US Separation Wall Around Azamiyah Iraq Neighborhood Rejected

23 April 2007

Iraqi authorities say bombings across the country have killed at least 26 people and wounded more than 50 others Monday.

The attacks included a suicide bombing that killed 10 people outside the offices of the Kurdistan Democratic Party near the northern city of Mosul.

A suicide car bomber also struck a police station in Baqouba, 60 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, killing 10 people.

Another suicide bomber killed at least six people at a Baghdad restaurant just outside the heavily fortified Green Zone.

U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker says the American military will respect the wishes of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who wants to halt the construction by U.S. forces of a wall around a Baghdad neighborhood.

Azamiyah Iraq Wall

The three-mile concrete wall in the centre of Baghdad is along the most murderous faultline between Sunni and Shia Muslims

Mr. Maliki told reporters Sunday in Cairo that there are other ways to protect the Azamiyah neighborhood. He said that sectarian violence in Iraq is largely under control.

Construction on the barrier began earlier this month. U.S. military officials say the concrete wall is necessary because Shi'ites in the neighborhood are attacking Sunnis, who then retaliate.

Iraqi national police stopped a suicide bomber operating in the Sadr City neighborhood in eastern Baghdad at about 2:30 p.m. yesterday. Elsewhere, Iraqi and coalition forces captured numerous suspected terrorists and found several weapons caches.

The bomber, driving a Toyota Costa bus, detonated the bomb as Iraqi police began searching the vehicle when it was stopped at an Iraqi national police checkpoint. The bomber was killed, and another Iraqi civilian was injured.

In other operations in Iraq yesterday, coalition forces captured 13 suspected terrorists in raids in central Iraq. Coalition forces captured two suspected of having ties to al Qaeda southeast of Baghdad, and 11 suspected terrorists were captured in raids west of Taji, north of Baghdad.

In operations April 20, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers captured a suspected al Qaeda leader north of Tarmiyah in an early morning raid. The soldiers, working off of tips from local residents, also detained 14 suspected insurgents. No U.S. soldiers were killed or wounded in the operation. All 15 suspects were detained for questioning.

Another suspected al Qaeda leader was captured in Nineveh province. With coalition advisors present for support, Iraqi forces raided the village of Fadiliyah and captured the suspect.

Iraqi forces also detained 46 suspected insurgents during the operation. The suspected leader is believed to be a mid-level member in the al Qaeda leadership responsible for the flow of foreign fighters in northern Iraq from Syria. No Iraqi or coalition forces were injured during the operation.

In weapons cache finds April 20:

--Five suspected insurgents were detained when explosive device-making materials were found in the home of a suspected militia leader. Soldiers from a military transition team found the materials.

--Paratroopers from Troop A, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, found ammunition and detained the six suspects at a cache site south of Baghdad. The cache stored five charges for mortar rounds, two boxes of machine gun ammunition, and a box of various rounds of ammunition.

--Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers found a weapons cache containing 10 155 mm artillery rounds while on a joint patrol in Jisr Diyala. Iraqi police also discovered a cache there containing 100 155 mm shell casings.

All suspects are being held for further questioning.