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| Iraq |
| Documents Exposed by Egyptian Government Weekly Indicate Ties Between Iraqi PM and IRGC |
| 2007-05-04 |
| An investigative article by journalist Mahdi Mustafa, published March 31, 2007 in the Egyptian government weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, featured photographs of documents indicating that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has ties with Muqtada Al-Sadr and with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The following are the main points of the article: The first document, labeled "confidential, personal, and urgent," is a January 2007 letter from Al-Maliki's office to the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, with copies to the presidency of the [Shi'ite party] Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and to the Al-Shahid Al-Sadr organization." [2] In it, Al-Maliki requests that the commanders of the Mahdi Army, who have ties with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, be pulled off the Iraqi frontlines, in order to protect them from being arrested or killed. The following is a translation of the document: "Confidential, Personal and Urgent The two other documents presented in the article reveal that Al-Maliki ordered that Iranians who entered Iraq illegally be released from prison. The first of these documents is a letter from Al-Maliki to the presidency of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, with copies to several Iraqi ministries, including the foreign ministry, which was asked to inform the Iranian embassy of the letter's content. In this document, Al-Maliki presents a list of Iranians accused of entering the country illegally, and orders to "release them [from prison] and suspend all judicial [proceedings against them]... except for those who have already been sentenced..." In the second document, Supreme Judicial Council President Madhat Al-Mahmoud confirms that 442 of the Iranians on the list have been released in accordance with Al-Maliki's order. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #23 Maybe Maliki does need to be removed. But it better be done by Iraqis, on their own initiative. I'd much prefer it myself, but nothing seems to be happening and I'm fed up over our troops paying with their lives for Iraqi inaction. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-04 23:27 |
| #22 Pappy, are you satisfied with having more of our troops die just because some self-serving bastard wants to play Iranian footsie warlord with Sadr and his militias? Listen, you self-proclaimed genius - did Maliki takes pills and turn into 'Mr. Dirtbag' over the past few months? Given the stories in the past about him, all this is some new revelation? And I question the exposition by the Egyptian government. I've worked with them - and I don't trust them. They don't exactly go out of their way to be helpful to the US. They have their own priorities, especially if it a) advances the Arabs, b)involves taking Shiites down a peg and b) making Israel's existence more tenuous. Maybe Maliki does need to be removed. But it better be done by Iraqis, on their own initiative. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-05-04 23:07 |
| #21 All I can say is... I can neither confirm nor deny that some folks have been floating that for a while, but its serious as a heart attack. Maliki and his Shiite buddies are why we are losing our attempts to professionalize and de-sectarianize the Iraqe police and Military - we are getting backstabbed by the Al-Maliki. This may be CNN sourced, but its no BS from what I hear. BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's prime minister has created an entity within his government that U.S. and Iraqi military officials say is being used as a smokescreen to hide an extreme Shiite agenda that is worsening the country's sectarian divide. The "Office of the Commander in Chief" has the power to overrule other government ministries, according to U.S. military and intelligence sources. Those sources say the 24-member office is abusing its power, increasingly overriding decisions made by the Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Interior and potentially undermining the entire U.S. effort in Iraq. The Office, as it is known in Baghdad, was set up about four months ago with the knowledge of American forces in Iraq. Its goal is ostensibly to advise Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki -- the nation's new commander in chief -- on military matters. According to a U.S. intelligence source, the Office is "ensuring the emplacement of (Shiite) commanders it favors and can control, regardless of what the ministries want." Ali Dabbagh, spokesman for the Iraqi government, would not respond directly to questions about what authority the Office exercises within the Iraqi government. He denied allegations that the prime minister's advisers were trying to push a Shiite agenda. However, a senior Iraqi army officer disagreed. The officer, who is seeking help from the senior