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Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Volume 12 Number 57
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Southwestern Asia And The Middle East
AFGHAN DEFENSE MINISTRY DISMISSES NEW TALIBAN THREATThe Afghan Defense Ministry has dismissed a Taliban threat to expand its operations across the country this spring, and said on March 25 its security forces are now stronger than ever, AFP reported the same day. A ministry statement said the Afghan National Army is in an excellent position compared to a year ago, and it described the Taliban as fragile. Meanwhile, a Taliban representative called the media with a statement allegedly from one of the insurgent movement's most senior members, Mullah Bradar, to announce Operation Ebrat (Lesson). "This will be a new type of operation to expand operations countrywide and surround the enemy wherever they are and encounter them," the statement said. It said the Taliban's "holy jihad" will continue until the international troops leave Afghanistan and President Hamid Karzai's administration collapses. AT AFGHAN TROOPS KILL TALIBAN FIGHTERS AFTER AMBUSH According to a statement issued by the Afghan Defense Ministry on March 25, Afghan forces killed and wounded a number of Taliban militants after fighting off an ambush in southern Afghanistan, Reuters reported the same day. Taliban fighters ambushed an Afghan National Army patrol in the Misan district of Zabul Province on March 24. Defense Ministry spokesman Zahir Murad said, "The operation is still going on and we are assessing information about the precise figure of enemy casualties." AT AFGHAN MILITANTS KILL 'U.S. SPY' Taliban militants have killed an Afghan refugee in a Pakistani tribal area, accusing him of spying for the U.S. forces operating in Afghanistan, AFP reported on March 25. A note left on the body of Abdullah Jan read: "he met his fate because he was spying for the Americans," said an official in Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal district. Militants have killed several tribesmen in recent months after accusing them of spying for the U.S.-led coalition forces across the border. The region is a known center of Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who are accused by U.S. and Afghan governments of using the area to launch attacks into Afghanistan. AT AFGHAN PARLIAMENT WANTS KABUL BARRIERS REMOVED An Afghan parliamentary committee said on March 25 it wants security barriers blocking roads in the capital, including around a five-star hotel attacked by the Taliban in January, to be removed, AFP reported the same day. The committee said in a statement that after a meeting with the city mayor and police, officials decided that "Kabul municipality should take the necessary steps to remove the barriers and inform related organizations." Kabul traffic is often jammed because of barriers blocking off entire roads and large, concrete antiblast blocks positioned in main thoroughfares. The government in 2006 ordered the concrete barriers to be cleared. International groups objected and the decision was not fully implemented. AT U.S. VICE PRESIDENT SAYS IRAN HAS WEAPONS PROGRAM Vice President Dick Cheney told ABC television in an interview released on March 25 that Iran is "obviously" pursuing uranium-enrichment activities as part of a nuclear weapons-development program, AFP reported. Cheney, who has been on a tour of the Middle East, did not elaborate on his allegations. Iran insists it intends to produce nuclear fuel -- which includes the enrichment of uranium -- for use in civilian power stations. "Obviously they're...heavily involved in trying to develop nuclear weapons enrichment, the enrichment of uranium to weapons-grade levels," Cheney said. Separately, the U.S. Commerce Department sanctioned a British firm on March 21 for exporting three U.S. planes to Iran in breach of sanctions regulations, Reuters reported on March 24. Iran has had three separate UN sanctions resolutions imposed on it intended to force it to curb and clarify its nuclear program. The Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security suspended for 180 days the exporting privileges of the Balli Group in Britain, Blue Airways based in Armenia, and Mahan Airways, an Iranian firm. It cited evidence that the parties knowingly violated U.S. export regulations and lied about the destination of three planes sent to Iran. It was not immediately clear how the Armenian and Iranian firms were involved in the deal. Balli has refused to send the planes back to the United States in compliance with a Commerce Department request. U.S. