Bush shoe-thrower arrested in Baghdad

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi journalist who shot to fame for throwing a shoe at ex-US president trendpk.comrge W. Bush was detained on Thursday while attempting to hold a news conference in Baghdad.

Muntazer al-Zaidi had been due to hold a press conference in front of the Iraqi capital”s Abu Hanifa mosque in district of Adhamiyah when an Iraqi army unit took him away.

“I have orders for you to come with me,” an army colonel told Zaidi, who initially refused, demanding to see a written arrest warrant,.

He was eventually led into an army pick-up truck along with his brother Durgan.

Durgan al-Zaidi said before the news conference that his brother intended to add his voice to calls for a major protest in Baghdad for Friday.

The journalist shot to international notoriety for hurling both his shoes at Bush during a December 2008 press conference in Baghdad, and was eventually sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a head of state. That was reduced to one year on appeal, and his sentence was cut further for good behavior. Zaidi alleged he suffered electric shocks and simulated drowning while in custody.

Bush shoe-thrower arrested at Baghdad

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi journalist who shot to fame for throwing a shoe at ex-US president trendpk.comrge W. Bush was detained on Thursday while attempting to hold a news conference in Baghdad.

Muntazer al-Zaidi had been due to hold a press conference in front of the Iraqi capital’s Abu Hanifa mosque in the mostly-Sunni district of Adhamiyah when an Iraqi army unit took him away.

“I have orders for you to come with me,” an army colonel told Zaidi, who initially refused, demanding to see a written arrest warrant.

He was eventually led into an army pick-up truck along with his brother Durgan.

Durgan al-Zaidi said before the news conference that his brother intended to add his voice to calls for a major protest in Baghdad for Friday.

The journalist shot to international notoriety for hurling both his shoes at Bush during a December 2008 press conference in Baghdad, and was eventually sentenced to three years in prison for assaulting a head of state.

That was reduced to one year on appeal, and his sentence was cut further for good behaviour. Zaidi alleged he suffered electric shocks and simulated drowning while in custody.

35 Killed 40 Injured In Car Blast In Baghdad

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At least 35 people killed and 40 injured in car blast Baghdad on Thursday, more then 200 died in the series of bombing attacks during last two weeks. Majority of Shiite community and Iraqi security forces are mainly targeted the in the violence.

According to police sources, the car exploded on about 2 P.M. on Thursday. At least 35 people, including three children, were killed and 40 wounded.

Sporadic bombings also targeted Iraqi troops and an electricity official on Thursday morning. The first roadside bomb occurred about 8:30 A.M. near a police patrol at a commercial complex in Baghdad, killing one civilian and injuring five other people, including four police soldiers, authorities confirmed.

According to officials, Ismaeel al-Obeidi, director general of Baghdad’s central electricity directorate, also escaped from an assassination attempt when a roadside bomb struck the two cars convoy carrying him to work. As the result of blast, one of his guards was killed and two others wounded.

Roadside bomb kills 3 pilgrims in Iraq

BAGHDAD: A roadside bomb killed three pilgrims and wounded 18 in Baghdad ahead of a religious event, an Iraqi Interior Ministry source said on Tuesday.

A police source said three people were killed and 19 wounded by the explosion in the western Baghdad district of Ghazaliya.

Another roadside bomb wounded 14 Shi’ite pilgrims in Khalis, 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad, the Diyala province operations centre said.

Shi’ite pilgrims have been gathering around Iraq ahead of Ashura on Friday, which commemorates the death of Prophet Mohammad’s grandson Hussein at the battle of Kerbala in 680. AGENCIES

Baghdad: All attackers killed in church operation

In Baghdad, Iraq on Monday all the gunmen who stormed a church, seizing dozens of Iraqi and threatening to kill them were killed when the Iraqi police raided the church and ended the stand-off.
Minister of Defence Abdul Qader al-Obeidi who supervised the operation with Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi and a number of Iraqi military commanders said that most of the hostages were rescued and all the attackers were killed, but he stopped short of giving numbers. The US military said between seven and 10 hostages and seven members of the Iraqi security forces, as well as seven attackers, were killed in the rescue operation. Most of the people who were attending the mass were rescued and the operation was carried out with high efficiency. Witnesses reported seeing many bodies inside the church after the gunmen wearing suicide vests threw grenades or blew themselves up as Iraqi forces stormed the building. The insurgents laid siege to one of Baghdad’s biggest churches as more than 100 parishioners attended Sunday mass in a central district near the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to embassies and the Iraqi government. US military officials watched the rescue operation from cameras in hovering helicopters. Violence has fallen sharply in Iraq since the height of sectarian bloodshed in 2006-07 but attacks by Sunni insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Shi’ite militia continue daily. Some police sources said they believed the initial target was the nearby Iraqi stock exchange, a bourse that lists a couple dozen local companies.

Bus accident kills 10 Iranian pilgrims in Iraq

BAGHDAD: At least 10 Iranian pilgrims were killed and 33 others wounded when their bus overturned and caught fire in Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, police and hospital sources said.

The bus was travelling from the holy city of Najaf towards the northern city of Samarra, another holy city for Shi’ite Muslims. The accident occurred on the highway near Iskandariya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad. AGENCIES

Bombs kill scores in attacks on Iraq’s police

BAGHDAD: Suicide bombers killed more than 50 people in apparently coordinated attacks on Iraqi security forces in Baghdad and elsewhere on Wednesday, less than a week before US troops formally end combat operations.

The bombings also wounded more than 200 people, underscoring how fragile Iraq’s security is, and how tense its political situation, more than five months after an election that produced no outright winner and as yet no new government.

In the southern city of Kut, 150 km (95 miles) southeast of Baghdad, a suicide car bomber killed at least 26 policemen and wounded 87, said Lieutenant Colonel Aziz al-Amarah, commander of the rapid response police force in the province of Wasit.

“Parts of the building collapsed and there are still policemen’s bodies, including the police chief, under the rubble,” Amarah said by telephone.

In Baghdad, a

Suicide car bomber kills 8 in west of Baghdad

BAGHDAD: A suicide car bomber struck a police patrol west of Baghdad Sunday and killed eight people, most of them civilians standing in line outside a post office to collect the monthly stipend for the country’s poorest, police officials said.

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Suicide car bomber kills 8 in west of Baghdad

Malik warns against attack during Raza Haider funeral

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Interior Rehman Malik has warned against a suicide attack during funeral prayers of MQM leader Raza Haider who was gunned down in Karachi Monday evening.

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Malik warns against attack during Raza Haider funeral

Suspected al-Qaida militants kill 5 Iraqi soldiers

BAGHDAD: Iraqi officials say suspected al-Qaida militants have killed 5 Iraqi soldiers at a western Baghdad checkpoint and planted the terror group’s black banner before fleeing the scene.

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Suspected al-Qaida militants kill 5 Iraqi soldiers

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