Thread: Iraq/Dinar News. before Febuary 2nd 2006

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اصوات العراقVoices of Iraq :: الطالباني- براون- مباحثاتTalabani - Brown-talks
كتب: nakr2004 في يوم الأثنين, 29 يناير, 2007 - 07:16 PM BTBooks : nakr2004 on Monday, January 29, 2007 7:16 PM-BT

الطالبانى : هناك إتفاق مبدئى بين الكتل السياسية على دعم الخطة الأمنيةTalabani : There is an initial agreement between the political blocs to support the security plan
بغداد-(أصوات العراق)Baghdad - (Voices of Iraq)
قال الرئيس العراقى عقب مقابلته لوزير الدفاع البريطانى اليوم الإثنين إن هناك إتفاقا مبدئيا بين الكتل السياسية المساهمة فى الحكومة العراقية على دعم الخطة الأمنية الجديدة فى بغداد ،فيما أكد الوزير البريطانى أهمية تولى العراقيين القيادة فى هذه الخطة.The Iraqi president said after his meeting with British Minister of Defense, today, Monday, that there was an agreement in principle between the political blocs contribute to the Iraqi government to support the new security plan in Baghdad, while the British minister stressed the importance of the Iraqi leadership in this plan.
وأكد الرئيس جلال الطالباني "حصول اتفاق مبدئي بين جميع الكتل السياسية المساهمة في الحكومة على دعم الخطة الأمنية الجديدة." مشيرا إلى وجود "اقتراحات تقدمت بها بعض الكتل بهدف تحسين الخطة و إنجاحها وجعلها شاملة كي لا يبقى هناك مجال للاعتراض من قبل أي طرف من الأطراف السياسية على تنفيذها."The President Jalal Talabani, "a tentative agreement among all the political blocs contribute to the government to support the new security plan." Referring to the existence of "suggestions made by some lumps in order to improve the plan and make it a success and not so comprehensive, there remains room for objection by any party of the political parties to implement them."
جاء ذلك خلال مؤتمر صحفي مشترك مع وزير الدفاع البريطاني ديس براون الذى وصل بغداد الليلة الماضيةThis came during a joint press conference with British Defense Minister Brown Dis, which reached Baghdad last night
وقال بيان لرئاسة الجمهورية ان الرئيس الطالباني أشار إلى ضرورة "أن تكون الخطة الجديدة لأمن بغداد دقيقة في تنفيذ عمليات المداهمات ومطاردة الإرهابيين و العناصر الخارجة عن القانون فقط، وفي نفس الوقت إبعاد المدنيين عن الأذى."According to a statement by the Presidency of the Republic, President Talabani pointed to the need "to be the new plan for the security of Baghdad minutes in the implementation of raids and chasing terrorists and lawless elements only, at the same time exclusion of civilians from harm."
من جانبه، أكد وزير الدفاع البريطاني "ضرورة أن تكون "الحكومة العراقية قادرة على استيعاب جميع الأطراف السياسية في المصالحة الوطنية، حتى يتحقق الأمن و الاستقرار في العراق.Meanwhile, the British Defense Minister, "stressed that the" Iraqi government able to accommodate all the political parties in the national reconciliation, in order to achieve security and stability in Iraq.
كما أكد الوزير البريطاني أهمية ان يتولى العراقيون القيادة في تنفيذ الخطة، قائلاً "ان من المهم ان يكون العراقيون في موقع المسؤولية". و أضاف "نحن هنا من أجل تقديم الدعم لخطة بغداد الأمنية، حيث سيكون العراقيون في مراحل كثيرة منها في موقع القيادة وسنكون نحن في موقف الإسناد لهم".The British minister also stressed the importance of the Iraqis assume leadership in the implementation of the plan, saying "it is important that the Iraqis be in a position of responsibility." And added, "We are here to provide support to the security plan Baghdad, where the Iraqis will be in many stages in a position of leadership, we will be in the position of backing them."
ووصل وزير الدفاع البريطاني إلى بغداد مساء الأحد في زيارة لم يعلن عنها مسبقا ،And the British Defense Minister to Baghdad on Sunday evening, a visit announced in advance,
