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Sistani in a Secure Location; Annan worries about Partition of Iraq az-Zaman and Deutsche Press Agentur report that UN Secretary General gave a speech Tuesday expressing concern about ethnic tensions tearing Iraq apart. Murtada Kashmiri, a spokesman for Sistani, announced to az-Zaman that the UN team in Iraq to advise on elections will meet this […]

Tens of Thousands of Pilgrims Flock to Najaf, Support Sistani Wire services report that tens of thousands of Shiites thronged to the holy city of Najaf yesterday to celebrate a holy day. Many of them also took the occasion as an opportunity to show banners and chant slogans in favor of direct elections, which Grand […]

Iraqi Muslim Brotherhood Seeks to Islamize the Constitution Muhsin Abdel Hamid, the leader of the Iraqi Islamic Party (Muslim Brotherhood), is this month’s president of the Interim Governing Council. He has weighed in on the need for the Fundamental Law now being drafted to govern Iraq until a new constitution can be written to reflect […]

Sunni Cleric in Iraq: Resistance against Occupation is Licit in International Law Muhammad Bashar al-Faidi, official spokesman for the Sunni Board of Muslim Clerics, gave an interview in ash-Sharq al-Awsat in which he strongly opposed Sistani’s proposal for direct elections. “Cooking on a fast fire ruins the food,” he said. He alleged that the plan […]

Basra’s Security Endangered by Drug Smugglers, Terrorists Az-Zaman conducted an interview with the Iraqi police chief in Basra about security there. He said the city’s security was threatened by al-Qaeda terrorism and by criminal gangs. The latter are involved in drug smuggling and in looting the materials being used for reconstruction and reselling them elsewhere. […]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Scott Taylor reports on his bad experiences with the security situation in Iraq, painting a pretty scary picture of the situation in Baghdad and points north. But just to underline how ambiguous the situation is, note that even some wounded Iraqi war veterans are insisting that the US […]

Failure of US Public Diplomacy in the Middle East Michael Pan and Jeremy Weinstein argue in “Forfeiting the War of Ideas” that the US government has failed to fund public diplomacy efforts that might help the US win the war of ideas in the Middle East. They are absolutely right. Goddamned Jesse Helms did irreparable […]

2 US Soldiers Killed in Blast; 2 Ramadi Sheikhs Assassinated AP reports that a man wearing an explosives belt showed up outside the compound of brothers Majid and Amer Ali Suleiman in Ramadi and blew himself up. Three Iraqi guards outside the compound were killed. The brothers were accused of cooperating with the Americans. US […]

Sunnis Opposed Early Direct Elections Both az-Zaman and Reuters highlight the opposition of many Sunni Arab leaders to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani’s demand for open, direct elections in Iraq this may. It quoted “Sunni tribal leader Shaikh Abd al-Wahab al-Zawbaai” as saying direct elections are unrealistic: “We see the conditions now as totally unsuitable for […]