SHI'A OFFICIALS ACQUITTED OF RUNNING SECTARIAN DEATH SQUADS AMIDST "SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS OF WITNESS INTIMIDATION AND OTHER IRREGULARITIES"
Two top Shi'a officials-- with links to the Mahdi army-- were charged with orchestrating death squads which stormed into hospitals to kidnap and murder Sunni Arab patients. The first time two high-ranking Shi'a officials had been charged over sectarian killings was marred by the absence of several prosecution witnesses who failed to show up after reportedly receiving death threats. Hakim al-Zamili, a former deputy health minister, and Brigadier General Hamid al-Shammari, who headed the ministry's security forces, were charged with five separate counts of murder and kidnapping. The two were alleged to have formed a private Shi'a militia that would storm into Baghdad hospitals and snatch wounded and sick Sunni Arabs from their beds, issue death threats to doctors and gun down family members visiting patients. They were also accused of allowing hundreds of Mahdi Army militiamen to work at the ministry and use its vehicles, including ambulances, to kidnap and kill Sunni Arabs. On Monday, they were acquitted by a three-judge panel in the Central Criminal Court, however, "There remain serious allegations of witness intimidation and other irregularities in this case that have not yet been fully or transparently resolved within the Iraqi system," said a US embassy spokesman. [AFP, 3/04/08]
Anti-U.S. Shi'a cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's political bloc demanded that the U.S. military release the former health minister officials after sectarian charges against them were dropped. "The U.S. forces should respect the decision of the Supreme Judicial Council and apply it as soon as possible," said a Sadrist lawmaker. "Amends must be made to Hakim al-Zamili, financially and morally." U.S. embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said negotiations were under way for them to be released. [Reuters, 3/4/08]
PETRAEUS MAY ASK TO HOLD WITHDRAWALS UNTIL SEPTEMBER
Gen. David Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, is expected to ask President Bush to wait until as late as September to decide whether to bring home more troops than already scheduled. Petraeus may base his decision on the cautious optimism of Adm. William Fallon, who, despite an increase in violence in February, testified before congress that, "By almost every measure, the security situation has improved significantly." By July, the Pentagon is on track to complete its reduction from 20 to 15 active-duty Army brigades deployed to Iraq. Petraeus, who is slated to testify before Congress on April 8-9, has said he favors a "period of assessment". In his testimony, Fallon makes clear that Petraeus' views will not be the only ones sent to Bush for consideration. Fallon said the general's recommendations will be considered by "the chain of command" and that "our inputs, along with his" will be sent to the president. "Recommendations will consider the existing security situation, progress of the ISF (Iraqi Security Forces) and their readiness to assume responsibility for security," Fallon said. "The conditions on the ground will be a major determinant of future moves." [AP, 3/4/08]
VIOLENCE LEAVES YOUNG IRAQIS DOUBTING CLERICS, RELIGION
While religious extremists are admired by a number of young people in other parts of the Arab world, Iraq offers a test case of what could happen when extremist theories are applied. Fingers caught in the act of smoking were broken. Long hair was cut and force-fed to its wearer. Disillusionment with Islamic leaders took hold. After almost five years of war, many young people in Iraq, exhausted by constant firsthand exposure to the violence of religious extremism, say they have grown disillusioned with religious leaders and skeptical of the faith that they preach. In two months of interviews with 40 young people in five Iraqi cities, a pattern of disenchantment emerged, in which young Iraqis, both poor and middle class, blamed clerics for the violence and the restrictions that have narrowed their lives. "I hate Islam and all the clerics because they limit our freedom every day and their instruction became heavy over us," said Sara, a high school student in Basra. "Most of the girls in my high school hate that Islamic people control the authority because they don't deserve to be rulers." It is far from clear whether the shift means a wholesale turn away from religion, as a tremendous piety still predominates in the private lives of young Iraqis The shift in Iraq runs counter to trends of rising religious practice among young people across much of the Middle East, where religion has replaced nationalism as a unifying ideology. [NY Times, 3/4/08]