وقال عنها بروان في بيان صادر عن وزارة الدفاع البريطانية إنه جاء "لمناقشة التقدم الذي تم إحرازه في العراق ،والتحديات التي تواجه القوات البريطانية... ومتطلبات المرحلة المقبلة الحاسمة."He said in Parwan in a statement issued by the British Ministry of Defense that he came "to discuss the progress that had been made in Iraq, and the challenges facing the British forces ... The requirements of the next crucial phase. "
وردا على سؤال بشأن نقل المسؤوليات الأمنية إلى القوات العراقية، قال الوزير البريطاني "نقيّم الظروف على الأرض من أجل نقل المسؤوليات الأمنية إلى العراقيين إذا سمحت الظروف بذلك، وحالما يتم الاتفاق على سحب القوات مع الحكومة العراقية." بحسب بيان الرئاسة العراقية.Replying to a question on the transfer of security responsibilities to Iraqi forces, the British minister said "we circumstances on the ground for the transfer of security responsibilities to the Iraqis if circumstances permit, and once agreement on the withdrawal of troops with the Iraqi government." According to a statement the Iraqi presidency.
وردا على سؤال بشأن الموقف الإيراني من الوضع الأمني في العراق، قال الطالبانى "إن الأخوة الإيرانيين ابلغونا مجددا انهم على استعداد للتعاون مع العراقيين والأمريكيين،على حد سواء، في مجال حفظ الأمن في العراق." مشيرا إلى رغبة طهران في الاشتراك بلجنة ثلاثية عراقية- أمريكية ? إيرانية بهدف تحقيق الاستقرار و مقاومة الإرهاب.Replying to a question on the Iranian position of the security situation in Iraq, Talabani said that "our brothers the Iranians told us again that they are ready to cooperate with Iraqis and Americans alike, in the field of security in Iraq." Pointing to Tehran's desire to take part in the tripartite commission Iraqi-American-Iranian view to achieving stability and resistance to terrorism.
ولفت رئيس الجمهورية إلى أن "الإيرانيين يؤكدون بذلك وعدهم بإيقاف العمليات ضد القوات البريطانية وبقية قوات التحالف."He pointed out that the President of the Republic "Iranians say that the promise of stopping operations against British forces and the rest of the coalition forces."
وأعرب الطالبانى عن أمله في "ان يتم هذا الاتفاق الثلاثي لتحقيق الأمن و الاستقرار في البلاد، و ان يكون الخلاف بين بريطانيا و أمريكا و إيران بعيدا عن العراق."Talabani expressed his hope that "this be the tripartite agreement for the achievement of security and stability in the country, and that the difference between Britain and America and Iran away from Iraq."
وعن آراء بعض السياسيين بشأن الخطة الأمنية الجديدة، قال "هناك اتفاق سابق مع جميع الأطراف السياسية المشاركة في الحكومة على ان يكون هناك خطابا موحدا عند التعليق على الخطة".Regarding the views of some politicians on the new security plan, he said, "there is a prior agreement with all political parties to participate in the government to be a unified speech when commenting on the plan."
والتقى الوزير البريطانى فى وقت سابق اليوم رئيس الوزراء العراقي نوري المالكي .The Minister met British Earlier in the day, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
وقال بيان لمجلس الوزراء إن الطرفين ناقشا الإستعدادات الجارية لتسليم الملف الأمني في مدينة البصرة إلى السطات العراقية.The Cabinet statement said the two sides discussed the ongoing preparations for the extradition of the security file in the city of Basra to the Iraqi authorities.
وتحتفظ القوات البريطانية بأكثر من سبعة آلاف جندى ضمن القوات المتعددة الجنسيات فى العراق تتركز فى المناطق الجنوبية من العراق ، وهى ثانى أكثر قوة بعد القوات الأمريكية.British forces and maintains more than seven thousand troops in the multinational forces in Iraq are concentrated in the southern regions of Iraq, which is the second most after the American forces.
Translated version of http://www.aswataliraq.info/?newlang=ara

