TOP 100 NEWS SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Eight Americans Die in Afghan Blast Eight Americans were killed in an explosion at a U.S. compound in Afghanistan on Wednesday, officials said. online.wsj.com |
Nigeria leader signature 'forged' Opposition parties in Nigeria accuse the government of forging the president's signature on budget documents. news.bbc.co.uk |
Israel 'sorry' over Turkey snub Israel apologises to Turkey in a bid to defuse a row over the treatment of Turkey's envoy in Tel Aviv. news.bbc.co.uk |
'Scores dead' in Nigeria clashes At least 149 people die in two days of clashes between Christian and Muslim gangs in the Nigerian city of Jos, officials say. news.bbc.co.uk |
Did Baghdad hotel attack come from terrorist marriage of convenience? Iraqi officials claim alliance of former Ba'ath party members and Sunni militants trying to destabilise governmentFour devastating bombing campaigns within five months and Iraq once more has the feeling of a nation near the precipice. Today's attacks were again designed to shock – in the most visible manner possible.All four hotels that were hit are well-known symbols that jut from the low-set desert capital in a decaying reminder of grander days. In August and October it was government ministries and the Baghdad council. In December more of the same, plus a court house.This time the targets were the places that the elite and the press corps gather. The message was the same: those who want to wreak havoc can send their bombers anywhere.The ease with which the hotels' security perimeters were penetrated, especially the Hamra and Babylon, has rattled locals who want to believe that things are safer now. But even more shocking is how big car bombs were again driven through highly strategic and ostensibly secure areas of the capital, past numerous checkpoints and security forces that are more competent now that at any time since the invasion.Of further concern is the timing of today's blast, within minutes of the execution of one of Saddam Hussein's most ruthless loyalists, Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as Chemical Ali. He is the man who gassed the Kurds of Halabja, killing more than 5,000 in 1988. Chemical Ali is the most high-profile figure executed since Saddam himself.The timing seems more than coincidental. Chemical Ali's hangman had been readying himself for days – a fact that was well known publicly. The Iraqi government's oft-repeated accusation that former Ba'athists have been stirring the violence now looks a lot stronger.Iraqi officials believe that the wave of attacks, all well planned and meticulously executed, were the result of an unlikely alliance between exiled Ba'athists – a largely secular lot that kept Saddam and themselves in power through ruthless oppression of the masses – and Sunni militants who oppose all manner of secular rule.They say a conspiracy to destablise the Shia-majority, western-backed government was hatched at a meeting near Damascus on 7 July last year. It was attended by two-high profile exiled Iraqi Ba'athists, as well as Syrian intelligence officials and military officers.Ever since, security officials have been one step behind a resurgent threat, which is clearly more sophisticated than the market place bombs that peppered daily life from 2005 to 2007.There is a growing sense of foreboding in Baghdad that the next seven weeks will bring more of the same: a well-intentioned security force lagging behind a canny and powerful enemy that is determined to prevent a Shia majority in the heartland of Arabia from remaining the status quo.IraqMartin Chulovguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |