OT: 200 Suspected Insurgents Arrested in Iraq

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/08/D8CG5RK80.html

0908iraq U.S. and Iraqi forces have encircled the insurgent stronghold of
Tal Afar, and the Iraqi military on Thursday announced the arrest of 200
suspected insurgents _ most of them foreign fighters.

The Iraqi military said 150 of those arrested Wednesday in this town near
the Syrian border were Arabs from Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Jordan.

The joint forces have reported heavy battles on the outskirts of the city
and several bombings that have mainly killed civilians. Iraqi authorities
reported most of the civilian population had fled the city, which is 260
miles north of Baghdad and about 35 miles from the Syrian border.

"Our forces arrested 150 non-Iraqi Arabs yesterday in addition to 50 Iraqi
terrorists with fake documents as they were trying to flee the city with the
(civilian) families," Iraqi army Capt. Mohammed Ahmed said.

"We ordered the families to evacuate the Sunni neighborhood of Sarai, which
is believed to be the main stronghold of the insurgents," Ahmed said

Eight civilians were killed in the city Wednesday by a suicide car bomber at
an Iraqi checkpoint, he said. On Thursday, the U.S. military said the
combined American-Iraqi force had killed seven insurgents in the past two
days.

Tal Afar is 90 percent Turkmen, and 70 percent of them are Sunnis. After the
ouster of Saddam Hussein, the United States installed a largely Shiite
leadership in the city, including the mayor and much of the police force.

The Sunnis have complained of oppression by the government and have turned
to the insurgents _ who are mainly fellow Sunnis _ for protection.

Early Thursday, a militant Web site carried a videotape showing the
destruction of a U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Tal Afar. The video,
emblazoned with the logo of al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed the armored vehicle
was struck by a roadside bomb. A U.S. military official said two Bradleys
had been hit by roadside bombs in recent days and a soldier was killed.

Also Thursday, police reported finding 17 unidentified bodies _ 15 near the
farming town of Mahmoudiya and two on Baghdad's outskirts.

The bodies found by soldiers and police near Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of
Baghdad, were in civilian clothes, with no identification documents, and had
been shot to death, police Lt. Adnan Abdulla said.

The two bodies found near a sewage plant on the outskirts of Baghdad were
blindfolded and handcuffed, police said.

In central Baghdad, a suicide car bomber Thursday targeted a passing convoy
of private U.S. security agents, wounding three passers-by. The blast near
the heavily fortified Sadir Hotel sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky in
Baghdad's busy Karradah neighborhood, a main shopping and commercial
district.

A Sept. 2 car bombing near the hotel killed an Iraqi security guard and
wounded two. The Sadir is used by foreign security agents and other
Westerners involved in rebuilding Iraq.

On Wednesday, the U.S. military, acting on a tip, raided an isolated
farmhouse outside Baghdad and rescued an American businessman held hostage
for 10 months. The kidnappers, who had kept their captive bound and gagged.

Roy Hallums, 57, was "in good condition and is receiving medical care," a
military statement said after U.S. forces freed him and an unidentified
Iraqi from the farmhouse 15 miles south of Baghdad.

Lt. Col. Steven A. Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman, said the tipster whose
information led to Hallums' release was captured just a few hours before the
operation.

Hallums, formerly of Newport Beach, Calif., was kidnapped at gunpoint from
his office in the Mansour district of Baghdad on Nov. 1, 2004. At the time,
he was working for the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co., supplying
food to the Iraqi army. The kidnappers also seized a Filipino, a Nepalese
and three Iraqis, but later freed them.

"Considering what he's been through, I understand he's in good condition,"
said Hallums' ex-wife, Susan Hallums, 53, of Corona, Calif.

The family Web site was topped with a headline: "Roy IS FREE!!!!!! 9/7/05."

More than 200 foreigners have been abducted in Iraq since the war began in
March 2003; more than 30 have been killed.

The rescue coincided with two deadly bombings detonated around the southern
city of Basra. A roadside bomb killed four private American security agents
working for the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security. And an
Interior Ministry official said 16 people were killed and 21 were injured in
a car bombing at a restaurant in a central market.

Attacks against Americans around Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, are
rare. The U.S. has only a minimal presence in the area, which is largely
patrolled by British forces. Also, Shiites, who are the dominant population
in the south, have found themselves the political winners as new government
structures take shape after the U.S.-led invasion.

In a statement posted on a Web site known as a clearinghouse of militant
claims, al-Qaida in Iraq took responsibility for the attack.

The car bombing later Wednesday at a takeout restaurant in a central Basra
market killed 16 and wounded 21, an Interior Ministry official said,
speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to
reporters.

The restaurant is in the Hayaniyah district market, a Shiite section of the
city, police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said. Two police vehicles and several
nearby shops were destroyed.

Despite a peaceful postwar history in the south, violence has spiked in the
past two months with attacks on Britons.

I am witnessing a wonderful PNW sunset;

A hundred thousand layers with a million colors.

Deepest blue to the slightest pink.

No political party, no nations, no hatred, no religion, just a bitchin
sunset.