'Little Iraq' emerges in neighbouring Jordan

AMMAN: Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have sought safe haven from the violence at home in neighbouring Jordan, where the influx of migrants has triggered concerns over inflation, job losses and ghettoisation. In a tiny desert kingdom still healing from a 2005 triple suicide attack on Amman hotels, which killed 60 people and was blamed on Iraqi Al-Qaeda militants, the trend is viewed in some quarters as a burden, albeit a cautiously welcomed one. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has said more than 700,000 Iraqis fled to Jordan in the aftermath of the US-led 2003 war, while independent analysts put their numbers at over one million and Jordanian authorities estimate around 500,000. Some are rich and influential and others are poor; and they come from a mix of Shiite, Sunni and Christian families. Many of Amman's Iraqis have settled in the up-market neighbourhoods of Rabiya and Khalda, which taxi drivers have jokingly renamed Karrada and Jadriya-two Baghdad residential areas.
Once-sleepy neighbourhoods have come alive thanks to restaurants serving tasty Iraqi meals such as the Masguf fish and the so-called "Fallujah" meat kebabs as well as night clubs featuring Iraqi singers and belly dancers. Amman's shopping destination, the mammoth "Mecca Mall", has also been overrun by the Iraqis who have baptised it "Baghdad Mall". "We come here to shop but also to meet Iraqi friends we had lost touch with," said Iraqi national Tareq Hassouneh, 55. Many Iraqi artists have also set up their ateliers in Jordan and hold shows in Iraqi-run galleries, such as Sirwan Aref, a 39-year-old Kurd who used to teach at the Baghdad University faculty of arts. "The violence in Iraq means there is no space left for art," he said.
Another professor at Baghdad University, Mohammed Abdullah, is one of thousands planning to leave Iraq and head to Jordan. "I want to escape Iraq," Abdullah told AFP in Baghdad. "I have been offered a teacher's job in Jordan. I am going. I just hope there are no serious problems when entering Jordan. That is my only worry." He added that he will first go alone to the neighbouring country and then send for his wife and two kids. "I am scared of the situation here. I am being threatened by the militias. I am sure at least in Jordan I will not face such troubles." Jordan's King Abdullah II said this month that the influx of Iraqis has put "pressure on infrastructure" and meagre resources of the desert kingdom, though they were welcome as long as they abide by the law. "Everyone who lives on Jordanian soil must abide by Jordanian laws and preserve its security and stability, including our Iraqi brothers," the king said. "We will never allow Jordan to be used as a staging post to foment any problems against Iraq," he added.
Most of the Iraqis in Jordan have set up home in the capital Amman, where the population has doubled from one million in 2003 and where the cost of real estate has soared three-fold since 2005. As a result many middle-class Jordanians have moved to the suburbs to find cheaper homes. "They have created a community within a community. We've got now a 'little Iraq' in Jordan and this is a cause of concern in the long run," said one economist who works for a Jordanian research centre. Many Jordanians who at first believed that the arrival of wealthy Iraqis among them would revitalise the economy, are now complaining that their neighbours have pushed up inflation. "The Iraqis live in ghettos and have done little to invest in the country, beyond purchasing homes or opening business, such as restaurants, where they only hire Iraqis," said the economist, who declined to be named. "They have contributed to inflation and rarely mix with Jordanians. This cannot be healthy." Jordanian civil servant Abdel Rahman echoes him. "I had plans to buy a small apartment in 2005 but by the time I secured a loan from the bank, the owner told me that the price had risen from 35,000 dollars (27,000 euros) to 115,000 dollars," he told AFP.
A Jordanian trade unionist also complained that Iraqis are slowly pushing Jordanians from the job market. "Thousands of Iraqis work illegally, accepting lower pay than the Jordanians who are becoming unemployed," he said. Jordanian car mechanic Izzat told AFP his boss threatened to fire him and replace him with an Iraqi when he asked for time off. But Jordanian officials have taken care to downplay the complaints. "The presence of the Iraqis in Jordan is, of course, a burden on national resources-although I don't like to use that word-but they are welcome here," government spokesman Nasser Jawdeh said this week. Jawdeh also denied that Jordan had closed its borders to some Iraqis, but acknowledged that "people coming to this country are vetted more thoroughly and carefully given the security concerns that we all face in this world today". According to UN forecasts, the outpouring of refugees from Iraq shows no sign of letting up. Earlier this month the UNHCR said more than 1.7 million Iraqis have been displaced or sought refuge outside Iraq and another million more could leave their homes this year. The UNHCR said that tens of thousands continue to flee monthly, particularly to Syria and Jordan. _ AFP


KUWAIT TIMES

Deputy PM calls on Iran and U.S. to stop making Iraq a competition zone

1/29/2007 AP - By Kim Gamel
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's deputy prime minister on Sunday said Iran and the United States were using Iraq as a "zone of conflict and competition" and jeopardizing efforts to stabilize the country.