U.S. command, said: "The Office is not supposed to be taking charge like this. It's overstepping its role as an advisory office. It's not a healthy thing to have. It's people with no power who want to have power." A senior U.S. military official cited several cases in Baghdad in which (Sunni) Iraqi commanders considered capable by the United States were detained or forced out of their positions after cracking down on Shiite militias. Among the cases, an Iraqi colonel in Baghdad, who had made strides in controlling the Shiite Mehdi militia, was removed from his job, the U.S. military official said. The official also cited the case of an Iraqi National Police commander who was detained and then fired after ordering his men to crack down on Shiite militiamen. The same source said the Office is working to reinstate Iraqi officers the United States had successfully removed because the officers were frequently casting a blind eye to violence carried out by Shiite militiamen. Every senior U.S. and Iraqi military official who spoke to CNN in Baghdad about the advisers asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the story and potential political or personal backlash. http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/05/01/iraq.office/index.html |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-05-04 22:23 |
| #20 Pappy, are you satisfied with having more of our troops die just because some self-serving bastard wants to play |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-04 22:15 |
| #19 What will it take to get al-Maliki out? This SOB is getting our troops killed. If Iraq refuses to oust him for for treason, he needs to have an "accident". Oh goody. we get to reenact another part of the Viet Nam War... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2007-05-04 21:36 |
| #18 just another reason to NOT take prisoners, especially Iranian Simple. Deniable. Effective. I like it. The baddest of the bad could just be spirited away and nobody would know the difference. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-05-04 19:07 |
| #17 IMHO, just another reason to NOT take prisoners, especially Iranian ones. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-05-04 18:57 |
| #16 Hammer time, let him swing like Saddam |
| Posted by: Captain America 2007-05-04 17:47 |
| #15 May I humbly suggest a certain amount of skepticism It really matters not. Al-Maliki has previously been party to a revolving door policy regarding Iranian operatives in Iraq. His actions have already cost our soldiers their lives and that represents sufficient reason by itself to nail this turd. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-04 17:21 |
| #14 OK, so this was published in Egypt March 31st. And I thought the Pony Express was slow! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-05-04 16:19 |
| #13 And furthermore, unless this reporter is dead, I don't believe he reported this against Egypt's will. Even if he were, I'd have to wonder . . . . This just indicates that much more collusion between Egypt and Iran. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-05-04 15:47 |
| #12 The whole thing smells like BS to me. Why write this stuff down? And why this level of detail? Surely a "Move so and so here", and not some unnecessarily detailed explanation as to why, would suffice. And why does Sadr have an Al-Shahid in front of his name? He's not a martyr yet, nor does he ever plan to be. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-05-04 15:44 |
| #11 Given the Arab penchant for intrigue at the drop of a hat, this could have been a sneaky way to get the Iranians to leave the country while the border was still open. It sounds like the border has tightened up considerably since the ROE change -- remember how some politician's son tried to sneak back from Iran not long ago and was stopped at the border? His father was furious and took it as a personal insult, as I recall. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-05-04 15:35 |
| #10 Ya think? :-) |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-05-04 15:11 |
| #9 http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD157307 REVISED VERSION - PLEASE DISREGARD THE PREVIOUS SPECIAL DISPATCH #1573 Documents Exposed by Egyptian Government Weekly Allege Ties Between Iraqi PM and Iranian Revolutionary Guards An investigative article by journalist Mahdi Mustafa, published March 31, 2007 in the Egyptian government weekly Al-Ahram Al-Arabi, featured photographs of documents indicating that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has ties with Muqtada Al-Sadr and with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. [1] The following are the main points of the article: Al-Maliki Calls to Withdraw Iranian Revolutionary Guards Commanders from the Iraqi Front in Order to Protect Them The first document, labeled "secret, personal, and urgent," is a January 2007 letter from Al-Maliki's office to the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, with copies to the presidency of the [Shi'ite party] Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and to the Al-Shahid Al-Sadr organization." [2] In it, Al-Maliki requests that the commanders of the Mahdi Army, who have ties with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, be pulled off the Iraqi frontlines, in order to protect them from being arrested or killed. The following is a translation of the document: "Secret, Personal and Urgent "Based on a phone conversation with Sayyid Muqtada Al-Sadr and [after] consulting with [Iraq's National Security Advisor] Dr. Muwafaq Al-Rubai'i, in order to preserve our great achievements and in light of what the present circumstances demand, we ask to temporarily conceal the commanders of the Mahdi Army, who are connected to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, [and to remove them] from the front line [of battle] in order to protect them from being arrested or killed by the American forces. [The names of the commanders] are listed below. It would be best to send them to Iran for the time being, until the crisis passes. "In addition, [we ask] to send the commanders from the second line [of battle] to the southern regions, since we know that intensive efforts are underway to persuade the Americans to leave the situation [there] as it is. All administrative and security arrangements for the transportation of these commanders have [already] been made. "We ask you to implement [these orders] and report to us. "[Signed,] Nouri Al-Maliki, Prime Minster [of Iraq] "[List of commanders]Â… "Cc: "The Iranian Embassy [in] Baghdad, "The presidency of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, "The office of Al-Shahid Al-Sadr." Al-Maliki Orders Release of Iranians Who Entered Iraq Illegally The two other documents presented in the article reveal that Al-Maliki ordered that Iranians who entered Iraq illegally be released from prison. The first of these documents is a letter from Al-Maliki to the presidency of the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council, with copies to several Iraqi ministries, including the foreign ministry, which was asked to inform the Iranian embassy of the letter's content. In this document, Al-Maliki presents a list of Iranians accused of entering the country illegally, and orders to "release them [from prison] and suspend all judicial [proceedings against them]... except for those who have already been sentenced..." In the second document, Supreme Judicial Council President Madhat Al-Mahmoud confirms that 442 of the Iranians on the list have been released in accordance with Al-Maliki's order. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2007-05-04 15:02 |
| #8 No kidding, Mike. Folks, Egyptian "media", on a topic like the Plenty of unsavoriness to Maliki and the whole situation, but I'd guess there's a better than even chance this particular item is fabricated. |
| Posted by: Verlaine 2007-05-04 14:41 |
| #7 Not as a favor to the Iranians, but to stick it to the Iranians. But there is no doubt where much of the current Iraqi leadership spent their exile, as leaders of Iranian sponsored guerrilla groups. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-05-04 14:39 |
| #6 Please keep in mind that there is no real press freedom in Egypt, and no tradition of independent journalism. This could be a for-real, it could also be disinformation published by the Egyptian government for the purpose of undermining those pesky Americans and their foolish notion of consensual government, it could be something published by the Egyptians as a favor to the Iranians ("The enemy of my enemy . . . ."), it could be just another instance of Middle Eastern paranoia run amok (think Capitol Hill Blue or TruthOut.org, only in Arabic). May I humbly suggest a certain amount of skepticism (48hr rule/grain of salt/independent confirmation from somewhere in the civilized world) is warranted. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-05-04 14:30 |
| #5 If true, he needs to be arrested and publicly shot in front of the parliament building. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-05-04 13:50 |
| #4 What else can one expect? Nearly the entire Iraqi Shia leadership spent their exile in Iran. Those who spent their exile in the west, upon returning, were murdered, driven out, or marginalized. This was a foreseeable consequence of open borders with Iran and the hands off policy with respect to Iranian based Iraqi returnees. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-05-04 13:26 |
| #3 the whole country needs too have an accident . being a treasonous bastard has been driven into their brains so long now under saddam that they know no other way of life |
| Posted by: sinse 2007-05-04 13:18 |
| #2 What will it take to get al-Maliki out? This SOB is getting our troops killed. If Iraq refuses to oust him for for treason, he needs to have an "accident". |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-05-04 13:11 |
| #1 We are screwed.You cant trust anyone in Iraq whether Sunni or Shia!!!!! |
| Posted by: Paul 2007-05-04 13:06 |