Iraq battle after militia arrest

Two passers-by have died in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, after clashes between security forces and one of the militias which are backed by US forces.

The gun battle in the Fadil district of the city erupted shortly after the leader of the local Awakening group, Adil Mashadani, was arrested.

One account says US troops helped with the arrest alongside the Iraqi army.

Fadil was run by al-Qaeda in Iraq for most of 2006 and 2007, but they were driven out by the Awakening movement.

Filed under: MidEast, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Blast rips through Baghdad crowd

A car bomb blast which ripped through a crowd of shoppers near a bus stop in northern Baghdad has killed at least 20 people and injured more than 35.

The bomb went off near a busy market in the capital’s Shaab district, a mainly Shia area, officials say.

Iraqi police believe it was a deliberate attempt to kill the maximum number of civilians possible.

Violence has declined in Iraq recently but on Monday, a suicide bomber killed 25 people in the north of the country.

Filed under: MidEast, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Sunni fighters say Iraq didn’t keep job promises

The American military marked another milestone the other day in the initiative perhaps most responsible for taming the violence in Iraq: All but 10,000 of the 94,000 Sunni militiamen — many of them former insurgents who agreed, for cash, to stop killing American soldiers — had been turned over to the control of the Iraqi military.

The same day, one group of the fighters north of Baghdad announced they were resigning from their Awakening Council, the Iraqi name for what the Americans call the Sons of Iraq. And in the town of Salman Pak, councils in southern Baghdad and its suburbs, an area once called “the ring of death,” met to denounce Iraqi efforts to integrate them.

Filed under: Voice, Arab, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iraq, Islam, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Muslim, Muslims, Sharia, Sunni, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Suicide attack on Iraqi funeral

At least 25 people have been killed by a suicide bomber in the Iraqi province of Diyala, police say.

Dozens of people are also reported to have been hurt in the attack.

Sources told the BBC the suicide attacker targeted a funeral in the town of Jalawla, 115km (70 miles) north-east of the capital, Baghdad.

It was the second bomb attack in Iraq on Monday, with an earlier explosion near the capital. Baghdad, killing at least eight people.

Filed under: MidEast, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Russia tries new tactics to quell insurgency

The man chosen to rein in Russia’s most violent insurgency says he will tackle the root of the problem by stamping out the official corruption driving young men into the arms of Islamist rebels.

The approach set out by former paratroop commander Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the new leader of the Muslim Ingushetia region, marks a stark departure from the focus on tough security operations that critics said had been dragging the region into a civil war.

Filed under: Report, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Russia may freeze sale of S-300 missile systems to Iran

Russia may freeze the sale of state-of-the-art S-300 missile systems to Iran, a Moscow source was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying Tuesday.

“Such a possibility cannot be ruled out. A decision on this issue should be made at the political level, because the contract has moved outside the purely commercial framework,” an unnamed source told the news agency.

Filed under: Europe, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Interpol reviews Iran request for Israeli arrests

Iran has asked Interpol for help in tracking down 25 senior Israeli officials in relation to the recent Gaza offensive, the international police organization said in a statement on Tuesday.

Interpol said it was reviewing the request to make sure it did not breach rules that prevent the body from making “any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.”

Filed under: Asia, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

33 people killed in Baghdad bombing

At least 33 people, including a local army chief, have died and 46 have been injured in a suicide attack on the western edge of Baghdad, officials say.

The attack took place in the Abu Ghraib municipality, and appeared to target a group of dignitaries as they left a national reconciliation conference.

Violence levels have declined in Iraq recently, but this is the third major attack in the last few days.

Filed under: MidEast, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Five accused boast of 9/11 role

Five Guantanamo detainees accused of the 9/11 attacks have told US prosecutors that they are “terrorists to the bone”, US officials say.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the attacks, and the four others were giving their first detailed reply to the charges against them.

They set it out in a six-page document released by the US authorities.

Filed under: America, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Gaza, Gaza strip, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Taleban, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Pakistani tribe signs pact to cooperate with officials

A major tribe with close ties to the Pakistani Taliban signed an agreement with the government on Monday to hand over several of the militant group’s local leaders, to lay down arms and to stop harboring foreign militants.

The agreement with the Mamoond tribe, the largest and most strategically placed in the restive Bajaur region, followed a military victory against the local Taliban last month. It was one of the first major successes of the Pakistani forces against the militants and their affiliates in Al Qaeda since they started operations in the tribal areas in 2003.

Filed under: Asia, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Gaza, Gaza strip, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Taleban, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World