Barham Saleh, a Kurd who has ties with both Tehran and Washington, accused the two countries of stepping on Iraq's sovereignty as they jockeyed for advantage.

"Iraqi transition is burdened by many elements of interference in our domestic affairs," Saleh said in an interview with The Associated Press.
He urged Iran and the U.S. to resolve their differences, at least where Iraq was concerned.

"The new Iraq is one that hopes to be at peace with itself and at peace with its neighbors," he said from a gilded chair in the ornate entrance hall of his Green Zone office compound.

"And that definitely requires noninterference in our affairs," he said, declaring that Iran and the United States should see Iraq's well-being and prosperity as a "point of consensus."

The U.S. and Iran, already deeply at odds over Tehran's nuclear program, find themselves in a growing and more public conflict over Iran's involvement in Iraq, where it is accused of training, arming and funding militants fighting U.S. occupation forces.

The Iranian government heatedly blasted Washington earlier this month after U.S. forces raided an Iranian government liaison office in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq and detained five Iranians. U.S. officials said the Iranians were members of a Revolutionary Guard faction that funds and arms insurgents in Iraq.

Top Kurdish officials and authorities in Baghdad complained that the U.S. raid was done without notification and said the Iranians must be freed, asserting they were in the country on legitimate business.

The detentions hit a nerve as Iraq's Shiite-dominated government faces the delicate task of trying to secure Baghdad with the help of American forces while maintaining ties with its neighbors, including U.S. rivals Iran and Syria.

The White House also has revealed that President Bush has authorized U.S. forces in Iraq to take whatever action necessary to counter Iranian agents who are deemed a threat.

Saleh, who served for 10 years as the Kurdistan Regional government representative to the United States, signaled Iraqi impatience with both Tehran and Washington.

His ally and fellow Kurd, President Jalal Talabani has been pressing efforts to encourage a dialogue between the two nations.

"I have to admit Iraq has become a zone of conflict and competition between various regional players and international players," Saleh said. "The tensions are there and undeniably there is a spillover effect that complicates Iraqi political and security transition."

"We are grateful to the United States for the effort on our behalf to overcome tyranny. But at the end of the day we are accountable to our own people, our own constituents who demand of us better security and better services," he said.

As for Iran, he said, good relations with the Shiite theocracy were important for Iraq given the countries sit side by side and that Iran gave shelter to many Iraqi dissidents during Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime and who now wield power.

But, he said, "The failure of this present political process in Iraq will mean chaos in Iraq and ultimately may well mean restoration of the status quo in the form of tyranny in one way or another."

On other topics, Saleh, who is chairman of the Cabinet economics committee, dismissed concerns that a proposed oil law would allow U.S. and other international oil companies too much influence over Iraq's most important resource.

He denied published reports that the proposal would provide for so-called product sharing agreements that would give international oil firms 70 percent of oil revenues to recover initial investment and subsequently allow foreign drillers 20 percent of the profits, tax free and without restrictions on repatriating profits.

"These reports ... about the terms of PSAs (Profit Sharing Agreements) ... are totally and absolutely wrong," he said, acknowledging that concessions would have to be made to attract much-needed investment from foreign oil companies. Details were still under negotiation.

"At the end of the day Iraqi national management will be there but we need partnership with the outside world as well for technology transfer and the flow of funds," he said.

Tension on the rise between Kurds, Turkmen and Arabs over Kirkuk’s fate


Monday, January 29, 2007

AP

KIRKUK, Iraq - When Abdul-Karim Wadi, a Shiite Arab, got what amounted to thousands of dollars cash and a free apartment to move to Kirkuk from Baghdad 18 years ago, he says he didn't know he was a tool of Saddam Hussein's campaign to flood the ethnically mixed, oil-rich city with Arabs.

Now, Wadi says, Kirkuk is home and he has no plans to leave. He's trying to ride out the increasing outbreaks of ethnic tension, a symptom of a deeper struggle for the city's future - a complex tangle of ancient ethnic antagonism and hardball 21st century struggle for oil resources.

