Just Another Day in Iraq….

Sunday: 93 Iraqis Killed, 67 Wounded

Updated at 10:40 p.m EST, Nov. 4, 2007 At least 93 Iraqis were killed or found dead and another 67 were wounded in the latest violence. Among the incidents was the discovery of a mass grave near Ramadi, and the shooting death of an Iranian pilgrim near Baghdad. Also, no Coalition soldiers were reported killed. Near Ramadi, Iraqi security forces discovered a mass grave containing approximately 40 corpses and dozens of civilians cars believed to have been seized by al-Qaeda connected militants. In Baghdad, four dumped bodies were recovered. An IED in Harithiya left one policeman dead and six others wounded. Two people were wounded in the Karrada Mariam neighborhood. In Saidiya, gunmen killed two female principals at different area schools. A Finance Ministry adviser and his driver were gunned down in Jamiaa. Also, the Iraqi army, with U.S. support, captured 12 suspects in the Adhamiya neighborhood; however, the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars condemned the raid, which occurred at a religious college. Thirteen more suspects were arrested in western Baghdad. A car bomb in Samarra killed five and wounded 15, including policemen; a second bomb was defused. Two suicide bombers wounded a combined 19 people in the Bab Sinjar area, near Mosul. Near Hibhib, three Peshmerga troops were killed and five more were wounded during an attack. A car bomb in Tikrit killed three people and wounded 13 others. A child was among the dead. Also, three bodies, including one belonging to a police lieutenant colonel, were found. Motorcycle-riding gunmen killed a policeman west of Kut yesterday. Also, the wife of a police officer was kidnapped in a separate incident in the city. Police in Garma arrested 30 suspects and discovered three decomposed bodies. A decapitated corpse was recovered in Abbasi. One soldier was killed and three more were wounded in Khalis. A child was killed and a woman was injured during a mortar attack. Also, nine bodies were discovered. Near Muqdadiyah, a policeman was killed in a drive-by shooting. One woman was killed and another was injured in Abu Saida Gunmen killed a woman in Seif Saad. A body was found in Baquba. Near Baquba, a blast at a house killed a woman and a girl in a neighboring home; a man was also injured. A roadside bomb near town killed one person, and a severed head was found nearby. Near Baghdad, an Iranian pilgrim was killed during an armed attack near a passenger bus. A woman was also injured during the incident. British troops in Basra destroyed a missile launching facility in the al-Shoala area. No casualties were reported. Four people were killed during clashes in Buhriz. A joint U.S.-Iraqi force raided a funeral in Diwaniya and arrested 23 suspects. Two people were detained earlier in a separate incident. Also, tensions over the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have now left one dead and four wounded in northeastern Syria during a demonstration. Thousands of Kurds attended a funeral for the dead youth. Kurds populate regions in Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Armenia. Meanwhile, eight Turkish soldiers held by PKK rebels were released. Compiled by Margaret Griffis ANTI-WAR.COM

Surprise Decision of Iraqi Government

Iraq scraps oil deal; Russia threatens to retaliate

By ANDREW E. KRAMER
NEW YORK TIMES

BAGHDAD — Guided by American legal advisers, the Iraqi government has canceled a controversial development contract with the Russian company Lukoil for a vast oil field in Iraq’s southern desert, freeing it up for potential international investment in the future.

 In response, Russian authorities have threatened to revoke a 2004 deal with creditor nations to forgive $13 billion in Iraqi debt, a senior Iraqi official said.

The field, West Qurna, has estimated reserves of 11 billion barrels, the equivalent of the worldwide proven oil reserves of Exxon Mobil, America’s largest oil company. Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister, said in an interview that the field would be opened to new bidders, perhaps as early as next year.

The contract, which had been signed and later canceled by the Saddam Hussein government, had been in legal limbo since the American invasion. But the Kremlin remained hopeful it could be salvaged until this September, when al-Shahristani traveled to Moscow to inform officials there that the decision to cancel it was final, he said.

The Russian government, newly emboldened in international affairs by its expanding oil wealth, is still backing Lukoil’s claim and protesting what it considers selective enforcement of contracts in Iraq.

“We will defend our interests,” Dmitri Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said in a telephone interview. “It is the government’s obligation to defend the interests of our companies in foreign countries.”

One Iraqi official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a confidential diplomatic exchange, described Russia’s response as, “If you do the deal, we can muster the political muscle to forgive the debt.”

The field will produce 1 million barrels of oil a day after four to five years of development, according to both Iraqi oil officials and Lukoil.

Bush’s Worst Nightmare

FOR more than five months, the US has been trying to orchestrate a political transition in Pakistan that would keep General Pervez Musharraf in power without making a mockery of George Bush’s promotion of democracy in the Muslim world.

On Saturday, those carefully laid plans fell apart spectacularly. Musharraf’s move to seize emergency powers and abandon the constitution left the Bush Administration close to its worst nightmare: a US-backed military dictator who is risking civil instability in a country with nuclear weapons and an increasingly alienated public.

Musharraf declared a state of emergency to prevent the country from tumbling into chaos and seeing an Islamic, nuclear Pakistan fall into the grip of extremists.

Khan Pitafi :Answer this: what has been the sole utility of Pakistan for the West throughout its history? It was and is the containment of communism in general and Russia in particular. First the West was afraid of communism’s potential growth in India. Then as the Soviet Union crumbled, Pakistan was initially asked to work on bringing the resources of the Central Asian states to the warm waters. But the actual purpose was to keep these states away from the suzerainty of Moscow. When the West realised that this was not possible, an obstacle was created to impede Russia’s eastward growth in the shape of an unstable Afghanistan. If you think that the US is losing in Afghanistan, you are grossly mistaken. An unstable Afghanistan, which destabilises Pakistan, meanwhile keeping Iran under pressure and sanctions too serve their purpose best. Washington does not see China and India as threats anymore. Now the real trouble is with Pakistan because it can at any time align with Russia and help stabilise the region.