Iraq urges UN to stop neighbours' meddling

IRAQ WARS

Air ticket prices slashed for Iraqis
Iraq's transport minister Amer Abduljabbar Ismail on Monday ordered a 15 percent cut in the price of tickets on Iraqi Airways for the country's own nationals, state television reported. The cuts follow reductions of between 50 and 85 dollars announced last month on tickets for the national airline. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had previously requested "discounts on tickets to encourage Iraqis to travel, especially since the company made such good profits" recently, according to the television report.

No precise number for contractors in Iraq, Afghanistan: US
The US government has no precise figure for how many contractors are employed in Iraq and Afghanistan, inviting the risk of fraud and security threats, a US commission warned on Monday. "It is both peculiar and troubling that eight years after the overthrow of the Taliban regime, in Afghanistan, and more than six years since the overthrow of Baathist regime in Iraq, we still don't know how many contractor employees are working in the region," said Michael Thibault, co-chairman of the commission on wartime contracting.

The independent commission found that "there is no single source for a clear, complete and accurate picture of contractor numbers, locations, contracts and cost," Thibault said at a commission hearing. "How can contractors be properly managed if we aren't sure how many there are, where they are and what are they doing?" The Pentagon had a data base for contractors but it did not take into account the large number of foreign nationals performing contract work, while a data base kept by US Central Command did not count employees with the State Department, he said.

The Pentagon in April counted about 160,000 contractors mainly in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait but Central Command recorded more than 242,000 contractors a month earlier, he said. The lack of precise numbers for contractors "permits and invites waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer money and undermines the achievement of US mission objectives," he said.

The problem also raises concerns over security, he said. Although most contractors were doing valuable work, often at personal risk, Thibault said "it takes only one foreign national contractor employee smuggling explosives into a dining facility, headquarters, hospital or barracks to create a mass casualty disaster," he said. The bipartisan commission on wartime contracting was created last year by Congress to examine government contracting for reconstruction, logistics and security operations and to recommend reforms.

by Staff Writers
Baghdad (AFP) Nov 2, 2009
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appealed on Monday to the United Nations to take action against Iraq's neighbours he accused of meddling in its internal affairs as he met a UN special envoy.

The Iraqi premier also said three people behind twin suicide bombings in central Baghdad last week that killed more than 150 people had confessed to receiving help from Syria.

He made the comments during talks with UN Assistant Secretary General Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, in Baghdad to access the capital's security following the bombings and similar attacks in August that left about 100 dead.

"It is time for the UN to act to stop the bloodshed," Maliki said during a meeting with Fernandez-Taranco, according to a statement from his office.

"All mediation on this subject has not reached a result and that is why we have gone to the UN.

"We believe that a UN statement warning neighbouring countries and requesting them not to interfere in our internal affairs would be the best way to mediate," Maliki said.

Fernandez-Taranco's visit comes after persistent lobbying by Iraq for an independent probe into the two sets of attacks.

The diplomat said he was in Iraq to get a general idea of the country's security, while adding that the United Nations was considering the request for an inquiry, according to the statement from Maliki's office.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said later that Fernandez-Taranco "would collect evidence and documents and submit his report to the Security Council, which will decide whether to go further."

"Either we begin a war, but that does not correspond with our new policy and we do not have the capacity, or we address ourselves to the UN as we have done," he said on Iraqi television.

Maliki said earlier that three supporters of the Baath Party of now-executed dictator Saddam Hussein had confessed to receiving support from Syrian Baathists.

"Three members of the Baath Party were responsible for the recent terrorist operation," he said. "They were receiving support from the Syrian Baath Party and confessed to this."

The twin suicide vehicle bombings targeting government offices in central Baghdad on October 25 killed 153 people and wounded more than 500 in attacks claimed by a group linked to Al-Qaeda.

Iraq's authorities have allocated around 16 million dollars to rebuild the ministries of justice and public works and the Baghdad provincial government building which were all badly damaged in the huge blasts.

The recent attacks dramatically boosted the overall death toll in Iraq for October, with twice as many people suffering violent deaths than in September.

Statistics compiled by the defence, interior and health ministries showed that 343 civilians, 42 police and 25 soldiers were killed last month, with only military fatalities down from September.

The numbers were markedly higher than September's, which saw a total of 203 people die as a result of violence, the lowest death toll since May, offering cautious optimism that security was improving.

However the October death toll was lower than in August, when 456 people were killed.

The latest figures come after both senior Iraqi and US generals warned of a possible upswing in violence ahead of parliamentary elections slated for January.

Iraq's army chief, Lieutenant General Ali Ghaidan Majeed, and Major General John D. Johnson, the deputy commanding general for US operations in Iraq, both told AFP insurgents could use violence to undermine the government and security forces in the run-up to the polls.

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IRAQ WARS

Ten killed as Iraq hit by new spate of bombings
Baghdad (AFP) Nov 1, 2009
A spate of violence across Iraq killed at least 10 people on Sunday, as officials said repairs to government offices struck by massive bombings last week will cost around 16 million dollars. A UN special envoy, meanwhile, arrived in Baghdad to make a preliminary report on security in the Iraqi capital after the massive blasts and similar attacks in August killed a total of 250 people. ... read more

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