News 2005

Iraq Detains 900 Suspected Militants
June 7, 2005

By Scotsman.com:

The Iraqi government announced that it has detained nearly 900 suspected militants and set up more than 800 checkpoints in a two-week sweep that appears to have somewhat blunted attacks
in the capital.

Also, a list obtained yesterday shows that Saddam Hussein will be charged with a range of war crimes when he goes on trial, probably within the next two months.

Iraqi officials believe offensives like Operation Lightning, along with the deposed dictator’s trial, could help deflate the insurgency being waged by Saddam loyalists and Islamic extremists.

More than 840 people have died in the violence since the government was announced April 28, but the daily death toll has fallen slightly in the past three days.

Iraq’s first freely elected government in more than 50 years replaced Saddam’s regime, which had long suppressed Shiite and Kurdish communities in favour of minority Sunni Arabs.

The Sunni fall from power has been considered a major cause of the violence, which persisted late on Sunday and early yesterday. Mortar attacks and drive-by shootings killed nine Iraqis
and two militants.

The latest figures released from Operation Lightning, which began on May 22 in Baghdad, included at least 887 arrests and the establishment around Baghdad of 608 mobile and 194 permanent checkpoints. Also, 38 weapon stores were raided.

The operation is the biggest Iraqi-led offensive since Saddam’s ouster two years ago. Before it began, authorities controlled only eight of Baghdad’s 23 entrances. Now all are under
government control.

According to a list obtained yesterday, Saddam – who was captured in December 2003 – will be tried on alleged war crimes ranging from gassing thousands of Kurds and suppressing a Shiite uprising to executing religious and political foes during his 23-year reign.

According to the list obtained by the AP from the special tribunal, among the cases Saddam was responsible for are:

The execution of at least 50 Iraqis in 1982 in Dujail, 50 miles north of Baghdad, in retaliation for a failed assassination attempt against Saddam. Five men, including Saddam’s half brother, were indicted on February 28 in the Dujail killings, and it probably will be the first case to come to trial.

The killing and deporting of 8,000 members of the Kurdish Barzani tribe.

The 1988 chemical weapons attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja that killed an estimated
5,000 people.

The seven-month occupation of Kuwait that was ended by the 1991 US-led Gulf War.

The 1991 suppression of a Shiite uprising in southern Iraq.

The execution of prominent religious and political figures. No details were provided on that allegation, but after Saddam grabbed the presidency in 1979, he allegedly killed potential rivals in the now outlawed Baath Party.

 

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