"Armed Groups" Contact Iraqi Presidency, Offer to Lay Down Arms

November 28, 2005 --

"Armed Groups" Contact Iraqi Presidency, Offer to Lay Down Arms
Armed groups had contacted the Iraqi Presidency and expressed readiness to lay down their weapons and join the political process in Iraq, the Iraqi president's national security adviser Wafiq al-Samarra'i said in an interview with al Jazeera TV. Al-Samarra'i stressed that those who contacted the presidency were members of "important armed groups." The Associated Press had reported that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi held talks for two weeks with members of some armed groups in Al-Anbar Governorate. Meanwhile, U.S. ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalizad confirmed to ABC News that there will be negotiations with the insurgency, which will be conducted primarily by the Iraqi government. Khalilzad said he was willing to play a role in those talks. (Al Jazeera, AP, ABC News)

Diplomats Hunt for Westerners Said Seized In Iraq
Western diplomats hunted on Monday for information on the fate of a group of American, British and Canadian aid workers reported kidnapped in Baghdad, but there was no clue as to who had seized them or why. (Reuters)

Saddam Trial Resumes, Then Is Postponed
Saddam Hussein Trail Resumes After 5-Week Break, Then Is Adjourned Until Dec. 5. (AP)

Video: Saddam Back in Court (ABC News)

Q&A: Saddam on Trial
Saddam Hussein has gone on trial in Iraq facing charges that include murder and torture. (BBC)

8 Sunnis Arrested in Assassination Plot
Iraqi police have arrested eight Sunni Arabs in the northern city of Kirkuk for allegedly plotting to assassinate the investigating judge who prepared the case against Saddam Hussein, a senior police commander said Sunday. (AP)

Iraq Set to Lose Billions of Dollars in Oil Rip-Off
Iraq is currently losing millions of dollars in "rip-off" deals between the US-backed government in Baghdad and international oil companies, a report published in London on Tuesday said. (Asharq al Awsat)

Paying for Terror
How jihadist groups are using organized-crime tactics--and profits--to finance attacks on targets around the globe. (US News & World Report)

A Godfather's Lethal Mix of Business and Politics
He is a calm and quiet man, say those who know him, even when he's threatening your life. The boss of India's top syndicate controls a criminal network that reaches into 14 countries, with a small army of contract killers, smugglers, and extortionists at his command. But there is another side to Dawood Ibrahim. The Muslim exile from Bombay has thrown in his lot with al Qaeda and other jihadists, according to the U.S. and Indian governments, and has become one of the world's most wanted terrorists. (US News & World Report)

Tehran 'Secretly Trains' Chechens to Fight In Russia
Iran is secretly training Chechen rebels in sophisticated terror techniques to enable them to carry out more effective attacks against Russian forces, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal. (The Telegraph)

5 Officials to Be Allowed to Go to Vienna for Questioning
Heading off a direct confrontation with the UN Security Council, Syria has agreed to allow five officials to leave Damascus to be questioned in Vienna by the prosecutor investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (Chicago Tribune)

Mehlis Has Enough Evidence to Arrest Two Officials
The UN investigator into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al Hariri has enough evidence to arrest two Syrian officials, Rustom Ghazali, the former chief of military intelligence in Lebanon, and his assistant Jame' Jame'. Their names were believed to be on the list of five officials who will be questioned in Vienna, informed sources in Paris told al Hayat newspaper. The sources said Mehlis will request their arrest soon. Senior Syrian sources told al Hayat that "the Vienna list" also includes a civilian who UN Investigator Detlec Mehlis had not met before and who is suspected of having a relationship with the Lebanese Islamic Charitable Projects known as Al Ahbash. (Al Hayat)

No Syrian Top Brass on U.N. Hariri Probe List
U.N. investigators probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri will question five relatively junior Syrian officials in Austria later this week, diplomatic sources said on Sunday.  (Reuters)

Man Claims He Was Bribed to Frame Syria UN Hariri Probe

A man has claimed on Syrian state TV that he was bribed to accuse top Syrian officials of the murder of Rafik Hariri in his testimony to the UN commission into the former Lebanese premier's assassination. (AP)

Sources following the investigation told the Arab online news website Elaph this was a clear attempt by Syrian intelligence to discredit the UN report about al Hariri's assassination. They described the witness's new televised statements as being "fabricated." Husam was the witness who reportedly told Mehlis that the Mitsubishi car used in the attack was booby-trapped in Syria (Elaph)