2007 DEATH TOLL NEARS HIGHEST FOR U.S. IN IRAQ
Death toll for 2007 nears the highest for U.S. in Iraq. Despite a recent drop in U.S. deaths, 2007 is on course to be the deadliest year on record for the U.S. in Iraq. At least 847 American military personnel have died in Iraq this year - the second highest annual toll since the war began. In 2004, the bloodiest year of the war for the U.S. so far, 850 American troops died. The increase in troop levels as well as the military's decision to send soldiers out of large bases and into Iraqi communities has increased the military's exposure to enemy forces. [AP, 11/4/07]
ETHNIC CLEANSING IN IRAQ IS AT MUCH HIGHER RATES THAN BEFORE THE SURGE
Nearly 2.3 million Iraqis are internally displaced. According to a report issued Monday by the Iraqi Red Crescent, the number of internally displaced people in Iraq grew by 16 percent in September to almost 2.3 million. That figure has risen sharply since the beginning of 2007, when less than a million people were listed as displaced. More than 83 percent of those displaced are women and children under the age of 12. [AP, 11/5/07]
PKK REBELS RELEASE TURKISH TROOPS
Eight Turkish soldiers released by Kurdish fighters have been returned to their army units, the Turkish General Staff announced. They were released on Sunday morning by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) after being captured two weeks ago in a PKK ambush in which at least 12 Turkish soldiers were killed. A PKK spokesman refused to say where the release had taken place, but added the soldiers were in good health and had been released unconditionally. The release comes a day after the Iraqi government vowed to act against rebels attacking Turkish territory from Iraq. [BBC, 11/4/07]
THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT IS FRACTURED ALONG SECTARIAN LINES
Sunni officials say government in Baghdad is hampering gains in Anbar. On Friday, a delegation of officials from Anbar said that efforts to build on the gains there have been hindered by limited support for the predominantly Sunni region from the Shi'a dominated government in Baghdad. According to Abdulsalaam Mohammed, the head of the Anbar Provincial Council, the funds received from the Iraqi government are less than half of what the region needs in 207. Another problem, he said, was limited support for provincial police forces. "Some of this shortcoming is not intentional," Mr. Mohammed said. "But we believe in some cases that there are certain forces within the government -- ministers and going down the chain -- that are interfering and not responding to the needs." [NY Times, 11/3/07]
Trial nears for former Shi'a Health Ministry officials in the killing of Sunnis. An Iraqi judge has ruled that enough evidence exists to try two former Shi'a Health Ministry officials in the killing and kidnapping of hundreds of Sunnis, many of them snatched from hospitals by militias. The investigation reports that under the ministers' direction, about 150 members of the Health Ministry's protection service were organized into a company that acted like a private militia. Using Health Ministry identification, they carried out hundreds of sectarian killings and kidnappings from 2005 to early 2007. The Health Ministry could still block the case, making it an important test of the government's will to administer justice on a nonsectarian basis. The case would reveal some of the most serious sectarian violence committed under the name of the government. [NY Times, 11/3/07]
Iraqi official gunned down in Baghdad. Two carloads of gunmen ambushed a top aide to Iraq's Finance Ministry on Sunday in Baghdad, killing him and his driver, police said. The two were among 15 people killed or found dead in Iraq. The Finance Ministry had no immediate comment about the attack on Qutaiba Badir al-Din Mohammed, a Sunni adviser to Iraq's finance minister. Violence claimed the lives of 10 Iraqis in Diyala, the troubled province northeast of Baghdad. [LA Times, 11/5/07]
IRAQ CANCELS RUSSIAN OIL CONTRACT
Iraqi government voids Russian oil contract. The Iraqi government, guided by legal advisers, has canceled a development contract with the Russian company Lukoil for an oil field in Iraq's southern desert. In response, Russian authorities have threatened to revoke a 2004 deal to forgive $13 billion in Iraqi debt, a senior Iraqi official said. The oil field has estimated reserves of 11 billion barrels of oil, the equivalent of the worldwide proven oil reserves of Exxon Mobil. Hussain al-Shahristani, the Iraqi oil minister, said that the field would be opened to new bidders as early as next year. The contract had been in legal limbo since the American invasion until Iraqi officials informed Russia that the decision to cancel to contract was final this September. The Russian government is protesting what it considers selective enforcement of contracts in Iraq. "From the Russian government perspective, Iraq is seen as occupied and its administration directed by Washington, particularly when it comes to oil," said Vladimir I. Tikhomirov, chief economist at the Russian bank UralSib. "The Russians see the cancellation of their contract in Iraq as part of the U.S. drive to keep control over the major oil fields there," he said. [NY Times, 11/4/07]