IRAQ: Iraqis pay tribute to a strongman

Memories of Abdul Kareem Qasim (right), Iraq’s first leader after the monarchy, were alive today as Iraq celebrated the anniversary of the establishment of the modern Iraqi republic in 1958.

His supporters view him as a defender of the poor who fought for the state’s rights against the interests of the West. His detractors view him as the first in a series of disastrous would-be strongmen who led Iraq on to the path to instability that culminated in dictator Saddam Hussein.

Qasim was killed by the Baath party in a coup in 1963, bookending his own power grab five years earlier, which ended with his supporters killing King Faisal II. By 1963, Qasim had been undone by his poor relationship with the West, rivalry with Egypt, a Kurdish rebellion in the north and his own crackdowns against opponents.

But today, state television broadcast a documentary, entitled “Supporter of the Poor,” remembering him in a favorable light. The movie showed grainy footage of the tall, lanky army general in uniform, invoking nostalgia for the era before Iraq was plagued by successive wars and upheaval. The timing was interesting given the ongoing debate in Iraqi politics about whether the country needs a strong head of state or whether power should be decentralized and have a series of checks and balances to avoid the emergence of another autocratic ruler like Hussein.

IRAQ: International soccer returns to Baghdad

Iraq’s future might be fraught with peril. Bombs explode daily around the country and its myriad political problems remain unsolved. But on Tuesday night, Iraqis’ desire for  ordinary lives was on display as international soccer returned to Baghdad.

For the first time since 2002, a team from abroad dared venture to Baghdad to engage in the national pastime. The opponents were the Palestinian team, a people themselves no stranger to war and still without statehood. Baghdad, where on any given day bloodshed can occur, from mortar fires, to rockets to suicide bombs, took all security precautions.

IRAN: Large crowd gathers, gets dispersed by tear gas

In this amateur video that emerged from today's anti-government demonstration in Iran, an impressive crowd gathers, shaking off its fears of security forces, but is dispersed by incapacitating albeit nonlethal tear gas.

At first the demonstrators attempt to remain quiet, but after they're scared by approaching security forces, they begin chanting: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. We're all together."

The tear gas makes them gag and run for shelter.

The video could not be confirmed, but the events match accounts by several witnesses in contact with The Times.

-- Los Angeles Times 

Video: Demonstrators in Tehran.

IRAQ: Death toll for Iraqis jumps in June

Offering a possible harbinger of what is to come now that U.S. troops have withdrawn from Iraq's cities, the Iraqi death toll in June was the highest in 11 months, the Health Ministry reported today.

A total of 438 Iraqis died in June in shootings, bombings and assassinations, 68 of them members of the security forces. That is the highest monthly total since July last year, when 465 Iraqis died violently, and includes the tolls from a string of bombings such as the one near Kirkuk last week that killed more than 70 people. It's almost three times the figure for May, 165, the lowest number of the war.

Iraqis have been celebrating the departure of U.S. troops from their cities this week, but in fact the withdrawal has been taking place for months, and by June most U.S. soldiers had vacated the bases they had been designated to leave. So the jump in the casualty toll could be a reflection of what Iraqis can expect now that U.S. forces are no longer patrolling their cities.

But the violence in Iraq has a curious habit of waxing and waning, and single monthly tolls don't give a good idea of where trends are heading. The U.S. military says insurgents are no longer capable of sustaining prolonged assaults and instead focus on generating bursts of bloodshed. 

A comparison between the half-yearly figures for this year and last year makes it clear that the level of violence is in steep decline. In the first six months of 2008, 4,514 Iraqis died violently; in the first half of this year, the figure fell to 1,657.

But 438 casualties in a single month is still a lot of deaths -- more than 14 a day -- and it is hardly surprising that a lot of Iraqis are looking to the months ahead with a great deal of trepidation.

-- Liz Sly in Baghdad

IRAQ: UNICEF announces plans to reopen Baghdad office

The United Nations Children’s Fund released a statement Tuesday announcing that the organization will reinstate operations in Baghdad after six years of working from neighboring Jordan. The humanitarian group left in 2003 because of the fighting and is returning as U.S. combat troops pull back.  CNN is reporting on the announcement and according to the news agency, UNICEF says, "This marks the beginning of the UNICEF Iraq country office's full transition back to Iraq over the next year.”

IRAQ: Baghdad celebrations over U.S. withdrawal from cities

Photos by Times photographer Saad Khalaf show scenes of revelry around Baghdad for June 30, the date  for U.S. forces to leave Iraqi population centers. Policemen decorated their cars with ribbons Tuesday, and had a public party Monday, where the police danced and musicians played.

 

IRAQ: Iraqis celebrate U.S. military's departure

Iraqis are jubilantly celebrating the departure of U.S. troops from their country, The Times is reporting. After counting down the days, they rejoicing by dancing and singing. According to The Times, Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has declared June 30 “a day of national sovereignty,” designating it a public holiday.

In central Baghdad’s Zawra Park, a mild dust storm did little to deter thousands of people from gathering to celebrate as fireworks lighted  up the sky. The BBC reports that musicians and poets entertained and that flowers adorned police patrol vehicles. On the social-networking site Twitter, people are posting congratulatory messages with the hashtag #Iraq such as “Happy National Sovereignty Day!” The Times also has a photo gallery accompanying the story on the celebrations. 

-- Amber Smith in Los Angeles

Photo: Iraqi security forces react in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, on Monday. U.S. troops will be out of Iraqi cities by Tuesday in the first step toward winding down the American war effort by the end of 2011. Credit: Nabil al-Jurani / Associated Press

IRAQ: Cement blast walls go up in another Baghdad neighborhood

(Cement walls erected by Baghdad neighborhood. Picture by Usama Redha)

Less than a month before U.S. forces leave their bases in Baghdad, the Iraqi security forces are sealing off much of the northwestern Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiya with the towering cement blast walls that the Americans first erected in neighborhoods in 2007 as a way to stop the city’s sectarian fighting.

The move comes after the Iraqi government has said it wants to start removing such walls from around neighborhoods as it seeks to promote the idea that life is improving in war-scarred Baghdad. At the end of June, the government actually hopes to open a road to the public that cuts through the Green Zone as proof that better times are here. 

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IRAQ: Abu Omar Baghdadi speaks?

The mystery surrounding the identity of a top terrorist suspect recently detained by Iraqi forces has deepened with the release of a potentially embarrassing audiotape purporting to be from Abu Omar  Baghdadi stating that the detainee isn't him.

Baghdadi is the alleged leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group created to unify Al Qaeda-affiliated factions in Iraq, and his capture would be a very big deal indeed – if it turns out to be true.

Iraq today stood by its claim that the man its forces arrested in an elaborate sting operation on April 23 is Baghdadi. Iraq's defense minister, Abdul-Qader Obeidi, appeared before a parliamentary committee and told lawmakers that there was no doubt about Baghdadi's identity. He said the audiotaped message was delivered by someone else, offering evidence of a power struggle underway among the militants over who would replace Baghdadi.