The Arab and Turkmen population in Kirkuk are fighting Kurdish efforts to join the city - they call it the "Jerusalem of the Kurds" - to the their semiautonomous region just to the north. Thrown into that ethnic cauldron are Armenian and Assyrian-Chaldean Christian minorities.

Turkey, Iraq's northern neighbor, has compounded the troubles over Kirkuk as it exerts heavy pressure on the Iraqi government to protect the interests of the Turkmen, ethnic Turks who once were the majority in the city. Ankara seeks to assure that Kirkuk remains a part of Arab Iraq.

Turkey's motivation is simple. It continues to face harassing attacks by Kurdish guerrillas who cross freely from Kurdish regions in northern Iraq to fight with their ethnic brethren who live in southeastern Turkey and have been fighting a secessionist war since 1984.

Turkey fears that the economic boom to Iraq's Kurdish region, should it gain control over the Kirkuk oil fields, could further embolden Kurds inside Turkey in their bid for autonomy or statehood.

Iraqi Kurds, including some who hold high positions in the Baghdad government - President Jalal Talabani for one - have accused Turkey of interfering in Iraqi internal affairs through recent statements that Kirkuk must not be annexed to the Kurdish region in Iraq's north.

On Sunday, Barham Saleh, a Kurd who is deputy prime minister, met Turkey's ambassador to reject the Turkish stand.

"The fate of Kirkuk and other local issues will be dealt with through the will of the Iraqi people and the constitution," Saleh's office said in a statement.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, also a Kurd, met in Switzerland Friday with Abdullah Gul, his Turkish counterpart, and rejected what he called Turkish interference in the Kirkuk and statements about the rights of the Turkmen, saying both were "a purely Iraqi matter."

Since the ouster of Saddam Hussein nearly four years ago, Arabs and Turkmen have accused the Kurds of moving thousands of their people back into the city to gain a majority in a referendum later this year to determine Kirkuk's future.

The last census in Iraq that showed ethic breakdowns was in 1957, well before Saddam began his program to Arabize Kirkuk. That count showed 178,000 Kurds, 48,000 Turkmen, 43,000 Arabs and 10,000 Assyrian-Chaldean Christians lived in the city.

Kirkuk, an ancient city that once was part of the Ottoman Empire, subsequently witnessed a major deportation of Kurds in conjunction with the forced influx of Arabs during Saddam's 23-year rule. He forced Kurds into refugee camps in the Kurdish provinces of Sulaimaniyah, Irbil and Dahuk.

Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, tens of thousands, perhaps as many as 100,000, of those deported have returned to their hometown, local officials say.

Kirkuk is the capital of Tamim province, where the population is estimated at 1 million. There are no good figures today about ethnic percentages that make up that total, although most officials agree that Kurds are now the majority, with Turkmen and Arabs about tied for second position.

Those estimates are based on the results of the December 2005 election in which Kurds took 26 seats on the 41-member Provincial Council. Turkmen had nine, Arabs five and Assyrian Christians one.

Arab and Turkmen members suspended participation in the provincial council in November, charging unfair Kurdish dominance.

Article 140 of the new Iraqi constitution stipulates that Kirkuk's status must be resolved by the end of the year. No date has been set yet for the referendum, and Arabs and Turkmen reject the constitutional directive. Kurds want it enforced in hopes of annexing Tamim province and, therefore, Kirkuk, to the Kurdistan semiautonomous region.

The U.S. Iraq Study Group, headed by former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Democratic congressman Lee Hamilton said in its report released in December that "given the very dangerous situation in Kirkuk, international arbitration is necessary to avert communal violence. A referendum on the future of Kirkuk would be explosive and should be delayed."

Hundreds Kurds demonstrated in Kirkuk against the report.

Rizgar Ali, a Kurd who heads the provincial council, also criticized what he called Turkish interference in Iraq's affairs, saying "the question of Kirkuk has solutions and mechanisms that the Iraqi politicians and people agreed to according to article 140 of the Iraq constitution. This is an internal Iraqi affair and no country should stand against that."

"These countries should stand with our democratic project not to block it," said Ali, an official in Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.

Jamal Abdullah Chan of the Iraqi Turkmen Front accuses the Kurds of trying to drive ethnic Turks from the city with bomb attacks on predominantly Turkmen that have killed or wounded scores.

