Iraq among countries with highest levels of corruption - report

September 23, 2008 - 04:32:59
BAGHDAD /Aswat al-Iraq:

Transparency International ranked Iraq second among the countries showing the highest levels of perceived corruption.

Transparency International’s (TI) 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), launched today, highlights the fatal link between poverty, failed institutions and graft.

The Transparency International CPI measures the perceived levels of public-sector corruption in a given country and is a composite index, drawing on different expert and business surveys. The 2008 CPI scores 180 countries (the same number as the 2007 CPI) on a scale from zero (highly corrupt) to ten (highly clean).

Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden share the highest score at 9.3, followed immediately by Singapore at 9.2. Bringing up the rear is Somalia at 1.0, slightly trailing Iraq and Myanmar at 1.3 and Haiti at 1.4.

Similarly, statistically significant improvements over the last year can be identified in Albania, Cyprus, Georgia, Mauritius, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Tonga and Turkey.
SH (P)/SR

Body found in eastern Mosul

September 23, 2008 - 06:49:27

NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq:

Policemen found an unidentified body, while a bomb exploded targeting a police vehicle patrol in two separate incidents in Mosul, a security source said.

“Policemen found an unidentified body in Sena'at al-Karama region in eastern Mosul,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.
“The body shows signs of gunshot wounds to the head,” he noted.

“The corpse was sent to the forensic medicine department,” he also said.
The source said a sound bomb exploded while a police vehicle patrol was passing in al-Jazaer neighborhood in eastern Mosul, without leaving casualties.

Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, lies 405 km north of Baghdad.

SH (S)/SR

9 family members killed, wounded in Diala

September 23, 2008 - 06:40:37

DIALA / Aswat al-Iraq:

A woman was killed and eight persons, from the same family, were wounded on Tuesday after gunmen blew up their house in Baaquba, an official security source said.

“A woman was killed and eight persons, including six women, all from the same family, were injured when a suspected al-Qaeda group blew up their house in al-Katoun neighborhood in central Baaquba,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq.

“The house, which was completely destroyed, belongs to a displaced family which just returned to the house,” he added.

Diala province, a mix of Sunnis and Shiites, extends to the northeast of Baghdad as far as the Iranian border. Its capital is Baaquba, 57 km northeast of Baghdad. It covers an area of 17,685 square kilometers (6,828 sq mi).
A large portion of the province is drained by the Diala River, a major tributary of the Tigris.

Because of its proximity to two major sources of water, Diala’s main industry is agriculture, primarily dates grown in large Date Palm groves. It is also recognized as the orange capital of the Middle East.

In January 2008 Operation Phantom Phoenix was launched in an attempt to eradicate the remnants of al-Qaeda network following the Diala province campaign between 2006 and 2007.
SH (S)/SR

U.S. army detains 6 “Special Groups” gunmen in Baghdad

September 23, 2008 - 07:07:11

BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

The U.S. army on Tuesday announced its forces arrested six “special groups” gunmen during a security operation conducted in Baghdad.

“Soldiers of Company B, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, attached to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, detained five suspected special groups criminals at approximately 1:30 a.m. Sep. 23, during an operation in the Risalah community of the Rashid district, ” said a U.S. army statement received by Aswat al-Iraq.

“At approximately 2:30 a.m., Soldiers of Co. A, 4th Bn., 64th Armor Regt., attached to the 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B, detained a suspected criminal in the Risalah community located in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad,” the announcement added.

Special Groups is a language used by the U.S. army to refer to Shiite groups trained and financed by Iran to launch attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces. Iran has denied all the charges.
AM (P)/SR

News Summary

September 23, 2008 - 01:54:39
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq:

Following is a summary of news reports posted until 0400 p.m. Baghdad local time Tuesday:
 
* Politics:
 
BAGHDAD - Iraqi newspapers gave prominence in their Tuesday issues to the security situation in the country and the spate of assassinations on the Iraqi street.
 
AMMAN - Some Arab newspapers on Tuesday continued their criticism of the current U.S. administration’s policies in Iraq, which they argue have only resulted in more disasters and more suffering for the Iraqi people.
 
* Security:
 
DIALA - Two civilians were killed in an explosive charge attack that ripped through Diala province, a local police source said on Tuesday.
 
BAGHDAD - Four civilians were wounded on Tuesday when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in northern Baghdad cit, an Iraqi police source said.
 
BABEL - One civilian man was killed and two others wounded, all of them from the same family, on Tuesday when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near their vehicle north of Hilla city, a security source said.
 
BAGHDAD - One civilian man was killed and two others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED), the second of its kind today in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a police source said.
 
BAGHDAD - An Iraqi parliamentarian on Tuesday blamed Iran and the Kurds for the declining security situation in Diala, an accusation described by a Kurdistan Alliance spokesperson as an attempt to “add fuel to the flame.”
 
DIALA - A leading member of al-Qaeda network was captured in a search raid conducted jointly by the Iraqi police and U.S. army in Diala province on Tuesday, a security source said.
 
BAGHDAD - Iraq’s interior ministry on Tuesday said it has hired 2,000 Sahwa (Awakening) fighters in Diala since Operation Bashaer al-Khair (Promise of Good) started in the province late last July.
 
AmR (R)/SR