Jordan Times
Tuesday, October 5, 2004
'Chaos must end for Iraq to
vote'
At least 22 killed in spate of bombings
Agencies
HIS MAJESTY KING Abdullah on Monday hoped that chaos and violence will end in
Iraq to help its people hold nationwide elections on schedule.
King Abdullah told Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi at a meeting in Amman that Jordan was committed to efforts aimed at
achieving security and stability in the neighboring country, the Jordan News
Agency, Petra, reported. On bilateral relations, the King underlined the
importance of continued coordination and consultation between the two sides,
particularly in economic fields. The meeting was attended by Prime Minister
Faisal Fayez and Royal Court Minister Samir Rifai. Allawi briefed the King on
his government efforts to overcome the difficult situation in Iraq, expressing
appreciation for Jordan's support.
Explosions
Meanwhile, at least 22 people were killed in car bombings Monday in Baghdad and
the northern city of Mosul targeting the fledgling Iraqi army, Westerners and
the US military, as two Indonesian hostages were freed and militants released a
video of the execution of an Iraqi and a Turkish hostage. The two Indonesian
women were released at the embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Baghdad after
a three-day ordeal.
"They took us when we were on the road from Amman. They put us in a cell but I
don't know which city it was. I was scared but they did us no harm and treated
us well. Then they decided to release us," Novitasari binti Sugito told AFP at
the embassy.
Sugito and Istiqomah binti Misnad were coming to Iraq to work as maids for two
Lebanese nationals contracted by an Iraqi electronics company.
Their employers, as well as six Iraqis traveling with them were all kidnapped by
the Islamic Army in Iraq.
The positive outcome for the Indonesians capped an otherwise bloody day of car
bombs for Iraqis and the release of a video showing the execution of two
hostages including an Iraqi with Italian residency, whose death was later
confirmed by his brother.
Islamic militants in Iraq earlier sent a video to AFP in Baghdad showing Emad
Wali, 44, and 33-year-old Turkish national Yalmaz Dabja, being shot dead after
"confessing" to the camera that they were spies.
The video, whose authenticity was impossible to verify, was dated Oct. 2.
In the tape, five masked men brandishing guns and standing behind the two
kneeling hostages, identify themselves as "fighters of God" and read out a list
of accusations against the pair.
It then shows them being shot several times in the back of the head by at least
two of the militants.
Wali's brother Ajad Anwar Wali's said later that he was informed of his
brother's slaying in a phone call from a foreign ministry official.
The Wali brothers have lived in northern Italy for more than 20 years, and the
elder Ajad had gone to Iraq to sell Italian-manufactured equipment. He had been
held hostage since Aug. 31.
Officials at Turkey's embassy in Baghdad were not immediately reachable for
comment on Dabja's purported killing.
In Baghdad, a car bomb exploded outside the walls of an army recruitment centre
in the Iraqi capital where hundreds of young men, some already signed up and
others hoping to enlist, had been waiting inside.
The army recruitment centre is adjacent to the Green Zone, housing US embassy
and the interim Iraqi government.
The blast killed at least 15 people and wounded 84 according to medics at
Yarmouk hospital.
Many of the men came from poor southern provinces in hopes of improving their
lot.
"I came here with 109 of my colleagues from Najaf, we were told to bring
relevant papers to sign up to a new special force in the army," said Wafi
Mohammad, 32, slapping his head as he waited outside the emergency room.
Shortly after the first car bomb a second explosion ripped the centre of Baghdad
this time targeting a convoy of four-wheel-drive vehicles in an area close to
several hotels housing Westerners.
The attack killed at least four and wounded 17 many of them bystanders.
"The dogs have struck again," said a tearful doctor at the Al Kindi Hospital as
he comforted the family of one of the victims.
The trail of blood spread to the northern city of Mosul where a car bomb
exploded near a school killing three, including a child, and wounding 11, half
of them children.
Two other car bomb attacks hit the city targeting two separate US military
convoys, according to the US military.
The first one occurred at 4:00pm (1300 GMT) on Baath Street in the centre,
wounding one soldier. One hour later a second car bomb targeted a convoy
travelling in the southern part of the city, but no casualties or details were
provided.
Two US soldiers were killed by small arms fire in Baghdad on Sunday, the
military said Monday, bringing the number of US soldiers in Iraq since the
invasion last year to 1,051 according to a Pentagon tally.
In addition to targeting foreign troops, rebels opposed to the interim Iraqi
government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi have used car bombs and assassinations
against security forces and high-profile officials, in a bid to make the country
ungovernable.
US and Iraqi officials blame militant Abu Mussab Al Zarqawi, said to be linked
to Al Qaeda, for some of the deadliest attacks.
The car bombings in Baghdad and Mosul came right after two pre-dawn raids by US
warplanes on suspected Zarqawi hideouts in the insurgent bastion of Fallujah,
west of the capital.
Hospitals in the city said nine people died in the attacks including women and
children.
The US military has been conducting almost daily raids on the city in what it
insists are "precision strikes," aimed at flushing out the Zarqawi operatives
while minimizing what it calls collateral damage.
Adding to the carnage, two Iraqis died and six were wounded in a roadside bomb
in the rebel stronghold of Ramadi west of the capital, while a police commander
and a schoolgirl were killed in separate attacks northeast of Baghdad.
And Thamer Abdellatif, a top science ministry official, and a female civil
servant, Ikhlas Ghalib, were shot dead in Baghdad, an interior ministry
spokesman said.
Away from the violence, the US-led military coalition showed signs of weakening
as key ally Poland said it will pull all of its troops out of Iraq by the end of
2005 and Italy suggested that forces from Muslim countries should gradually take
over from the current US-led troops.