Iraq News Summary

Iraq Arabic News

Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
Nathaniel Rabkin

The Adhamiya Awakening Mourns Its Leader;

Adnan al-Dulaymi Refuses to Blame al-Qaeda For Killing His Son in Law

- The Adhamiya Awakening Council lifted yesterday the curfew imposed after the assassination of the Council's leader, Riyadh al-Samarrai, by a suicide bomber on January 7th. Radio Sawa reports that stores have reopened in the Adhamiya area, but that the Awakening Council's fighters are present in force and "have their fingers' on the trigger at the first sign of suspicious movement."  Al-Hayat confirmed that the curfew had been lefted, but noted that vehicle traffic in the neighborhood was light, and that Awakening Council fighters were searching every car on the streets. Al-Hayat's headline was "Adhamiya 'mujahidin' swear vengenace against al-Qaeda," while an assistant of Samarrai's interviewed by Radio Sawa said that the assassination would increase the determination of the Awakening's fighters to defeat al-Qaeda. Both al-Hayat and Radio Sawa report that the Awakening fighters in Adhamiya identify themselves by wearing red keffiyehs. (Radio Sawa website, January 8th; al-Hayat, January 9th)

Meanwhile, Asma al-Dulaymi, a parliamentarian for the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF), confirmed that her husband, Diya al-Hadithi, was killed in the explosion which targeted Samarrai. Hadithi worked as an assistant to the architectural director of the Sunni Waqf, and was entering the Waqf office as the explosion went off. Asma's father, IAF leader Adnan al-Dulaymi, refused to blame any particular group for the attack, telling Radio Sawa: "there are many actors who are not pleased with the work of the Awakening . . . and there are many actors who are trying to place obstacles in the path of the Awakening." (Radio Sawa) Adnan al-Dulaymi's comments seemed intended to leave open the possibility that the attack was carried out by Shi'ite groups rather than by al-Qaeda affiliated terrorists.

Report: Iraqi Army Receives 35 Brazilian EE9 Armored Cars

An anonymous army source says that the Iraqi Army has received 35 Brazilian made EE9 Cascavel armored cars, which were displayed today at a "celebration" at the Taji military base. (Aswat al-Iraq, January 9th)

Diyala Governor Calls on Citizens to Support Tribal Movement in Kanaan

Diyala governor Raad Jawad al-Tamimi called on citizens to join a new "National Reconciliation Council" in Diyala's Kanaan district. The leader of this Council, Thair al-Karkhi, said that the Council has already selected Sadoun al-Shamari and Mahdi Daoud al-Humayri to act as his first and second deputies respectively; he also said that the Council has named Hisham al-Jafari as its official speaker. According to al-Karkhi: "15 tribes [ashira] and clans [fakhdh] have announced that they are joining the National Reconciliation Council. The most prominent of these are the tribes of Nida, Karkhiyah, Jawraniyah, and Shubaylat.  The number of fighters who have been incorporated into the program is about 700." (al-Hayat, Umar Sattar and Muhammad Tamimi, "Tribal Agreement in Diyala to Form a National Reconciliation Council . . .  Atta: We Have Warned the Leaders of the 'Awakening Councils' of al-Qaeda's Plans to Infiltrate Their Ranks" January 9th)

Al-Qaeda Emir Arrested in Sinjar

- Muhammad Jiyad, the "media relations official" of the Iraqi Army's 2nd division, says that elements of the 3rd army division have arrested Raad  Awwad Issa, who Jiyad described as "the al-Qaeda Emir [commander] in Sinjar." According to Jiyad, the arrest took place on Wednesday in the village of Barzan, near the Syrian border in the Zummar sub-district. A number of al-Qaeda related documents were found in Issa's possession.  According to Jiyad, Issa was responsible for the murder of seven members of a Yezidi family in the Sinjar district in mid December of last year.  Jiyad also said that Issa was on his way out of Iraq when he was arrested earlier today. (Aswat al-Iraq, "Iraqi Army: al-Qaeda's Emir in Sinjar, Responsible For Killing Seven Yezidis, Has been Arrested," January 9th)

 

Previous Arabic News Updates from Nathaniel Rabkin.