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (Democrat, Connecticut) welcomed the decision in Washington on March 24 as in line with efforts to block the transfer of sensitive technology to Iran, Reuters reported. VS IRAN WANTS TO JOIN CENTRAL ASIAN GROUPING Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki told reporters in Dushanbe on March 24 that Iran is ready and has asked to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional grouping that comprises Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and China, and that Tajikistan supports its bid, IRNA reported. Iran is presently an observer. Speaking after a meeting with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Mottaki said they discussed bilateral cooperation on energy, transportation, and communications, as well multilateral regional cooperation. A Russian presidential representative at the SCO, Leonid Moiseyev, told Interfax in Moscow on March 25 that the six SCO members would have to consider lifting a moratorium on the admission of new members before Iran could join, and they need to clarify to what extent Iran's request meets with their interests. He welcomed Iran's application as indicating the grouping's greater attraction for outside states. Mottaki also discussed cooperation between Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan with counterparts from those countries during his two-day trip in Dushanbe, IRNA reported. He said on March 25 before his return to Tehran that a committee consisting of deputy foreign ministers of the three countries will be formed to follow up agreements made in Dushanbe. VS IRANIANS PROTEST ACTIVIST'S DETENTION Some 200 people protested on March 23 and 24 outside the main prison in Sanandaj in western Iran over the continued detention of labor activist Mahmud Salehi, Radio Farda reported on March 25. Salehi, who apparently represents a bakers union, was arrested in April 2007 after local authorities summoned him for questioning (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 13 and December 20, 2007). He reportedly began a hunger strike over a week ago. The protesters, including his relatives, have demanded his release and expressed concern over his health. One protester, Mahmud Abdipur, told Radio Farda on March 24 or 25 that Salehi has served his prison time and should have been released on March 23. He said the local judiciary refused to see Salehi's family on March 24, when the family went to ask why Salehi has not been released, and has promised to clarify Salehi's case or have him released on March 26. "They told us the head of the Kurdistan [Province] judiciary will clarify Mr. Salehi's case at the end of his holiday. But we are not counting on that promise and will continue...protests until Mahmud Salehi is released," Abdipur told Radio Farda. VS IRANIAN POLICE SEEK TO REDUCE ROAD ACCIDENTS Iran's police are to start a crackdown on bad driving across the country from March 26 in a bid to reduce traffic accidents (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 25, 2008). The traffic police issued a statement on March 25 informing the public of increased patrols and checks for at least a week, Fars news agency reported. This would include plainclothes inspectors or agents driving around or traveling as passengers in taxis or buses, and noting license plates and reporting violations to the police. Drivers will be sent fines to their home addresses, Fars reported. Separately, the national police commander Ismail Ahmadi-Moqaddam, said in Birjand, eastern Iran, on March 24 that the country is making progress in sealing its entire eastern frontier to prevent the entry of drug traffickers, criminals, and migrants, Fars reported. Ahmadi-Moqaddam said police have seized some 900 tons of drugs in the 12 months to late March 2008, which he said was a relative increase due in part to increased drug production in neighboring Afghanistan. He said he hopes there will be "relative" security on the eastern frontier by the end of the 2005-10 five-year plan, and a "satisfactory" level of security five years later, Fars reported. VS IRAQI FORCES BATTLE SHI'ITE MILITIAS IN AL-BASRAH... Intense fighting broke out in the southern port city of Al-Basrah on March 25 between Iraqi forces and rival Shi'ite militias, leaving at least 30 people dead and more than 100 wounded, Iraqi and international media reported. The clashes erupted after the Iraqi government launched a major military operation in the city in a bid to restore order. The operation came a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited the city and vowed to impose law and order (see End Note and "RFE/RL Newsline," March 25, 2008). He is reportedly personally overseeing the operation and stressed to reporters that the situation in the city called for swift action. "Al-Basrah city is experiencing a brutal campaign from internal and external groups targeting its security and stability by killing scientific, social, and spiritual personalities as well as innocent men and women," al-Maliki said. Iraqi forces initially entered the Al-Tamiyah neighborhood, a stronghold of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Imam Al-Mahdi Army. Numerous reports suggested that the focus of the operation is elements of al-Sadr's militia, but during an interview with Al-Arabiyah satellite television, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh denied this. "These operations are not