Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Iran

Attacks Kill, Injure Scores In Baghdad

8 February 2005 -- The U.S. military said a suicide bomber killed 21 people and injured 27 outside an Iraqi Army recruitment center today while Iraqi officials blamed the explosion on mortar fire.

TEXT SIZE - +

February 08, 2005

Also in Baghdad today, armed men attacked a prominent Iraqi politician's convoy, killing two of his sons.

An Al-Qaeda-linked group in Iraq claimed responsibility for today's explosion near the recruiting center.

It came one day after suicide bombers killed at least 24 people -- mostly police officers -- in the Iraqi cities of Mosul and Baquba.

Iraqi Shi'ite politician Mithal al-Alusi, who heads the U.S.-backed De-Ba'athification Commission and has been a vocal critic of Syria and Iran, survived the attack in western Baghdad.

But his two sons died of gunshot wounds.

Al-Alusi vowed afterward that the perpetrators of the attack would not prevent peace from returning to Iraq.

"If they think that, by trying to kill Mithal al-Alusi, they will make those who call for peace stop, then they are completely wrong," al-Alusi said. "We will call for peace, we will call for peace with all the neighboring countries. We will call for peace will all the countries in the region. We will call to fight terrorism of any kind or shape."

A spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani meanwhile said today that the Iraqi Shi'ite leader is not demanding the country's new constitution be based on Shari'a, or Islamic law.

The spokesman, Hamid Al-Khafaf, said al-Sistani maintains his previous position that the new constitution should respect the Islamic cultural identity of the Iraqi people.

(AP/Reuters/dpa)

[For more RFE/RL news and analysis on events in Iraq, click here.]

Many Iranians have been claiming that their access to social networks and Internet-based e-mail sites has been blocked in recent days.

Iran Tightens Internet Control

Iranians are reporting that their access to Facebook and Internet-based e-mail sites like Gmail has been blocked, without any explanation from the government. Not even the strongest antifiltering programs have penetrated the firewall, they say. Some speculate the move is related to Iran's plan to launch a national internet, which might sever Iranians' ability to access the World Wide Web. More

Web-savvy Iranian oppositionists are renowned for their ability to use proxies and other means to circumvent Tehran

Explainer: Iran's National Internet

Reports that Iran has stepped up its Internet censorship in recent days -- as evidenced by a general slowdown of the web, Internet blackouts, and the blocking of sites such as Google -- has raised speculation that the country might be testing its controversial "national Internet." More

A cardboard Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini arrives in Tehran to mark the 33rd anniversary of his triumphant return to Iran following the Islamic Revolution.

Iran's 'Cardboard Khomeini' Faces Criticism, Condemnation

Iran's "Cardboard Khomeini" is fueling a firestorm of criticism in the Middle Eastern country after cutouts of the Islamic republic's founder appeared at a number of events, and photos mocking the mock-up went viral. More