lily
02-06-2007, 03:33 AM
Awesome timing! (http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/02/05/iraq.lawmaker/index.html?eref=rss_topstories)
U.S. military: Iraqi lawmaker is U.S. Embassy bomber
POSTED: 11:17 p.m. EST, February 5, 2007
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man sentenced to death in Kuwait for the 1983
bombings of the U.S. and French embassies now sits in Iraq's parliament as a
member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, according to
U.S. military intelligence.
Jamal Jafaar Mohammed's seat in parliament gives him immunity from
prosecution. Washington says he supports Shiite insurgents and acts as an
Iranian agent in Iraq.
U.S. military intelligence in Iraq has approached al-Maliki's government
with the allegations against Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, whom it says assists
Iranian special forces in Iraq as "a conduit for weapons and political
influence."
Repeated efforts by CNN to reach Jamal Jafaar Mohammed for comment through
the parliament, through the ruling Shiite Muslim coalition and the Badr
Organization -- the Iranian-backed paramilitary organization he once led --
have been unsuccessful.
A Kuwaiti court sentenced Jamal Jafaar Mohammed to death in 1984 in the car
bombings of the U.S. and French embassies the previous December. Five people
died in the attacks and 86 were wounded.
He had fled the country before the trial.
Western intelligence agencies also accuse Jamal Jafaar Mohammed of
involvement in the hijacking of a Kuwaiti airliner in 1984 and the attempted
assassination of a Kuwaiti prince.
Jamal Jafaar Mohammed won a seat in Iraq's Council of Representatives in the
U.S.-backed elections of December 2005. He represents Babil province, south
of Baghdad, in parliament.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman said officials are actively pursuing Jamal Jafaar
Mohammed's case with Iraqi officials. Al-Maliki has urged American
intelligence officials to share their information with Iraqi lawmakers, who
could strip Jamal Jafaar Mohammed of his parliamentary immunity.
"We don't want parliament to be a shelter for outlaws and wanted people,"
al-Maliki told CNN. "This is the government's view, but the parliament is
responsible. I don't think parliament will accept having people like [him]
or others currently in the parliament."
Al-Maliki's political party, Dawa, claimed responsibility for the Kuwait
bombings at the time but now disavows them. The Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim
party was forced into exile under former dictator Saddam Hussein, who was
executed in December.
The prime minister says the situation is embarrassing -- not only to his
government but to a U.S. administration that holds up Iraq's government as a
democratic model for the region.
Top U.S. officials, including President Bush, have accused Iran of meddling
in Iraq by fomenting sectarian violence and providing arms to illegal
militias. Bush has authorized U.S. troops to use deadly force against
Iranian agents in Iraq to defend American or allied forces, and the
administration's increasingly tough warnings to Tehran have raised concerns
that the four-year-old Iraq war could spread.
Al-Maliki told CNN last week that the United States and Iran should stop
using his country as a proxy battleground, accusing Iran of targeting U.S.
troops in Iraq but saying he doesn't want U.S. forces to use Iraq as a base
to attack Iraq's neighbors.
U.S. military: Iraqi lawmaker is U.S. Embassy bomber
POSTED: 11:17 p.m. EST, February 5, 2007
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man sentenced to death in Kuwait for the 1983
bombings of the U.S. and French embassies now sits in Iraq's parliament as a
member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, according to
U.S. military intelligence.
Jamal Jafaar Mohammed's seat in parliament gives him immunity from
prosecution. Washington says he supports Shiite insurgents and acts as an
Iranian agent in Iraq.
U.S. military intelligence in Iraq has approached al-Maliki's government
with the allegations against Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, whom it says assists
Iranian special forces in Iraq as "a conduit for weapons and political
influence."
Repeated efforts by CNN to reach Jamal Jafaar Mohammed for comment through
the parliament, through the ruling Shiite Muslim coalition and the Badr
Organization -- the Iranian-backed paramilitary organization he once led --
have been unsuccessful.
A Kuwaiti court sentenced Jamal Jafaar Mohammed to death in 1984 in the car
bombings of the U.S. and French embassies the previous December. Five people
died in the attacks and 86 were wounded.
He had fled the country before the trial.
Western intelligence agencies also accuse Jamal Jafaar Mohammed of
involvement in the hijacking of a Kuwaiti airliner in 1984 and the attempted
assassination of a Kuwaiti prince.
Jamal Jafaar Mohammed won a seat in Iraq's Council of Representatives in the
U.S.-backed elections of December 2005. He represents Babil province, south
of Baghdad, in parliament.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman said officials are actively pursuing Jamal Jafaar
Mohammed's case with Iraqi officials. Al-Maliki has urged American
intelligence officials to share their information with Iraqi lawmakers, who
could strip Jamal Jafaar Mohammed of his parliamentary immunity.
"We don't want parliament to be a shelter for outlaws and wanted people,"
al-Maliki told CNN. "This is the government's view, but the parliament is
responsible. I don't think parliament will accept having people like [him]
or others currently in the parliament."
Al-Maliki's political party, Dawa, claimed responsibility for the Kuwait
bombings at the time but now disavows them. The Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim
party was forced into exile under former dictator Saddam Hussein, who was
executed in December.
The prime minister says the situation is embarrassing -- not only to his
government but to a U.S. administration that holds up Iraq's government as a
democratic model for the region.
Top U.S. officials, including President Bush, have accused Iran of meddling
in Iraq by fomenting sectarian violence and providing arms to illegal
militias. Bush has authorized U.S. troops to use deadly force against
Iranian agents in Iraq to defend American or allied forces, and the
administration's increasingly tough warnings to Tehran have raised concerns
that the four-year-old Iraq war could spread.
Al-Maliki told CNN last week that the United States and Iran should stop
using his country as a proxy battleground, accusing Iran of targeting U.S.
troops in Iraq but saying he doesn't want U.S. forces to use Iraq as a base
to attack Iraq's neighbors.