Iraq will need foreign troops to fight insurgents even after a US-led occupation formally ends on June 30 in line with a UN resolution adopted unanimously overnight, Iraq's interim prime minister said.
"The sovereignty is going to be total," Iyad Allawi told Fox News in an interview that was be aired yesterday.
"We ask in fact and we want the ... multinational forces to help us to face the security threats until such a time that we are able to build our own security and move ahead," he said.
Underlining the challenge, guerrillas launched a mortar attack on Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, killing 12 people, and blew up at least one northern fuel pipeline.
Three Italian security guards rescued by US-led special forces in Iraq returned to Italy on Wednesday after nearly two months in captivity. A fourth hostage was shot dead earlier after Italy rejected demands that its troops leave Iraq.
The US and Britain, whose invasion ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein 14 months ago, hailed passage of the UN resolution that endorses a "sovereign interim government" in Iraq and mandates a US-led multinational force to keep the peace.
Compromises offered by Washington and London, at French and German insistence, over how much control Iraqis will have over US-led forces helped overcome council divisions, but few expect the resolution to calm daily violence in Iraq soon.
Iraqi Kurds, unhappy with the omission of any reference to an interim constitution that guarantees their autonomy, said they might quit Allawi's newly formed government in protest.
"If the leadership calls on us to withdraw from the government, we will do so," Public Works Minister Nasreen Berwari said.
Iraq's hugely influential Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, reiterated this week he would oppose any UN resolution that mentioned the interim constitution.
The UN measure provoked little reaction among ordinary Iraqis consumed by security fears and economic hardship.
"Is the resolution going to give us electricity or water? I doubt it," said Eman Abdullah, a 30-year-old policewoman.
In the Fallujah attack, rebels fired mortars at forces who had taken over security in the flashpoint town at the behest of US forces after a bloody counter-insurgency campaign there.
Iraqi officers said 12 of their men had been killed and 10 wounded in the attack on a camp of the Fallujah Brigade.
Also see story:
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
RSS