UN Secretary-General condemns ongoing attacks against innocent civilians in Iraq by BBC / AFP / Reuters / UN News 12:12pm 19th Feb, 2005   March 11, 2005.    "Suicide bomb hits Iraqi funeral". (BBC/AFP)    A suicide bomber has killed more than 40 people and wounded 80 at a funeral service in northern Iraq.    Sources in Mosul say the attack took place in the early evening at the Shiite Sadreen Mosque in the north-eastern part of the city. The mosque's meeting hall was packed with mourners attending a remembrance ceremony when a suicide bomber suddenly detonated his charge among them.    Survivors spoke of a massive blast and a huge wall of fire.    United States and Iraqi forces cordoned off the area, ambulances raced to the scene and rushed casualties to the city's hospitals.    Local television asked people to give blood while the local Sunni Muslim leadership, fearful of reprisals, urged calm in Mosul, which is Iraq's third-largest city and one of its most ethnically and religiously diverse.    Sunni Muslim Arabs make up about half of its 1.5 million population, while the rest are divided among Kurds, Turkmen, Shiites, Christians and other groups.    The latest attack on Iraq's majority Shiites came as their political alliance, which swept the elections, was putting the final touches on a deal with the Kurds to form a coalition ahead of the new Parliament's first session next Wednesday. Both communities were poised for a taste of real power after being oppressed for decades under the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein, which favoured member's of his Sunni Muslim clan.    The two sides have drafted a three-page principle of understanding that will formalise their alliance, the Shiite side said. "Both sides agree. Most likely it will be signed Sunday," said Adnan Ali, an aide to the frontrunner for prime minister, Shiite Ibrahim Jaafari.    The document reaffirms Iraq's commitment to the transitional law (TAL), passed under the US occupation. With its commitment to a federal and secular Iraq, it will govern the country until the permanent constitution is written and ratified after a national referendum in October.    "We all agree that the TAL is the constitution for this government," Mr Adnan said, adding it would govern the sensitive issue of the northern oil city of Kirkuk, which Kurds claim as their own. He said the sides were in accord that Mr Jaafari would be prime minister and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani president.    Kurds had insisted on a written agreement, fearful that the Shiites, who had initially opposed the TAL's granting Kurds greater autonomy, would try to roll back their hard-won freedoms.    Dr Fuad Massum, a senior Kurdish Alliance member, hailed the deal. "A draft agreement had been reached with the (Shiite) United Iraqi Alliance about a number of important core issues," he said.    Sunnis, who largely boycotted the elections, are expected to be represented in important posts in the new cabinet. Shiite and Kurdish leaders have insisted on the need to reach out to the community that benefited the most under Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime and have fueled the insurgency roiling the country..    Feb 28, 2005    "The tragedy of Iraq's peoples continues..Suicide Bomber kills over 100 people in marketplace attack", by Haider Abbas .    HILLA, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber killed 105 people and wounded 130 near a crowded marketplace south of Baghdad on Monday in the single bloodiest attack in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein.    Many of those killed were shopping at stalls across the road from a government building.. "There were 105 people dead and 130 wounded," said doctor Mahmoud Abdul Ridah, an official in the local health authority. "We've called on people to donate blood and have opened a center for that," he told Reuters. "We've called on doctors from Kerbala, Diwaniyah and Najaf to come and help and they have started to arrive."    The toll makes the blast the single deadliest attack since the fall of Saddam in April 2003 and makes Monday one of the bloodiest days of the two-year insurgency. The worst day was last March, when more than 170 people were killed in a series of suicide bombings in Baghdad and the holy city of Kerbala, just west of Hilla. The target of the latest attack appeared to be a crowd of people waiting outside the building to get health certificates needed to apply for government jobs..    28 February 2005    "Annan denounces Iraqi terror attack as seeking to undermine peace and democracy". (UN News)    Condemning the latest terrorist attack in Iraq as "a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law" that seeks to undermine the prospects of peace, democracy and prosperity, Secretary-General Kofi Annan vowed today that the United Nations will continue to stand by the Iraqi people as they try to rebuild their country.    "The Secretary-General appeals to all Iraqis to refrain from all acts of violence, put aside their differences and work together in a spirit of national reconciliation," a statement issued by his spokesman said of a suicide car bombing in Hillah, in which more than 110 civilians, police and National Guard volunteers were reportedly killed and at least 130 injured.    "Ultimately, the foundations of a new Iraq can only be built through peaceful means, based on dialogue, mutual understanding and compromise," the statement added.    The attack, the most deadly since the 30 January elections, came as Mr. Annan's Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, has held talks across the full political spectrum in Iraq in an effort to ensure that all elements participate in writing the new constitution, the main task of the new assembly, especially in view of the very low voter turnout and consequent representation of Sunni Arabs.    Shiite Muslim Arabs, who voted in large numbers, are estimated to constitute about 60 per cent of the population, while Kurds – who also turned out en masse for the polls – and Sunni Arabs make up about 20 per cent each.    February 19, 2005.    Scores killed in attacks during Iraq Shiite ceremonies. (Reuters)    A series of suicide attacks and car bombings have killed scores of people in Iraq on the eve of the year's most important Shiite religious ritual. There are fears of an outbreak of sectarian violence following the attacks, which have killed at least 26 Shiites and are Iraq's bloodiest since the January 30 elections. The election saw power shift to Shiites after decades of oppression under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.    