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Politics : Bush Administration's Media Manipulation--MediaGate? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud_Infidel who wrote (7097)	6/2/2006 1:20:17 PM
From: Proud_Infidel	Respond to of 9838

Baghdad pet market bombed; 5 people dead - TROP Alert AP on Yahoo ^ \| 6/2/06 \| Qais al-Bashir -ap news.yahoo.com BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two bombs struck in quick succession at a pet market Friday in Baghdad, killing at least five people and wounding 57, while the leader of al-Qaida urged Sunnis to confront Shiites and ignore calls for national reconciliation. The explosives were left in bags at the entrance and the center of the al-Ghazil market, where Iraqis can go every Friday to buy dogs, birds, snakes and other animals, Lt. Ahmed Muhammad Ali said. About 10 minutes later, an explosion near a Shiite mosque in the eastern Baghdad neighborhood of Jadida killed two civilians and injured five, Lt. Ali Abbas said. In the southern city of Basra, Sheik Ismat Youniss was gunned down as he was walking to his Shiite mosque for Friday prayers, Capt. Mushtaq Kadhim said. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki declared a state of emergency Wednesday in the oil-rich city, but attacks persisted as the sectarian and militia violence engulfing the country's capital spread to its southern economic heartland. Gunmen also killed an Egyptian ice cream vendor in his shop in Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad. An audiotape purportedly from al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi sought to rally the Sunni Arab minority, alleging Shiite militias are killing and raping Sunnis. In the four-hour tape, posted on a Web site often used by his group also denounced top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani as an "atheist," and saying the community had collaborated with invaders throughout Iraq's history. "Oh Sunni people, wake up, pay attention and prepare to confront the poisons of the Shiite snakes who are afflicting you with all agonies since the invasion of Iraq until our day. Forget about those advocating the end of sectarianism and calling for national unity," al-Zarqawi said. The authenticity of the audiotape could not be independently confirmed. U.S. and Iraqi officials have frequently accused al-Zarqawi of seeking to spark a civil war between Sunnis and Shiites, and many of his group's suicide bombings have targeted Shiite civilians and mosques. Al-Zarqawi follows a radical Salafi version of Islam that vilifies Shiism. "Anyone calling for reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites is either a man who knows the truth but is betraying his religion and his nation ... or a man who is ignorant and should be taught," al-Zarqawi said on the tape. In a move considered key to quelling the rampant violence in the country, al-Maliki said he will fill vacancies at the crucial Defense and Interior ministries on Sunday, despite failing to reach an agreement on candidates with Iraq's fractious ethnic and sectarian parties. The appointments, which must be approved by parliament, are the keystone of al-Maliki's plan to take complete control of security around Iraq from U.S.-led forces in the next 18 months. Al-Maliki apparently decided to go ahead with the appointment of ministers for defense, interior and the lesser post of national security to end two weeks of uncertainty and protracted negotiations with Sunni Arabs and Kurds. The two key posts were temporarily being held by al-Maliki and one of his deputy prime ministers since the Cabinet was sworn in May 20. Al-Maliki said disagreements among the political blocs proved insurmountable so he decided to "present the names that we believe in to parliament to let it ... decide the issue, because total agreement by all the blocs is almost impossible." The candidates must be approved by an overwhelming majority in the 275-member parliament. Al-Maliki reportedly has three candidates for each of the posts, just in case parliament rejects his first choice. The candidates come from a pool that has been discussed at length by negotiators in recent weeks. It has been agreed that the Defense Ministry post will go to a Sunni Arab. But some candidates were rejected by Shiites who claimed they had ties to the former regime, or by Kurds who said they were connected to a campaign against their community. The Interior Ministry post will go to a Shiite. But Sunni Arabs complained that many Shiite candidates had ties to militias. Any security force will need to tame insurgent hotbeds such as Ramadi, in Iraq's volatile Anbar province. A U.S. military spokesman said American forces are "very concerned" about the situation in Ramadi because al-Qaida in Iraq is taking advantage of sectarian differences to make inroads in the city. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell confirmed about 1,500 combat troops have been moved from a reserve force in Kuwait into Anbar province, which surrounds Ramadi, to help authorities establish order. He described it as a short-term deployment to ensure continuity during summer rotations and said the focus was on quelling the al-Qaida presence in the area to keeping foreign fighters from crossing over from Syria, which borders Anbar. "The situation in Ramadi, just like in Baghdad, is serious at this time, and it's something we're paying a lot of attention to," he said. Though not powerful enough to overrun U.S. positions, insurgents in the city of 400,000 have fought U.S. and Iraqi forces to a virtual stalemate. In other developments, police said they found six bombs, seven mortar rounds and other weapons material in a grocery store west of Mosul.