Iraq News

From abcnews.com
February 7, 2005

IRAQ NEWS

Sistani Wants Islam to Be Sole Source of Legislation
Iraq's Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani and another top cleric yesterday demanded that Islam be the sole source of legislation in the country's new constitution. Hours later US Vice President Dick Cheney said Iraq has the right to shape its own democracy without becoming "an Iraqi version of America." (Arab News)

At Least 30 Killed in Iraq
Bombings target Iraqi police station in Baqubah and a hospital in Mosul. (Washington Post)

Egypt Engineers Abducted In Iraq
Four Egyptian engineers working for a mobile telephone company have been kidnapped by gunmen in Baghdad. (BBC)

Web Site: Iraq Group to Release Italian Hostage
An Iraqi group which claims it is holding an Italian journalist kidnapped in Iraq said Monday it would release her soon because she was not a spy, a statement on an Islamist Web site said. (Reuters)

Zarqawi Group Denies it's Behind Kidnapping of Italian Journalist
A statement posted online by Abu Musaab Al Zarqawi's Group, al Qaeda of Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers, denied that said it was behind the kidnapping of an Italian journalist in Iraq as some had reported. Asharq Al Awsat newspaper also reports today that a second group, al Jihad Al Islami Organization, had previously claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and threatened to kill the journalist today if Italy did not withdraw its troops from Iraq. (ABCNEWS Investigative Unit, Asharq Al Awsat)

U.N. Oil-For-Food Program Chief Suspended
Secretary-General Kofi Annan suspended the head of the U.N. oil-for-food program in Iraq and a senior U.N. official who dealt with contracts following an independent investigation that accused them of misconduct, a U.N. spokesman said Monday. (AP)

Barzan Al Tikriti Will Be First to Stand Trial
Saddam's half brother Barzan Al Tikriti will be the first person associated with the former Iraqi regime to be tried within a month, according to sources who spoke to Asharq Al Awsat newspaper. The sources however refused to say where or exactly when the trial will take place. (Asharq Al Awsat)

Miles of Barren Desert Dotted With Smugglers, Insurgents
As Washington accuses Syria of providing a haven to militants, Marines try to halt the flow of fighters and weapons into Iraq. (LA Times)

Militant Group Kills Iraqi Translator-Web
Iraqi militant group Army of Ansar al-Sunna said it had shot dead an Iraqi translator working for U.S. forces and posted an Internet video of the killing today. (Reuters)

Iraqi Police Use Kidnappers' Videos to Fight Crime
In one scene, the videotape shows three kidnappers with guns and a knife, preparing to behead a helpless man who is gagged and kneeling at their feet. (NY Times)

Six Months For Abu Ghraib Abuser
A US soldier who stamped on Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison has been sentenced to six months in jail and discharged from the army. (BBC)