Maliki condemns US raid in Karbala

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maiki has condemned the recent US raid in Karbala Province, saying the incident infringed Iraq’s sovereignty.

On Friday, American soldiers killed an unarmed Iraqi civilian and arrested four others in an early-morning military raid in Ganaga district, which is the birthplace of the Iraqi premier.

Maliki described the operation as a clear example of ‘breaking the law and infringing Iraq’s sovereignty’.

The control of security of the province has been handed over to Iraqi authorities.

According to Iraqi officials in Karbala province, before the operation US military airplanes deployed dozens of American troops to the area without informing them.

Earlier, outraged Iraqi officials had ordered an investigation into the lethal incident which drew the ire of Iraqi people.

They said that the US military operation violated the terms of the agreement on the handover of Karbala province to Iraqi troops.

“We denounce the operation and demand an explanation from US forces, as security forces in Karbala did not know about it,” said Oqeil al-Khazaali governor of Karbala city on Friday.

The civilians, who were killed and detained in the operation in the Ganaga district, were not outlaws nor did they belong to any armed group, he added.

DT/DT

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Olmert denies swap deal with Hezbollah

Israeli prime minister has rejected speculation that the release this week of a Lebanese prisoner is part of a swap with Hezbollah.

Ehud Olmert denies that Sunday’s release of Nasim Nisr heralds was an exchange that would see Israel release Lebanese prisoners for two Israeli soldiers captured in 2006, APTN reported.

At the time of Nisr’s return to Lebanon, Hezbollah transferred to Israel a box containing the body parts of Israeli soldiers. Nisr said his return was part of a larger deal.

But Olmert says Nisr was released only because his sentence was up and the Zionist regime was surprised to get the body parts.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday in Washington, Olmert has said there was no deal or coordination ahead of time.

On June 1, Lebanese prisoner Nasim Nisr, imprisoned by Israel for six years, was released from the Nitzan Prison in Ramallah.

Following the release of Nisr, Hezbollah returned the bodies of Israeli troops to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Israeli troops were killed during the Israeli 33-day war against Lebanon in 2006.

MSH/MMN

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Brown: We will take action against Iran

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says Britain will take any necessary action to assure Iran is aware of the choice it should make.

“Today Britain will urge Europe, and Europe will agree to take further sanctions against Iran,” the prime minister said in a joint press conference with US President George W. Bush.

“We will take action today that will freeze the overseas assets of the biggest bank in Iran, the Melli bank, and secondly action will start today for a new phase of sanctions on oil and gas,” Brown added.

“Our message to Iran is: You do not have to choose the path of confrontation,” cautioned the British Prime Minister in London.

He noted that the international community awaits Iran’s response to the package of nuclear incentives drawn up by world powers, adding that the British government ‘will do everything possible to maintain the dialogue’.

“But we are also clear that if Iran continues to ignore (United Nations) resolutions, to ignore our offers of partnership, we have no choice but to intensify sanctions,” the prime minister said.

Despite Iran’s transparency in its nuclear issue and international reports conceding that Tehran is not running a nuclear weapons program, the West continues to threaten the Islamic Republic with intensified sanctions.

This is while Tehran has repeatedly asserted that as a signatory to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it is entitled to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, adding that the country is not seeking to develop nuclear bombs as such weapons have no place in its defense doctrine

CS/HGH

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US: EU will impose new Iran sanctions

The White House says the European Union will announce new sanctions against Iran’s Bank Melli and the country’s oil and gas sectors.

“You’re going to hear, as the (British) prime minister (Gordon Brown) indicated, out of… the EU foreign ministers’ meeting there will be an announcement of new sanctions on Iran,” White House national security advisor Stephen Hadley told reporters on Monday.

Hadley made the remarks aboard Air Force One along with President George W. Bush. They were heading to Northern Ireland on the final leg of the US Commander in Chief’s tour of Europe.

“If the Iranian regime does not change policy and accept the offer that’s extended to them it will be very clear from the EU statement this afternoon that they will place new sanctions on Iran,” he said.

“There will be financial sanctions including on Bank Melli and also looking at oil and gas sanctions that will be very much significant to the Iranian regime.”

Hadley did not say when the sanctions might be put into effect.

A British diplomat has also said that European Union foreign ministers have agreed on a new round of sanctions against Iran’s financial, oil and gas sectors.

“There is agreement among foreign ministers to bring in these sanctions … The timetable is in the next few days,” he said Monday after European Union foreign ministers met in Luxembourg.

He gave no further details of the measures to be taken against Iran, which insists its nuclear program is aimed at peaceful purposes.

Iran asserts that as a signatory to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) it is entitled to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and the Islamic Republic is not seeking to develop nuclear bombs as such weapons have no place in its defense doctrine.

MT/AA/RA

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