"There is a political plan to force Turkmen to leave Kirkuk in order to empty it from its people, even though we see Kirkuk as an Iraqi city with Turkmen culture," Chan said.

Unlike Kurdish officials, Chan sees Turkey's stance "as supportive to Iraq's unity especially that Kirkuk is a regional and international matter because of its multicultural nature."

He said paragraph 140 of the constitution should be excised or its implementation delayed.

Arabs in the city see the plan to annex Kirkuk to the Kurdish region as part of a campaign to divide Iraq.

"The stance of Arab countries and Turkey is aimed at salvaging Iraq from the increasing violence and attempts to tear it apart," said Abdul-Rahman Munshid al-Asi, an Arab tribal leader in the city.

Wadi, the Shiite Arab who settled here 18 years ago, insists - along with many others in the polyglot city - that the referendum and Kirkuk's final status won't force him to abandon his 18-year roots.

"Kirkuk is a beautiful city. It's pleasant to live here. It is not easy for a person to leave it. If they ask me to leave, I will say 'no' even if they annex it to Kurdistan," Wadi said.

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3. The Iraqi Central Bank announced the adoption of buying and selling rates for the dollar on Monday, January 29, 2007 until the end of office hours on Wednesday, which falls on January 31, 2007 and pledged to meet the demand for foreign currency without limit and regardless of the quantities required and all its customers.

Shiite leader offers Iraq security plan - Yahoo! News

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St. Paul Pioneer Press | 01/29/2007 | Iran offers Iraq military, reconstruction assistance

Are You Ready? Here's The Plan

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Bush warns Iran against action in Iraq | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Iraqis: At least 200 insurgents killed By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
36 minutes ago



BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi officials said Monday that U.S.-backed Iraqi troops had targeted a religious cult called "Soldiers of Heaven" in a weekend battle that left 200 fighters dead, including the group's leader, near the Shiite holy city of Najaf. A military commander said hundreds of gunmen planned to disguise themselves as pilgrims and kill clerics on the holiest day of the Shiite calendar.

The Iraqi government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, said the raid on Sunday in date-palm orchards on the city's outskirts was aimed against a group called the Jund al-Samaa, or Soldiers of Heaven, which appeared to have had links to Saddam Hussein loyalists and foreign fighters. Officials said the cult was hoping the violence it planned would force the return of the "hidden imam," a 9th-century Shiite saint who Shiites believe will come again to bring peace and justice to the world.

Both Mohammed al-Askari, the defense ministry spokesman, and an Iraqi military commander in charge of the Najaf area said 200 terrorists were killed and 60 wounded, lowering previous estimates. Maj. Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi, the commander of the 8th Division that is in charge of Najaf, said 150 had been captured, while al-Askari put that figure at 120.

President Bush said the fight was as indication that Iraqis were beginning to take control.

"My first reaction on this report from the battlefield is that the Iraqis are beginning to show me something," Bush told NPR.

The fighting began Sunday and ended Monday. U.S. officials said an American military helicopter crashed during the battle, killing two soldiers on board, but gave no further details. Al-Ghanemi said the aircraft was shot down. It was the second U.S. military helicopter to crash in eight days.

Authorities said Iraqi soldiers supported by U.S. aircraft fought all day Sunday with a large group of insurgents in the Zaraq area, about 12 miles northeast of the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

U.S. and British jets bombed and strafed the militants, the U.S. Air Force said Monday. U.S. F-16s and A-10 jets dropped 500-pound bombs on insurgent positions, the Air Force said.

Provincial Gov. Assad Sultan Abu Kilel said the insurgents had planned to attack Shiite pilgrims and senior clerics in Najaf during ceremonies marking Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shiite calendar commemorating the 7th-century death of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. The celebration culminates Tuesday in huge public processions in Najaf, Karbala and other Shiite cities.

Al-Ghanemi said the army captured some 500 automatic rifles in addition to mortars, heavy machine guns and Russian-made Katyusha rockets in what amounted to a major test for Iraq's new military as it works toward taking over responsibility for security from U.S.-led forces.

The commander said the leader of the group was among those killed and identified him as an Iraqi named Ahmed Hassan al-Yamani, who went by several aliases and was armed with two pistols when he died. Abdul-Hussein Abtan, deputy governor of Najaf, said the cult leader had been detained twice in the past few years, although he did say why.

