Saturday. “The agreement included the clearing of Sadr City of all explosive charges and mines, the closure of all illegal courthouses, ending all armed activities and acknowledging that the Iraqi government is the sole party that runs security issues and decides sending any forces to any area to impose order and security,” Dabbagh noted…

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Iraq, Sadr reach deal to end fighting in Sadr City
Word of the breakthrough came as the Iraqi military announced the start of crackdown against Sunni extremists in the northern city of Mosul
Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times Staff WriterThe Iraqi government and representatives of radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr said today they had struck a deal to end weeks of fighting in a Baghdad slum that has killed hundreds of people. Word of the breakthrough came as the Iraqi military announced the start of crackdown against Sunni extremists in the northern city of Mosul….unclear is whether U.S.-led forces will agree to the deal, which, according to Obeidi, stipulates that any raids in Sadr City must be conducted by Iraqi forces. Dabbagh did not mention this point in his statement….

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Health ministry: Babies born with deformities in Gaza due to siege
Palestinian Information CenterNewly born babies in the Gaza Strip are born with deformities due to their mothers’ lack of proper nutrition as a result of the Israeli siege and scarcity of food and money, a health ministry official in the PA caretaker government said on Saturday. Dr. Salah Al-Rantisi, the chairman of the women health department in the ministry, said that another factor was the shortage in medication as a result of the siege, which led to the spread of anemia and malnutrition among pregnant women…

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Gaza’s sole power station shuts down, Gaza city plunges in darkness
Palestinian Information CenterThe sole power generation station in the Gaza Strip on Saturday evening shut down after it ran out of fuel necessary to operate it, plunging Gaza city in complete darkness, Kanan Obeid the chairman of Gaza energy authority announced. He said that large areas of the Strip would suffer total blackout by sunset, adding that 60% of the entire Strip areas would be out of electricity with Gaza city bearing the major brunt….

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The historic wronging of Palestine
DAVID MORRISON, Palestine Think TankThe state of Israel came into existence 60 years ago on 14 May 1948. In the months before and after this declaration, Jewish forces drove around 750,000 Palestinians from their homes. Over 500 villages were emptied of their Palestinian population and most of them were destroyed so that those expelled had no homes to return to. Anybody who doubts that ethnic cleansing took place on this scale should read The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe. In it, he describes Plan Dalet (D in Hebrew), which set out the areas to be cleansed and the methods to be employed by Zionist forces in carrying out the cleansing…

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Hezbollah to Withdraw Gunmen in Lebanon
ROBERT F. WORTH and NADA BAKRIHezbollah and its allies announced Saturday evening that they would withdraw their gunmen, raising hopes for a political settlement after four days of street battles that have left at least 29 people dead across Lebanon. The statement came shortly after the Lebanese Army — widely seen as a neutral force here — proposed to resolve the dispute that provoked the latest round of bloody confrontations between the Hezbollah-led opposition and government supporters….

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Lebanon army in bid to end violence
AFPThe Lebanese army said on Saturday it had frozen measures taken by the government against the Shiite Hezbollah movement, and called for all armed militants to withdraw from the streets. It said that the head of airport security, who had been reassigned from his job, would remain in his post pending an investigation and that the army would look into a communications network set up by the militant group. “The head of airport security, Brigadier General Wafiq Shqeir, will remain in his post until appropriate procedural measures have been taken after a probe,” the statement said. “As for the telecommunications network, the army will look into the issue in a manner that is not harmful to the public interest or the security of the resistance” against Israel, it said…

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Extradition of wanted men hampers talks with government – Sadrist
Voices of IraqA Sadrist member of the parliament said on Friday that the extradition of wanted men hampers the agreement between the Sadrist bloc and the government to solve the current crisis. “Several delegations from the Sadrist bloc headed by Salah al-Ubaidi, the official spokesman for the bloc, met with Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) and other parliamentary blocs in the past two days to find a solution to the crisis between the government and the Sadrist bloc,” Zainab al-Kinani told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq (VOI). “The bloc held talks yesterday with Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki’s UIC,” she added. “Meetings were fine and there are some pending issues, including the extradition of more than 40 wanted men, against whom arrest warrants were issued,” she also said, noting that the coming few days could witness an agreement with the government to put an end to the crisis…

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Israeli settlers shot Palestinian in Ramallah, bled to death as ambluances not allowed access
Palestine News NetworkIsraeli settlers shot and killed a Palestinian man on Friday late afternoon. He was in northeastern Ramallah playing squash. As reported by Palestinian security sources, the young man, 20 year old Rashad Khater from the village of Ain Sinia, died at the hands of Israeli settlers who shot him while he was on one of the fields. Sources reported that the Israeli forces rushed to the scene and would not allow Palestinian ambulances to reach Khater, who bled to death on the ground. The Israelis contravened international law in this far too common an act of not allowing ambulances access to the dead and dying or injured. When Israeli forces left, the young man’s corpse was taken to the Ramallah Government Hospital…

