Juan Cole

“No Pakistani Official Made this Intelligence Leak” AP reports that Pakistani officials continue to insist that the leak of double agent Muhammad Naeem Nur Khan’s name to the press on Aug. 1 was done by “Coalition partners,” though they are circumspect about directly accusing the US. AP writes, ‘ The first official described the initial […]

Update on Khan Scandal We know that the Pakistani government has complained that the Bush administration blew the cover of Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. Not only are the Pakistanis annoyed by the blown cover , they are also furious about the cavalier way the FBI used a fiction about a plot against the life of […]

Bush Administration Outing of Double Agent “Made no Sense”: Baer Jim Lobe has a good summary of the state of play in the scandal of the Bush administration outing of double agent Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. Two important points. 1) Lobe implicitly takes on the argument of the rightwing bloggers that the press is to […]

1 British Soldier Dead, 5 Wounded in Basra Clashes Najaf in Flames; Oil Production Stopped Early Tuesday Baghdad time, there was talk of a truce in Najaf, after a fifth day of fierce fighting. Al-Jazeerah reported that Governor Adnan al-Zurufi was saying that Mahdi Army fighters had asked for a truce so as to remove […]

Provincial News: Sunni-Shiite fighting in Yusufiyah An informed reader writes: ‘ [Last Friday] there were the first violent clashes, practically a battle, between Sunnis and Shiites in Yusufiyah, with several casualties. The Hakim-people had opened an office in Yusufiyah and Sunni mudjahedin – who are terrorizing Shia in the area – attacked it and burnt […]

Bush Administration outing of Khan Enabled 5 al-Qaeda Cell Members to Escape Capture Neville Dean of PA News reports that a magistrate has given British police only until Tuesday to finish questioning 9 of 13 men arrested August 3 on suspicion of being part of an al-Qaeda cell. The men had been in email correspondence […]

Fighting Rages on in Iraq AP gives a good overview. Baghdad On Monday morning guerrillas detonated a car bomb outside the house of Diyala provincial deputy Governor Aqil Hamid al-Adili. He escaped with light wounds, but several policemen guarding him were killed and 16 persons, some passers-by, were wounded. The capital of Diyala is the […]

Chalabi Arrest Warrants A three-judge panel on Sunday issued a warrant for the arrests of Ahmad Chalabi and his nephew Salem Chalabi. Ahmad Chalabi was in Iran as part of an Iraqi trade mission at the time of the announcement, and says he will come back to contest the charges. The timing is suspicious, however, […]

CNN Transcripts on Khan Case From CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, Sunday August 8: ‘ BLITZER: Let’s talk about some of the people who have been picked up, mostly in Pakistan, over the last few weeks. In mid-July, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. There is some suggestion that by releasing his identity here in the […]