Iraq Notebook
Insurgents infiltrate new forces, report says

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WASHINGTON — Iraq's new security forces are heavily infiltrated by insurgents, and the guerrilla groups have access to almost unlimited money to pay for deadly attacks, The Associated Press reported yesterday, quoting a U.S. defense official.

A significant part of the insurgents' money is coming from sympathizers in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi government is neglecting the problem, said the official, who was authorized by the Pentagon to speak on the issue this week, but only on condition of anonymity.

Money also is flowing into Iraq through Syria, the official said. In both cases, it comes from a diffuse network of supporters, funneled through charities, tribal relations and businesses, but not necessarily the same funding networks that transfer money to al-Qaida from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

In some cases, members of the Iraqi security services have developed sympathies and contacts with the guerrillas; in other cases, infiltrators were sent to join the groups, the official said.

The official pointed to a mortar attack Tuesday on an Iraqi National Guard compound near Baghdad as a probable inside job. The attackers apparently knew precisely when and where the unit's members were gathering and dropped mortar rounds in the middle of their formation. At least four Iraqis were killed and 80 wounded.

U.S. soldier sentenced to eight years for abuses

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The highest-ranking U.S. soldier charged in the abuse of prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was sentenced to eight years in prison yesterday. It is the longest term handed down so far in the scandal.

Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II, 38, who was found guilty of assault, maltreatment, dereliction of duty, indecent acts and conspiracy, also was reduced in rank to private, ordered to forfeit pay and given a dishonorable discharge from the military.

Defense lawyer Gary Myers called the punishment excessive and said he would appeal.

As part of a plea deal with prosecutors, Frederick confessed to beating and humiliating Iraqi prisoners while taking souvenir pictures of the abuse. He agreed to cooperate with other prosecutions.
 
Myers said Frederick was thrown into a stressful, chaotic environment where military-intelligence officers had encouraged the abuse so that prisoners would be more likely to divulge information during interrogation. He also said the defendant, a Virginia prison guard in civilian life, was never properly trained by the Army for his job as night supervisor at Abu Ghraib.

Army Prosecutor Maj. Michael Holley argued that the case was a simple matter of right and wrong. "He's an adult capable of making decisions," Holley told the court before sentencing.

Charges dismissed in prisoner-abuse case

SAN DIEGO — Charges have been dismissed against the former commander of a detention facility where an Iraqi prisoner was dragged by the neck and later died.

Maj. Michael Froeder, 38, a Marine reservist from Pennsylvania, was accused of failing to intervene and provide medical attention to Nagem Sadoon Hatab, 52. An Army pathologist concluded Hatab died from suffocation caused by a broken bone in his throat.

Camp Pendleton's commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Timothy E. Donovan, made the decision last week to dismiss, with prejudice, charges of dereliction of duty and maltreatment — meaning the charges cannot be refiled.

Froeder's defense attorney, Daniel Hagood, said there were problems with evidence in the case, but said he did not know the specific reason for the dismissal.

Six Iraqi women killed in attacks on vehicles

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two attacks on vehicles carrying Iraqi women to their jobs yesterday morning claimed the lives of six women and one man and severely wounded more than a dozen people, witnesses and government officials said.

Four of the women were killed when gunmen opened fire from a minivan that had pulled alongside a bus filled mostly with female employees of Iraqi Airways and the Civil Aviation Ministry on their way to work at Baghdad's international airport.

In the second attack, two female secretaries and a male colleague driving to their jobs in the office of the interim president, Ghazi Yawar, were killed when gunmen fired at their car, witnesses said. Yawar's press secretary, who was also in the vehicle, was seriously wounded, according to the Interior Ministry, which confirmed witness accounts of the attack.

It was not clear whether the assailants in either attack had targeted women. For months, insurgent strikes have most often been aimed at targets associated with Iraq's predominantly male security forces.

Election decision lies with Iraqis, says Annan

UNITED NATIONS — It is still "technically possible" for Iraq to hold elections in January as scheduled, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday, while acknowledging that the United Nations may not have enough staff on the scene to support preparations for the vote.

The decision on whether to hold or delay Iraq's elections "will be their call, not ours," the U.N. chief said in remarks to journalists, referring to Iraq's interim government.

"At this point, it is still technically possible, depending on what happens in the next couple of months," he said.

"I want to stress that it is the Iraqis who are planning the elections, who are organizing the elections. We are offering support and advice," he said.

"As we move forward, it will become necessary to send in additional staff," he said, adding that staffing arrangements will depend on either a more secure environment of "solid arrangements for protection."