Local hospital officials say the latest attack, a car bomb exploded outside a Shiite mosque in the town of Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, killing seven people and wounding 10. Suicide bombings of two Shiite mosques in Baghdad earlier killed at least 17 people.    Police said in a separate incident, a rocket landed near a police station and close to a mosque in a Shiite district of north-western Baghdad, killing three people and wounding five in a shop. Hours later a suicide bomber killed two policemen and a member of the Iraq National Guard in Baghdad.    In the first suicide attack, a man wearing an explosives-packed vest merged into a crowd near a mosque in south-west Baghdad and blew himself up. Yarmouk hospital said the blast killed 15 people and wounded 33. US military and police sources said soon afterwards an explosion shook a second Shiite mosque in western Baghdad. Police said two suicide bombers had approached a crowd outside the mosque. They were spotted by police, who shot them, but one still blew himself up, killing at least two people..    The attacks came as thousands of Shiites marched through the city for Ashura, a day after a Shiite alliance was confirmed as winner of last month's historic election, handing power for the first time to the long oppressed community.    A majority of Sunni Muslims abstained from the polls. UN Security-General Kofi Annan condemned the attacks. In Kirkuk, a blast killed a man at a Shiite-Turkman mosque.    Friday's attacks recalled Ashura last year, when 170 people were killed in a series of suicide bombings in Baghdad and Kerbala, a holy city to the south of Baghdad where the Ashura ritual, commemorating a 7th century martyr, is most intense. Dressed in black for mourning and holding aloft green banners bearing the name Hussein, the martyred grandson of the prophet Mohammed, thousands filled central Baghdad for the Ashura march, some of them flailing themselves with chains.    Most members of the Sunni Muslim sect that had dominated Iraq for decades until a US-led invasion overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003 did not vote in the poll and they will barely be represented in the new 275-seat National Assembly. Mohsen al-Hakim, political adviser to Abdul-Aziz, said he expected more attacks on Shiites during Ashura. But he said the community would not be provoked into a violent response.    18 February 2005 (UN News)    Condemning the deadly mosque bombings that took place today during prayer in Baghdad, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to Iraqis of all backgrounds to come together in rebuilding the country.    A statement issued by Mr. Annan's spokesman said the Secretary-General "regrets the continued acts of intolerance and violence, particularly when perpetrated against innocent civilians and places of worship." It said now that the elections have been successfully held, the Secretary-General "appeals to Iraqis of all faiths, ethnic backgrounds and political persuasions to come together in a spirit of dialogue and national reconciliation to build a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Iraq."    The statement also pledged the United Nations continued support of the Iraqi people "to help them succeed in this critical period of their history."    Mr. Annan stressed that if requested the UN could assist with the constitutional process and in political outreach, especially towards those segments of Iraqi society that did not participate in the elections for the new constituent assembly. Turnout by Sunni Arabs, about 20 per cent of the population, was very low.    28 Feb. (Reuters - Alertnet)    Here is short chronology of some of the major bomb attacks in Iraq in the past year:    Feb 1, 2004 - 117 people are killed and 133 wounded when two suicide bombers blow themselves up in Arbil at the offices of the two main Kurdish factions in northern Iraq.    Feb 10 - Suicide car bomb rips through a police station in Iskandariya south of Baghdad, killing 53.    Feb 11 - Suicide car bomb explodes at an Iraqi army recruitment centre in Baghdad, killing 47.    March 2 - 171 people are killed in twin attacks, which involved three suicide bombers in Baghdad and a suicide bomber, hidden explosives and mortars in Kerbala. Nearly 400 people were wounded in the blasts on the day Iraqis marked Ashura.    April 21 - Suicide bombers kill 73 people, including 17 children, in co-ordinated strikes in blasts at three police stations in Basra, and at the police academy in nearby Zubeir.    June 24 - Rebels wreak havoc in Baquba, Falluja, Ramadi, Mosul and Baghdad with coordinated car bombings and assaults on local security forces in which around 100 people are killed.    July 28 - Suicide car bomb kills at least 68 people in Baquba, including men lined up outside a police recruiting centre.    Sept 14 - A car bomb near a police station in Baghdad kills at least 47 people and wounds 114 in a nearby market.    Sept 30 - Insurgents detonate three car bombs near a U.S. military convoy in southern Baghdad, killing 41 people, 34 of them children, and wounding 139.    Dec 19 - A suicide car bomb blast in Najaf, 300 metres from the Imam Ali shrine, near crowds of people, kills 52 and wounds at least 140. On the same day, a car bomb explodes in Kerbala, killing 14 and injuring at least 51.    Dec 21 - A suicide bomb attack kills 21 people and wounds 69 at the Forward Operating Base Marez in Mosul. Militant group Ansar al-Sunna say they were behind the attack.    Jan 2, 2005 - Suicide car bombers hit a bus packed with Iraqi National Guards outside a U.S. military base near Balad, killing 26.    Jan 5 - A suicide car bomb attack on a police academy in Hilla, kills at least 15.    Jan 30 - Insurgents unleash at least nine suicide bombings on Iraq's historic election day, killing at least 35 in total.    Feb 7 - Suicide bombers kill at least 27 in attacks in two Iraqi cities; at least 15 people are killed outside a Baquba police station, and 12 die in a blast at a Mosul hospital.    Feb 8 - 21 are killed and 27 wounded by a suicide bomb in the west of Baghdad. Zarqawi's group claims responsibility.    Feb 28 - A suicide car bomb attack on a crowd of people in Hilla, south of Baghdad, kills 105 people and wounds 130.
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