Newsgroup: it.politica.pds
Titolo: Notizie dall'Oraq

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A3BE1409-F9EE-45A9-B819-6BAC9154F72C.htm
Fighters have killed a police captain at a checkpoint and an Iraqi
guardsman in a billiard hall in separate attacks against US-backed
forces in northern Iraq.
Police Captain Basam Ali Ahmad died of wounds a day after being shot
on Thursday as he manned a checkpoint in Samarra, police said. 
Despite US-led forces mounting a major offensive against fighters in
the city two months ago, frequent attacks continue. 
Further to the north, in the oil-refining town of Baiji, Ziyad Tariq,
an off-duty member of the Iraqi National Guard, was shot dead on
Friday by men who burst into a billiard hall armed with automatic
rifles, police and hospital staff said. 
In Tikrit, six Iraqi national guardsmen were wounded after an
explosive device was detonated next to their patrol.
Convoys targeted
In other incidents on Friday a man and a woman, both civilians, were
injured near Baquba when a roadside bomb detonated as a convoy of
Iraqi National Guard vehicles passed by. No one was injured, witnesses
said. 
A similar bomb also struck a US military convoy north of the city but
caused little damage. 
 
Two civilians were hurt in a bomb
explosion near Baquba on Friday
 
An explosion caused a large fire near Baquba at an oil pipeline that
runs from Khanaqin, on the Iranian border, to Baghdad's Dora refinery.
At Baiji, an official of Iraq's North Oil Company said the Salahidin
refinery had shut down because it had reached its storage capacity and
pipeline sabotage was stopping it from transporting its products
further afield. 
Baghdad and other cities are in the grip of grave shortages of petrol
and heating oil as well as gas for cooking. It is partly a result of
attack on pipelines and due to attacks on convoys that import much of
Iraq's energy. 
 
Election boycott
Amid the continuing violence, there have been more calls to boycott
elections scheduled for next month.
Speaking to Aljazeera, Fuad al-Rawi, a member of the Iraqi Islamic
Party (IIP) explained why his party was boycotting the polls.
"The security situation is still deteriorating, and that is a
convincing reason to postpone elections," he said
"The IIP and more than 70 political parties, organisations and groups
have called for postponing the polls for the sake of Iraqi national
interest.
"The IIP and the parties have also called for a national
reconciliation before carrying out election.
"Since it is the first time we are experiencing a democratic process,
the IIP hopes election would be carried out under fair, just and
transparent circumstances," al-Rawi said. 
Aljazeera + Agencies 
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/21BD3CB9-4173-4FFE-A8F1-D190D7805FF0.htm
Iraqi fighters have killed a US marine in Anbar province, which
includes the cities of Falluja and Ramadi, the US military says.
The marines did not release any other details about the Thursday
attack, saying to do so could put other troops at risk. 
More than 70 marines died in an offensive to retake Falluja from
rebels last month. Fighting is still going on in the city in some
areas. Ramadi is in effect held by fighters. 
More than 1000 US troops have died in combat since the war in Iraq was
launched, while more than 9000 have been wounded, most of them
severely. 
Bangladeshi driver released
In a separate development, Iraqi captors have released a Bangladeshi
truck driver after holding him captive for more than a month.
"Truck driver Abu al-Kashim has been released and he is now in the
custody of Iraqi authorities," Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shamsher
Chowdhury said on Friday.
Kashim, 44, was taken captive along with another driver from Sri Lanka
while carrying supplies to Iraq from Kuwait on 28 October. 
The Sri Lankan driver was also released, an official of Bangladesh's
expatriates' welfare and overseas employment ministry said. 
Both the drivers were employees of a private Kuwaiti transport
company. 
Reuters 
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/AC63CED0-E13E-45AC-87EF-B2439B4B5A30.htm
A US soldier who said he shot dead an unarmed and wounded Iraqi
civilian to put him out of his misery, has been found guilty of murder
at a court martial in Baghdad.
Staff Sergeant Johnny Horne on Friday was convicted of the
unpremeditated murder of a severely wounded Iraqi civilian in
Baghdad's Sadr City district on 18 August. 
A pre-trial agreement limits sentencing to 10 years, without which the
charge carried a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. 
The murder of Kassim Hassan took place when US soldiers spotted a
garbage truck apparently dropping homemade bombs in Sadr City.   
Testimony
The soldiers started shooting at the truck, which caught fire, and a
severely wounded Hassan pulled himself out of the truck and fell to
the ground, according to previous testimony. 
  "I wanted to end his suffering; it was my opinion that he could not
be helped" 
Johny Horne,
Staff Sergeant, US Army
"When I found him, I came to the conclusion that he needed to be put
out of his misery," Horne said. "I fired a shot into his head and his
attempts to breathe ceased." 
Judge Colonel Stephanie Browne asked Horne what his intention was when
he fired the shot, to which Horne replied: "I wanted to end his
suffering; it was my opinion that he could not be helped." 
Horne was also found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder with two
other soldiers, Staff Sergeant Cardenas Alban and Second Lieutenant
Erick Anderson, who have yet to stand trial. 
Erdogan warning
In a separate development, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
has warned US troops in Iraq to take care not to kill civilians. 
 
Erdogan conveyed Turkish 
concerns to US administration
"There are people in Iraq who believe in defending their country.
These are people we call resistance fighters," he said. 
"Can we see those who resist in the same light as we see terrorists?"
Erdogan was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as telling Turkey's
Kanal D television channel in an interview from Brussels late on
Thursday. 
"Can we approve the killing of defenceless women and children under a
hail of bombs?" he added. 
Footage
Citing TV footage of a US marine gunning down what appeared to be a
wounded, unarmed Iraqi in a mosque in Falluja, Erdogan said he had
conveyed Ankara's concerns over the US assault against the city to US
Vice President Dick Cheney. 
Reccep Tayip Erdogan,
prime minister, Turkey
 
"The killing of defenceless people in places of worship in Falluja
leads to outrage and hurts us. These (acts) are not right," the
Turkish leader said. 
Erdogan denied, however, that there was any tension over the issue
between Ankara and Washington. 
The Turkish parliament, dominated by Erdogan's Justice and Development
Party, in 2003 voted against allowing the US to use Turkish territory
to open a northern front in Iraq. 
Public opinion surveys regularly show that an overwhelming majority of
Turks is opposed to the US presence in Iraq, Turkey's southern
neighbour. 
AFP 
 
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/29BA79DC-FE1D-4979-9304-BD35A21C1CE6.htm
A US marine corporal who disappeared from a base in Iraq and later
claimed he was held captive by fighters has been charged with
desertion following a five-month investigation, the marines say.

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