Abtan also said a few women who were believed to be residents of the area were among those taken into custody.

Al-Ghanemi said the area where the men were staying was once run by Saddam's al-Quds Army, a military organization the late president established in the 1990s. The commander said "the gunmen had recently dug trenches in preparation for the battle." He added that the area of full of date palm groves. Other officials in Najaf said Saddam loyalists bought the groves six months ago.

Al-Ghanemi said 600 to 700 gunmen had planned to disguise themselves as pilgrims and attack Najaf on Tuesday, the day they believed that the Imam Mahdi, or the "hidden imam," would reappear. He said leading Shiite ayatollahs consider such fringe elements as heretics.

Their aim was to kill as many leading clerics as possible, al-Ghanemi said.

Najaf government officials indicated the militants included both Shiite and Sunni extremists, as well as foreign fighters. Although Sunni Arabs have been the main force behind insurgent groups, there are a number of Shiite militant and splinter groups that have clashed from time to time with the government.

The mortar attacks and bombings appeared to be part of the sectarian reprisal killings that have pushed Iraq into civil warfare over the past year, violence that Bush hopes to quell by sending up to 21,500 more American soldiers to Baghdad and surrounding areas.

Bombings, mortar attacks and shootings killed at least 36 people elsewhere on Monday.

In one of the worst attacks, mortar rounds rained down on a Shiite neighborhood in the Sunni-dominated town of Jurf al-Sakhar, 40 miles south of Baghdad, Monday morning, police spokesman Capt. Muthanna Khalid said. He said 10 were killed, including three children and four women, and five other people were wounded.

A wounded boy lay next to his bloodstained father at a hospital in the nearby town of Musayyib, while six bodies were covered with blankets in the morgue.

The strike came a day after mortar shells hit the courtyard of a girls' school in a mostly Sunni Arab neighborhood of Baghdad, killing five pupils and wounding 20. A Sunni organization, the General Conference of the People of Iraq, blamed Shiite Muslim militias with ties to government security forces.

Also Monday, a prominent Shiite leader renewed his calls for setting up federal regions in Iraq, saying that would solve the country's problems.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Shiite bloc in the 275-member parliament, spoke at a Shiite mosque in central Baghdad to mark Ashoura. "I reaffirm that the establishing of regions will help us in solving many problems that we are suffering from. Moreover, it represents the best solution for these problems," he said.

Al-Hakim said his concern cut across sectarian lines.

"I sympathize with our Sunni brothers in their ordeal with the terrorists as I sympathize with the Shiites in their ordeal with the terrorists," he said. "I condemn the killing of Sunnis as I condemn the killing of the Shiites

OK ...got my 100k from my bank here in West Virginia today. Just to refresh , I ordered it on friday . Price 92.50(or thereabouts, can't remember the exact change) + $5 fee + $10 Fed Ex fee.

Came out of North Carolina...Banker's Bank.

25,000 bills...circulated.

Just FYI...Bill

Originally Posted by PAn8tv

If I read this correctly, this was an opinion stated by one of our members, Readytogo

I, personally, don't trust this. Why would they, all of a sudden, change there intentions with everything being reported to take place, like WTO? "Oh...by the way...thanks for all the financial assistance and all, but weve decided that we're going to hold off on making our "preferred" currency worth anything for a while. We hope you guys can be patient with us...we're just afraid our people will be more prosperous than us, and we would hate to lose our power over them. Oh, and that loan you gave us...oh yeah, we hope you can wait for a few years for our payments. Do you have a RE-FINANCE program?" Oh...and pardon me while I give you a wedgie."
Someone is trying to get you to give up, for whatever reason. Kinda like people who send "worms" out in emails...somehow, they get a thrill out of watching people squirm.

Hey Folks,

The only places I have really been looking are here and Dinar trade for information. Since you guys are more knowledgable than I, what are web sites that you consider reliable.

Just looking for other places to look as well.

Thanks
JD

Originally Posted by draft138

Hey Folks,

The only places I have really been looking are here and Dinar trade for information. Since you guys are more knowledgable than I, what are web sites that you consider reliable.

Just looking for other places to look as well.

Thanks
JD

Since you have found RolClub, there is really no need to look any further. Great group of people here. May I suggest checking out our history thread. Great reading and loads of Info.

Welcome on board.

Gloribee