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Saddam's nephew arrested
(Al-Adala) In a raid conducted north of Tikrit, Iraqi security forces have arrested Aymen Sabawi, the son of a half-brother of Saddam Hussein. Sabawi was once part of Saddam's inner circle, and is now believed to be funding the insurgents and supplying them with weapons and explosives. Iraqi security forces also arrested a number of Sabawi's associates and seized large quantities of explosives.
(Al-Adala is issued daily by the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.)
President wants role for Turkomans
(Al-Ittihad) Receiving a delegation from the Turkoman Front, President Jalal Talabani said the Turkoman community must have a role in the political process, and voiced support for the idea of assigning them one of the posts of deputy prime minister. He urged them to live at peace with the Kurds in Kirkuk, and pledged to see that their rights are underpinned in the new Iraqi constitution.
(Al-Ittihad is published daily by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.)
(Al-Bayan) Two insurgents with a detonator. One tells the other, "Don't be afraid - if they capture you, say you are targeting the Americans and you're sorry. Then they'll set you free." The cartoon suggests that captured insurgents are not punished harshly enough.
Arms licenses for doctors
(Al-Sabah) The Iraqi interior ministry has agreed to grant gun licenses to doctors who have received threats, so they can defend themselves. The ministry will assign pistols or rifles to doctors for use against insurgent attacks, and will provide training in how to use them. Police will also be stationed near healthcare centres. A health ministry representative said more than 130 doctors had been kidnapped and killed.
(Al-Sabah is an independent publicly-owned newspaper coming out daily.)
De-Baathification effort under fire
(Al-Mashriq) A member of Iraq's de-Baathification committee, Hussein al-Tahhan, has accused outgoing prime minister Ayad Allawi of obstructing the process when he was in office. He accused Allawi of appointing many former Baathists to important positions without running the appointments past the committee. Tahhan said the committee does not want to see a campaign of purges, but it believes "criminals" should not have a chance to join the new government. The new interior minister, for example, inherits more than 1,000 former Baathists who were given posts by the outgoing administration.
(Al-Mashriq is published daily by Al-Mashriq Institute for Media and Cultural Investments.)
Satellite surveillance for Mosul
(Al-Mada) High-ranking security sources have told al-Mada that the multilateral forces have made plans to conduct surveillance of two main streets in Mosul by satellite. A special unit has been set up to watch the satellite images and monitor movements by insurgents. Security sources have recently suggested that there could be an upsurge in violence in Mosul.
(Al-Mada is issued daily by Al-Mada Institute for Media, Culture and Arts.)
Najaf to get more police and more power
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed) Najaf deputy governor Abdul Hussein Abtan has announced that a police station will be opened in every district to bolster the role of law officers in maintaining order. He also said 40 petrol stations will be set up, doubling up as s fuel stockpiles. Finally, 50 large generators will be refurbished with a total output capacity of 96 megawatts in an effort to solve the energy shortage.
(Al-Sabah al-Jadeed is an independent daily paper.)
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