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Tension reigns after three deadly days in Lebanon
AFPLebanon was steeped in tension on Saturday after Hezbollah seized control of west Beirut in three days of deadly fighting with pro-government forces, triggering fears of all-out civil war. At least 16 people were killed in the violence that erupted on Wednesday….Analysts said there were fears the violence could spread beyond Lebanon’s borders. “Hezbollah had said before it would never point its arms against its own country, but it has crossed this line,” said Nadim Shehadi, Lebanon expert at the Chatham House think tank in London…Antoine Basbous of the Paris-based Observatory of the Arab Countries predicted more violence . “There will be operations, attacks. It (Hezbollah) will not totally control the new territory (it has seized) because it is not welcome” there, Basbous said. Hezbollah gunmen celebrated on Friday by firing into the air and flashing victory signs as they drove in convoys around west Beirut after routing Sunni militants loyal to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s Western-backed government…

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Israel vs. South Africa: Reflecting on cultural boycott
Omar Barghouti, The Electronic IntifadaIn 1965, the American Committee on Africa, following the lead of prominent British arts associations, sponsored a historic declaration against South African apartheid, signed by more than 60 cultural personalities. It read: “We say no to apartheid. We take this pledge in solemn resolve to refuse any encouragement of, or indeed, any professional association with the present Republic of South Africa, this until the day when all its people shall equally enjoy the educational and cultural advantages of that rich and beautiful land.” If one were to replace “Republic of South Africa” with the “State of Israel,” the rest should apply just as strongly. Israel today — 60 years after its establishment through a deliberate and systemic process of ethnic cleansing of a large majority of the indigenous Palestinian population…

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IRAQ: The elusive Iranian weapons
TINA SUSMAN, Los Angeles TimesThere was something interesting missing from Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner’s introductory remarks to journalists at his regular news briefing in Baghdad on Wednesday: the word “Iran,” or any form of it. It was especially striking as Bergner, the U.S. military spokesman here, announced the extraordinary list ofweapons and munitions that have been uncovered in recent weeks since fighting erupted between Iraqi and U.S. security forces and Shiite militiamen. Among other things, Bergner cited 20,000 “items of ammunition, explosives and weapons” reported by Iraqi forces in the central city of Karbala; an additional Karbala cache containing 570 explosive devices, nine mortars, four anti-aircraft missiles, and 45 RPGs; and in the southern city of Basra alone, 39 mortar tubes, 1,800 mortars and artillery rounds, 600 rockets, and 387 roadside bombs. Read his remarks here. Not once did Bergner point the finger at Iran for any of these weapons and munitions, which is a striking change from just a couple of weeks ago…

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PALESTINE REMEMBERED ~~ 60 YEARS LATER ~~ LARGEST KEY IN THE WORLD CREATED TO REOPEN THE LAND OF PALESTINE
DesertpeaceThe image of a key has become the symbol of the Palestinian people’s dream of returning to the homes they were driven out of by the zionist pogroms of 1948. These were homes that families lived in for generations, homes that contained memories, homes that BELONGED TO THEM! So is the land of Palestine, a land they were driven out of, but a land they have held close to their hearts, a land THEY WILL RETURN TO! Yesterday in Bethlehem, the key was used as the centre of attention in a demonstration marking 60 years of the Nakba, the largest key in the world……

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May 9, 2008: 52 Iraqis Killed, 157 Wounded
Margaret Griffis, Antiwar.comIraqi authorities ordered residents of Sadr City to temporarily abandon the Shi’ite suburb of Baghdad as fighting between Iraqi forces and the Mahdi army continue. At least 52 Iraqis were killed and 157 more were wounded across the country. A number of people were also killed or wounded in Basra, but their nationalities were not released. No Coalition deaths were reported…

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Iraqi Resistance Report for events of Friday, 9 May 2008
Translated and/or compiled by Muhammad Abu Nasr, member, editorial board, the Free Arab Voice. www.freearabvoice.orgIn a dispatch posted at 11:30am Baghdad time Friday morning, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a sniper reportedly shot and killed a US soldier in the city of Hit, 180km northwest of Baghdad on Thursday evening…In a dispatch posted at 5:30pm Baghdad time Friday afternoon, the Yaqen News Agency reported that a mortar shell landed by mistake on the BBC station, located near the top-security “Green Zone” area in Baghdad. The blast left a 50cm hole in the roof of the building….

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Gaza Strip Report 966: To the Grace of Egypt – Rafah Border Terminal Open 3 Days.
Hiyam Noir, PalestineFreeVoiceThe main border terminal between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, the Rafah border crossing, opened on Saturday. The terminal will be open during three days, in accordance with a deal between Hamas and the Egyptian government. Wounded Palestinians in Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip,and other medical cases will leave Gaza Strip on Saturday, to receive medical care in Egypt.146 patients, including terminally ill adults and children, and scores of seriously injured resistance fighters, whom the Israelis has denied to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment, have now died….

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