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Iraqi PM says major battle with Al-Qaeda nearing
IRAQI Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki declared "final war" on al-Qaeda after bomb attacks killed dozens of people including a police chief in the city of Mosul.At least 35 people were killed and 217 wounded in a massive bomb attack Wednesday that obliterated a building and destroyed houses in Mosul, Iraq's third main city and capital of Nineveh province. A suicide bomber on Thursday killed provincial police chief Brigadier General Salah al-Juburi and two other officers when they went to inspect the previous day's carnage. Mr Maliki said Iraqi forces were moving towards Mosul, 370km north of Baghdad, for a major assault that would become a decisive battle. "We have formed an operations centre in Nineveh (province) for a final war against al-Qaeda and the remnants of the former (Saddam Hussein) regime," Mr Maliki said. "Today our forces are moving towards Mosul. What we have planned in Nineveh will be final. It will be a decisive battle," he said. "The crime committed by al-Qaeda on Wednesday in Nineveh is just the last remains of their resources. We have defeated al-Qaeda in Iraq and only Nineveh remains." He warned that the Iraqi army was now a powerful force. "We have a real Iraqi army. I want to say that to all those people who think they can do things in front of the Iraqi security forces that those days have gone." US intelligence experts warned that Mosul remained a dangerous "strategic centre of gravity for al-Qaeda" due to its road links to the Syrian border, which most foreign fighters used as their springboard. The jihadists can easily blend in with the local population. Three weeks ago, US and Iraqi forces launched a fresh assault against al-Qaeda operatives, blamed for much of the violence in Iraq. On Thursday, Mr Maliki issued an angry statement saying that those behind the Mosul attacks would be hunted down and brought to justice. "This crime exposes the moral bankruptcy of the terrorists after a string of defeats at the hands of our armed forces," he said. Posted by: Oztralian 2008-01-25 |
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