Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

Iraq


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published Monday, July 13, 2009 at 9:36 AM

Comments (79)     E-mail E-mail article      Print Print view      Share Share

US military chief meets Iraqi officials in Kirkuk

Iraqi officials tightened security around churches in Baghdad and in two mostly Christian towns on Monday and braced for possible violence this weekend when huge crowds visit a holy Shiite shrine in the capital.

Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD —

Iraqi officials tightened security around churches in Baghdad and in two mostly Christian towns on Monday and braced for possible violence this weekend when huge crowds visit a holy Shiite shrine in the capital.

A series of church bombings targeting Iraq's Christian minority killed at least four people Sunday, including one that happened as worshippers were leaving Mass in eastern Baghdad. Iraq's Christians have often been targeted by Islamic extremists, and many have fled the country despite an overall drop in violence in the past two years.

Fearing car bombs, authorities imposed vehicle bans in the towns of Tilkaif and Hamdaniyah. Both are predominantly Christian towns near the northern city of Mosul where an Iraqi soldier was killed Monday when a bomb attached to his private vehicle exploded, police said.

Daldar Zebari, deputy head of the Ninevah provincial council, which includes Mosul, said the Christian-dominated areas of Mosul were a priority for the security services. But he added: "We will make our best efforts to keep security for the province and all its citizens of all ethnic and religious backgrounds without exception."

Ethnic and sectarian tension also is running high in Kirkuk, another city in northern Iraq where Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, made an unannounced visit on Monday. Kurds want to make oil-rich Kirkuk the capital of their autonomous region in the north despite Arab opposition.

Violence is sharply down in the war that began with the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, but militants still carry out lethal attacks. The U.S. military completed a withdrawal of combat forces from Iraqi cities to outlying bases last month as part of a plan to let Iraq take the lead on ensuring its own security.

Iraqi military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi told reporters in Baghdad that Iraq will not need help from multinational forces in securing an event at a holy Shiite shrine in northern Baghdad. Hundreds of thousands of Shiites are expected on Saturday in Kazimiyah, a predominantly Shiite suburb, to commemorate the death of a revered Shiite imam.

At the same commemoration in 2005, nearly 1,000 Shiite pilgrims, most of them women and children, died in a stampede during a religious procession on a bridge near the shrine. Thousands of the pilgrims, who panicked when they heard unfounded rumors of a suicide bomber, crushed one another or plunged 30 feet into the muddy Tigris River.

Al-Moussawi said the plan to secure the event is "100 percent an Iraqi one."

He lamented the church bombings, but blamed security at one church, saying that a man pretending that his car had broken down asked people at the church if he could park his vehicle near the church. "A few minutes after his departure, it went off," al-Moussawi said.

Also on Sunday, a bomb exploded near a convoy of American personnel that included U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill, though no one was injured. U.S. embassy spokesman Susan Ziadeh said Monday that an investigation was under way into the bombing, which occurred as the convoy was traveling through Dhi Qar province in southern Iraq.

Copyright © The Seattle Times Company

More Iraq headlines...

E-mail E-mail article      Print Print view      Share Share

Yeah 3 years seems a little rough. I wonder what the punishment would have been if Saddam Hussein had been there.  Posted on March 12, 2009 at 6:48 PM by gordonjz. Jump to comment
The bodies aren't even cold and already people are planting their partisian flag on the pile of corpses so they can claim their shattered...  Posted on April 24, 2009 at 5:02 PM by Bo Lasquis. Jump to comment
Ah geez not again. Hey Seattle Times kill this thread ok? I'm tired of getting funneled to this thread everytime I want to comment on anything...  Posted on April 23, 2009 at 10:35 AM by sgt898. Jump to comment

advertising


Get home delivery today!

More Iraq

Iraq election delay may slow U.S. troop withdrawl

Advertising

Video

Mourners gather at KeyArena for slain officer's memorial
Mourners gathered at KeyArena for the memorial service of Seattle police Officer Timothy Brenton on November 6, 2009.

Procession for slain SPD officer
Election Night: Approve R-71
Election Night: Reject R-71
Election Night: Joe Mallahan
Election Night: Mike McGinn
Election Night: Susan Hutchison
Election Night: Dow Constatine
Candlelight vigil for Officer Brenton
Flying Elephant on Aurora

Marketplace

nwautos

2009's most fuel-efficient sedansnew
Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment

Open Houses

Find this weekend's open house listings.
Or search by location:

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 
Advertising