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18 Iraqis from Kazemiyah found executed in Mosul

By: Hamoud Kufi

BAGHDAD, Iraq: The bodies of 18 young Iraqis lured by promises of lucrative work from Kazemiyah to Mosul were found Wednesday in the northern city, an interior ministry source said Thursday as the Iraqi government extended a state of emergency for a month because of violence ahead of landmark elections.

“The men, all from the northern Kazemiyah district of Baghdad, were promised lucrative jobs at US bases in Mosul and taken there on December 8,” said the source adding that the bodies were brought back from Mosul to the Kazemiyah hospital.

Kazemiyah is home to the holy shrines of Al-Imam Mousa Al-Kazem (pbuh) and Al-Imam Muhammad Taqi Al-Jawwad (pbuh), holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh&hp)’s seventh and ninth infallible descendants.

Police said the terrorist shot the 18 men, who ranged in age from 14 to 20, execution style on December 8 after stopping their two minibuses about 30 miles west of the volatile city, 225 miles north of Baghdad.

Their hands were tied behind their backs and each was shot in the head, police said.

Mosul has seen intensified violence and clashes between Iraqi and US forces and insurgents since mid-November when insurgents overran police stations there, prompting the force to quit en masse.

Since early December more than 60 bodies, mostly Iraqi security forces personnel, have been found in the Mosul area after being executed and dumped by insurgents.

The state of emergency, originally announced two months ago, was extended for 30 days throughout the country except for the Kurdish run areas north of the country, a government statement said. The decree includes a nighttime curfew and gives the government additional power to make arrests and launch operations.

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Ayat Sistani envoy, Egyptian FM talk on preserving Iraq integrity

By: Sultan Ahmed

CAIRO, Egypt: Egypt’s Foreign Ministry announced that Minister for Foreign Affairs Ahmad Aboul-Gheith held meeting with Ayatullah Sayyed Ali As-Sistani's representative, Hamid al-Khafaf, in Cairo on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Aboul-Gheith expressed his country’s desire on the safety of Iraq’s unity, its stability and integrity, Egyptian official news agency MENA reported.

Al-Khafaf was accompanied by outstanding cleric of Lebanon Hani Al-Fahs.

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