ECW
09-04-2007, 04:27 PM
Talk about a lot of hooey over nothing. And here I thought the 109th Republican Congress was a DO NOTHING bunch.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Parliament reconvened Tuesday after a monthlong summer break but took up none of the key benchmark legislation demanded by Washington ahead of a report to Congress on progress in Iraq.
An appeals court, meanwhile, upheld death sentences imposed against "Chemical Ali" al-Majid and two other Saddam Hussein lieutenants convicted of crimes against humanity for their roles a massacre of Kurds, a judge said.
Al-Majid, Saddam's cousin and former defense minister, gained the nickname "Chemical Ali" after poison gas attacks on Kurdish towns in the 1980s.
The Iraqi High Tribunal upheld his death sentence in a majority decision, as well as those of former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, a former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces, appellate court judge Munir Hadad told The Associated Press. Under Iraqi law they must now be executed within the next 30 days.
Parliament in July shrugged off calls from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to cancel or shorten the traditional summer pause, saying after putting the break off for a month that there was no point waiting any longer for the premier to deliver the legislation.
The U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are due in Washington to report to Congress next week on progress in Iraq since the introduction of 30,000 more American troops, including whether advances are being made toward national reconciliation.
While parliament was in recess, al-Maliki tried to break the impasse with major Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish leaders in a high-level meeting just over a week ago. It brought al-Maliki together fellow Shiite Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the head of the northern autonomous Kurdish region Massoud Barzani and President Jalal Talabani, who is also a Kurd.
They said they agreed in principle on some issues that the U.S. has set as benchmarks for progress, among them holding provincial elections, releasing prisoners held without charge and changing the law preventing many former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from holding government jobs and elected office.
But no details were released and committees must hash out final versions of legislation to be presented to parliament. Iraqi officials have announced similar deals in the past, only to have them fall apart.
On Monday, however, al-Maliki said the de-Baathification draft law - one of the U.S.'s 18 benchmarks - was ready and would be soon be taken to parliament.
"I believe that the parliament ... will approve it," he said.
The session opened with 158 members of 275 present - enough for a quorum, but deputy parliament speaker Khaled al-Attiyah told the AP that it has not yet received the de-Baathification draft law for discussion. He added, however, that he expects it will be received soon.
Still, he said he did not expect to parliament to begin discussing another key draft law - on oil revenue sharing - before mid-September. The measure has been in the hands of a constitutional committee for months and has not emerged in parliament for a vote.
more...
blah blah blah
more people dying
blah blah blah
limited time link (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070904/D8RENJQO1.html)
BAGHDAD (AP) - Parliament reconvened Tuesday after a monthlong summer break but took up none of the key benchmark legislation demanded by Washington ahead of a report to Congress on progress in Iraq.
An appeals court, meanwhile, upheld death sentences imposed against "Chemical Ali" al-Majid and two other Saddam Hussein lieutenants convicted of crimes against humanity for their roles a massacre of Kurds, a judge said.
Al-Majid, Saddam's cousin and former defense minister, gained the nickname "Chemical Ali" after poison gas attacks on Kurdish towns in the 1980s.
The Iraqi High Tribunal upheld his death sentence in a majority decision, as well as those of former defense minister Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai and Hussein Rashid Mohammed, a former deputy director of operations for the Iraqi armed forces, appellate court judge Munir Hadad told The Associated Press. Under Iraqi law they must now be executed within the next 30 days.
Parliament in July shrugged off calls from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to cancel or shorten the traditional summer pause, saying after putting the break off for a month that there was no point waiting any longer for the premier to deliver the legislation.
The U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are due in Washington to report to Congress next week on progress in Iraq since the introduction of 30,000 more American troops, including whether advances are being made toward national reconciliation.
While parliament was in recess, al-Maliki tried to break the impasse with major Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish leaders in a high-level meeting just over a week ago. It brought al-Maliki together fellow Shiite Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the head of the northern autonomous Kurdish region Massoud Barzani and President Jalal Talabani, who is also a Kurd.
They said they agreed in principle on some issues that the U.S. has set as benchmarks for progress, among them holding provincial elections, releasing prisoners held without charge and changing the law preventing many former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party from holding government jobs and elected office.
But no details were released and committees must hash out final versions of legislation to be presented to parliament. Iraqi officials have announced similar deals in the past, only to have them fall apart.
On Monday, however, al-Maliki said the de-Baathification draft law - one of the U.S.'s 18 benchmarks - was ready and would be soon be taken to parliament.
"I believe that the parliament ... will approve it," he said.
The session opened with 158 members of 275 present - enough for a quorum, but deputy parliament speaker Khaled al-Attiyah told the AP that it has not yet received the de-Baathification draft law for discussion. He added, however, that he expects it will be received soon.
Still, he said he did not expect to parliament to begin discussing another key draft law - on oil revenue sharing - before mid-September. The measure has been in the hands of a constitutional committee for months and has not emerged in parliament for a vote.
more...
blah blah blah
more people dying
blah blah blah
limited time link (http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070904/D8RENJQO1.html)