"Scott" <pugetsounddiver@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:at_Te.36$o62.1965@news.uswest.net...
>
>
> http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/09/08/D8CG5RK80.html
>
> 0908iraq U.S. and Iraqi forces have encircled the insurgent stronghold of
> Tal Afar, and the Iraqi military on Thursday announced the arrest of 200
> suspected insurgents _ most of them foreign fighters.
>
> The Iraqi military said 150 of those arrested Wednesday in this town near
> the Syrian border were Arabs from Syria, Sudan, Yemen and Jordan.
>
> The joint forces have reported heavy battles on the outskirts of the city
> and several bombings that have mainly killed civilians. Iraqi authorities
> reported most of the civilian population had fled the city, which is 260
> miles north of Baghdad and about 35 miles from the Syrian border.
>
> "Our forces arrested 150 non-Iraqi Arabs yesterday in addition to 50 Iraqi
> terrorists with fake documents as they were trying to flee the city with
> the
> (civilian) families," Iraqi army Capt. Mohammed Ahmed said.
>
> "We ordered the families to evacuate the Sunni neighborhood of Sarai,
> which
> is believed to be the main stronghold of the insurgents," Ahmed said
>
> Eight civilians were killed in the city Wednesday by a suicide car bomber
> at
> an Iraqi checkpoint, he said. On Thursday, the U.S. military said the
> combined American-Iraqi force had killed seven insurgents in the past two
> days.
>
> Tal Afar is 90 percent Turkmen, and 70 percent of them are Sunnis. After
> the
> ouster of Saddam Hussein, the United States installed a largely Shiite
> leadership in the city, including the mayor and much of the police force.
>
> The Sunnis have complained of oppression by the government and have turned
> to the insurgents _ who are mainly fellow Sunnis _ for protection.
>
> Early Thursday, a militant Web site carried a videotape showing the
> destruction of a U.S. Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Tal Afar. The video,
> emblazoned with the logo of al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed the armored vehicle
> was struck by a roadside bomb. A U.S. military official said two Bradleys
> had been hit by roadside bombs in recent days and a soldier was killed.
>
> Also Thursday, police reported finding 17 unidentified bodies _ 15 near
> the
> farming town of Mahmoudiya and two on Baghdad's outskirts.
>
> The bodies found by soldiers and police near Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of
> Baghdad, were in civilian clothes, with no identification documents, and
> had
> been shot to death, police Lt. Adnan Abdulla said.
>
> The two bodies found near a sewage plant on the outskirts of Baghdad were
> blindfolded and handcuffed, police said.
>
> In central Baghdad, a suicide car bomber Thursday targeted a passing
> convoy
> of private U.S. security agents, wounding three passers-by. The blast near
> the heavily fortified Sadir Hotel sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky
> in
> Baghdad's busy Karradah neighborhood, a main shopping and commercial
> district.
>
> A Sept. 2 car bombing near the hotel killed an Iraqi security guard and
> wounded two. The Sadir is used by foreign security agents and other
> Westerners involved in rebuilding Iraq.
>
> On Wednesday, the U.S. military, acting on a tip, raided an isolated
> farmhouse outside Baghdad and rescued an American businessman held hostage
> for 10 months. The kidnappers, who had kept their captive bound and
> gagged.
>
> Roy Hallums, 57, was "in good condition and is receiving medical care," a
> military statement said after U.S. forces freed him and an unidentified
> Iraqi from the farmhouse 15 miles south of Baghdad.
>
> Lt. Col. Steven A. Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman, said the tipster
> whose
> information led to Hallums' release was captured just a few hours before
> the
> operation.
>
> Hallums, formerly of Newport Beach, Calif., was kidnapped at gunpoint from
> his office in the Mansour district of Baghdad on Nov. 1, 2004. At the
> time,
> he was working for the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co.,
> supplying
> food to the Iraqi army. The kidnappers also seized a Filipino, a Nepalese
> and three Iraqis, but later freed them.
>
> "Considering what he's been through, I understand he's in good condition,"
> said Hallums' ex-wife, Susan Hallums, 53, of Corona, Calif.
>
> The family Web site was topped with a headline: "Roy IS FREE!!!!!!
> 9/7/05."
>
> More than 200 foreigners have been abducted in Iraq since the war began in
> March 2003; more than 30 have been killed.
>
> The rescue coincided with two deadly bombings detonated around the
> southern
> city of Basra. A roadside bomb killed four private American security
> agents
> working for the State Department Bureau of Diplomatic Security. And an
> Interior Ministry official said 16 people were killed and 21 were injured
> in
> a car bombing at a restaurant in a central market.
>
> Attacks against Americans around Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, are
> rare. The U.S. has only a minimal presence in the area, which is largely
> patrolled by British forces. Also, Shiites, who are the dominant
> population
> in the south, have found themselves the political winners as new
> government
> structures take shape after the U.S.-led invasion.
>
> In a statement posted on a Web site known as a clearinghouse of militant
> claims, al-Qaida in Iraq took responsibility for the attack.
>
> The car bombing later Wednesday at a takeout restaurant in a central Basra
> market killed 16 and wounded 21, an Interior Ministry official said,
> speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk
> to
> reporters.
>
> The restaurant is in the Hayaniyah district market, a Shiite section of
> the
> city, police Lt. Col. Karim al-Zaidi said. Two police vehicles and several
> nearby shops were destroyed.
>
> Despite a peaceful postwar history in the south, violence has spiked in
> the
> past two months with attacks on Britons.
>
>