Iraq Notebook
Army suspends command of guards' general

Janis Karpinski

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WASHINGTON — The Army general who was in charge of the U.S. prison guards accused of abusing Iraqis has been suspended from command of the 800th Military Police Brigade, officials said yesterday.

Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski and other officers in her brigade were faulted by Army investigators for paying too little attention to operations at Abu Ghraib prison and not acting strongly enough to discipline soldiers for violating standard procedures.

Karpinski's suspension was the latest action against officers and enlisted soldiers implicated in the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib, near Baghdad.

Karpinski, who has returned to the United States, has not been charged with an offense. Being suspended does not mean she has been relieved of command, so technically she could be reinstated. But the furor over prisoner abuse makes that highly unlikely, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi party official assassinated in Kirkuk

KIRKUK, Iraq — A senior politician representing Iraq's minority Turkmen population was assassinated by gunmen late yesterday as he left his office in the tense city of Kirkuk, police said.

Ahmed Najm al-Din, one of the leaders of the Turkmen Union Party, was targeted in a drive-by shooting, police said.

Najm al-Din is the latest of several political figures attacked or assassinated by gunmen in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad.

Sanchez likely to be replaced in plan for new commander

WASHINGTON — President Bush plans to appoint a new, higher-ranking military commander for Iraq, capping an overhaul of the command structure that is likely to replace Army Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez as the top general on the ground there, Pentagon and other administration officials said yesterday.
 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is said by Pentagon insiders to favor Gen. George Casey, who as vice chief of staff is the second-highest-ranking uniformed Army officer.

Sanchez has been besieged by questions about his oversight of detainee operations in Iraq, especially his role in the scandal over the abuse of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison. But administration officials said the move to install a new four-star commander has been under consideration for months.

It is not clear what will happen to Sanchez. Senior commanders have said privately that plans envisioned a new role for Sanchez, possibly as head of the U.S. Southern Command.

Sanchez commands most regular Army and Marine units in Iraq. But there are four other U.S. three-star generals in Iraq.

The new commander will outrank all those officers and, unlike Sanchez, will have authority over all U.S. military units there.

Bomb blast near Green Zone claims 2 British civilians

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A roadside bomb killed two British civilians traveling in an armored car near coalition headquarters yesterday, one of a series of blasts that rocked the center of the Iraqi capital.

After the bombing, insurgents fired mortar rounds around Baghdad. One projectile landed in the Green Zone, which houses coalition headquarters, the U.S. command said, but there were no reports of casualties or damage.

Another mortar shell damaged the roof of a primary school; classes had ended for the day, and no injuries were reported. A mortar round also exploded in the Karrada district.

5 Iraqis hurt in blast near hotel, Australian Embassy

BAGHDAD, Iraq — An apparent car bomb exploded today near a hotel in central Baghdad, and a U.S. military officer said five Iraqis were injured, one critically. Iraqi police said they thought the target may have been the Australian Embassy nearby.

The blast occurred near the Karma Hotel. Col. Mike Murray said five Iraqis were injured, including a 10-year-old boy who was critically hurt.

Witness testifies soldier confessed to grenade killings

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A prosecution witness testified yesterday that a soldier charged with killing two officers in a grenade attack during the Iraq war confessed to the crimes after his arrest, saying he feared the wartime deaths of Muslims.

Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 32, of the 101st Airborne Division, faces the death penalty if convicted in the attack. Yesterday's hearing was to resolve legal issues in advance of Akbar's July 12 court-martial.

Sgt. Eric Tanner, a brigade legal assistant, testified Akbar told a major that he attacked his fellow soldiers and said after he learned of his right not to incriminate himself that he was "ready to talk."

Akbar's lawyers have said there were no witnesses to the crime and that Akbar was accused because he is Muslim.

Report accuses Malaysia of abusing terror suspects

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Alleged abuse of terrorist suspects in Malaysia included telling them they would be handed over to U.S. authorities at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention center, where they would face torture, a Human Rights Watch report says.

The 57-page report details widespread abuse and humiliation of suspects held without trial under national-security laws in Malaysia. That country is a close U.S. ally in the war on terrorism and has shared intelligence with Washington about al-Qaida-linked operations in Southeast Asia and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The report, to be released today, compares the abuse to U.S. troops' mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners and alleged violations in Afghanistan and Guantánamo. It asserts that U.S. abuses carried out in the name of the war against terrorism have given other nations an excuse to do likewise.

Malaysia's government has rejected the abuse allegations.

Also ...

The U.S. military introduced more photographs to bolster its contention that U.S. aircraft attacked a safe house for foreign fighters near the Syrian border, not a wedding party, as claimed by Iraqi survivors and police and suggested by video footage.