lily
05-05-2008, 10:03 PM
Oopsie! (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050401738.html?hpid=moreheadlines)
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, May 5, 2008; Page A10
BAGHDAD, May 4 -- The Iraqi government said Sunday that it has "concrete
evidence" Iran is fomenting violence in Iraq and that a high-level panel had
been formed to document the proof.
The statement came as Iraqi officials find themselves trapped between the
United States and Iran, which have each accused the other of wreaking havoc
in Iraq. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in a particularly delicate
situation because he is close to American and Iranian officials.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh called reporters late Sunday night
to clarify remarks he made at a news conference earlier in the day, when he
appeared to say that there was no hard evidence that Iran was allowing
weapons to come into Iraq. Dabbagh said his comments had been
misinterpreted.
"There is an interference and evidence that they have interfered in Iraqi
affairs," Dabbagh said in an interview arranged by a U.S. official. When
asked how he would characterize the proof that Iranian weapons are flowing
into Iraq, he said: "It is a concrete evidence."
The U.S. government has long accused Iran of providing the powerful roadside
bombs known as explosively formed penetrators to Shiite militiamen who
attack American troops. Iran has denied any such role.
Dabbagh said that after Maliki launched an offensive last month in the
southern city of Basra, weapons were found that were clearly produced in
Iran.
"The truth came out; there is evidence of Iranian weapons in Iraq," he said.
"Now we need to document who sent them."
Dabbagh said the high-level committee was formed three days ago and includes
officials from the Interior and Defense Ministries.
Meanwhile, in the Sadr City district of the capital, clashes between U.S.
troops and fighters loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr continued
overnight Saturday. The U.S. military said it killed at least five fighters
in Hellfire missile attacks.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, Iraq's first lady survived a roadside bomb attack on
her motorcade as she traveled to a cultural festival at the National
Theater. Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, the wife of President Jalal Talabani, was not
hurt, but four of her guards were injured, according to Talabani's office.
And in the northern city of Mosul, gunmen killed a journalist, Sarwa
Abdel-Wahab Thanoun, who worked for various television stations and for an
Iraqi news agency. The attackers pulled Thanoun, 36, out of a car and shot
her in front of her mother.
At least 127 journalists have been killed in Iraq, the most dangerous
country in the world for reporters, since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003,
according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
By Amit R. Paley
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, May 5, 2008; Page A10
BAGHDAD, May 4 -- The Iraqi government said Sunday that it has "concrete
evidence" Iran is fomenting violence in Iraq and that a high-level panel had
been formed to document the proof.
The statement came as Iraqi officials find themselves trapped between the
United States and Iran, which have each accused the other of wreaking havoc
in Iraq. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in a particularly delicate
situation because he is close to American and Iranian officials.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh called reporters late Sunday night
to clarify remarks he made at a news conference earlier in the day, when he
appeared to say that there was no hard evidence that Iran was allowing
weapons to come into Iraq. Dabbagh said his comments had been
misinterpreted.
"There is an interference and evidence that they have interfered in Iraqi
affairs," Dabbagh said in an interview arranged by a U.S. official. When
asked how he would characterize the proof that Iranian weapons are flowing
into Iraq, he said: "It is a concrete evidence."
The U.S. government has long accused Iran of providing the powerful roadside
bombs known as explosively formed penetrators to Shiite militiamen who
attack American troops. Iran has denied any such role.
Dabbagh said that after Maliki launched an offensive last month in the
southern city of Basra, weapons were found that were clearly produced in
Iran.
"The truth came out; there is evidence of Iranian weapons in Iraq," he said.
"Now we need to document who sent them."
Dabbagh said the high-level committee was formed three days ago and includes
officials from the Interior and Defense Ministries.
Meanwhile, in the Sadr City district of the capital, clashes between U.S.
troops and fighters loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr continued
overnight Saturday. The U.S. military said it killed at least five fighters
in Hellfire missile attacks.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, Iraq's first lady survived a roadside bomb attack on
her motorcade as she traveled to a cultural festival at the National
Theater. Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, the wife of President Jalal Talabani, was not
hurt, but four of her guards were injured, according to Talabani's office.
And in the northern city of Mosul, gunmen killed a journalist, Sarwa
Abdel-Wahab Thanoun, who worked for various television stations and for an
Iraqi news agency. The attackers pulled Thanoun, 36, out of a car and shot
her in front of her mother.
At least 127 journalists have been killed in Iraq, the most dangerous
country in the world for reporters, since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003,
according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.