targeting the Al-Sadr party. There is a campaign to disarm unauthorized weapons and there are no exceptions at this point," he said. SS ...AS RADICAL SHI'ITE CLERIC CALLS FOR NATIONWIDE PROTESTS... Muqtada al-Sadr called on March 25 for a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience to protest the targeting of Al-Mahdi Army fighters in Al-Basrah and throughout Iraq, "Al-Hayat" reported. A spokesman for al-Sadr's movement in Al-Diwaniyah, Sheikh Abu Zeinab al-Qarawi, said the group from March 25 "called for a campaign of civil disobedience in all Iraqi cities because of the government's continuing campaign of detention and elimination of Al-Sadr Trend members." A spokesman for al-Sadr's group said the cleric has called on all followers not to confront Iraqi soldiers, but instead to hand out copies of the Koran and olive branches. However, a senior al-Sadr aide read a statement that warned of a "civil revolt" if attacks by U.S. and Iraqi forces continued. The militia has kept a relatively low profile since al-Sadr called for a six-month cease-fire last year. U.S. military commanders credit the cease-fire with a sharp decline in violence. Sheikh Ahmad al-Ali, a representative of al-Sadr's movement in Al-Basrah, told Al-Jazeera satellite television that the Al-Basrah operation is politically motivated. "This ongoing operation in Al-Basrah appears to be security-related, while, in fact, it is a political one," he said. In the Baghdad Shi'ite slum of Al-Sadr City, Al-Mahdi Army fighters ordered Iraqi policemen out of the district, and forced shops and schools to close. Hundreds of followers marched in several districts demanding the release of detained militia members. SS ...AND VIOLENCE, UNREST SPREAD TO OTHER CITIES As Iraqi forces battled Shi'ite militias in the southern city of Al-Basrah, violence and unrest have spread to other regions of Iraq, Iraqi and international media reported. "The New York Times" reported serious clashes between Iraqi forces and Shi'ite militias in Al-Kut and Al-Hillah. Al-Sharqiyah television reported that the offices belonging to the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), and the Al-Da'wah Party located in eastern Baghdad were set on fire. The ISCI is widely considered the chief rival of al-Sadr's movement. Al-Sharqiyah also quoted a senior Iraqi military official as saying that al-Sadr followers have seized several military vehicles in Al-Sadr City. "Voices of Iraq" reported that U.S. forces have surrounded Al-Sadr City and a curfew has been imposed. SS BAGHDAD'S GREEN ZONE ATTACKED AGAIN Baghdad's Green Zone came under rocket fire on March 25, international media reported. An Iraqi security official said that at least four Katyusha rockets hit the heavily fortified area. U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo confirmed the attack and said there were "no deaths or major injuries." No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover said the rockets were fired from Al-Sadr City. It was unclear if the attack was related to the violence in Al-Basrah and Baghdad. It was the second attack on the Green Zone in three days. On March 23, the area was subjected to an intense barrage of rocket and mortar fire (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 25, 2008). That attack reportedly killed some 15 people when several rockets fell short of their intended target and landed outside the Green Zone. SS MEMBERS OF AWAKENING COUNCILS THREATEN TO GO ON STRIKE Leading members of Iraq's awakening councils, coalitions of mostly Sunni tribesmen formed to fight Al-Qaeda in Iraq, have threatened to go on strike because they have not been paid regularly, "The Guardian" reported on March 24. The British daily said approximately 80,000 fighters will strike unless their salaries of $10 per day resume. Abu Abd al-Aziz, the head of the council in Abu Ghurayb, said nearly 500 of his fighters have quit and he accused U.S. forces of using the awakening councils and then abandoning them. "The Americans got what they wanted. We purged Al-Qaeda for them and now people are saying why should we have any more deaths for the Americans. They have given us nothing," al-Aziz said. Most awakening-council fighters rely on salaries provided by the U.S. military because the Iraqi government has provided jobs for only a few of them. SS IRAQI OIL EXPORTS TO TURKEY SURGE The Iraqi Oil Ministry said that it is exporting approximately 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) through its pipeline into neighboring Turkey, the highest volume since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, "Al-Azzam" reported on March 25. Before the invasion, Iraq pumped more than 800,000 bpd through the Ceyhan terminal. The ministry said that the increased volume has been sustained for about a week and is mainly due to the substantial drop in attacks on oil pipelines and acts of sabotage. "We are hoping to increase the production to 500,000 bpd," Oil Ministry spokesman Assam Jihad told UPI. SS
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