Iraq's interim government reinstated the death penalty yesterday for a range of crimes including murder, kidnapping and drug offences, officials said.
Capital punishment was suspended after the toppling of Saddam Hussein in April last year. Officials, speaking at a news conference, said the death penalty would go into effect once it had been published in a government gazette.
"This has to do with the security situation in Iraq," Minister of State Adnan al-Janabi said, speaking a day after the government announced an amnesty for insurgents who have committed minor crimes.
Also yesterday, Iraq's interim prime minister ordered Shiite fighters to lay down their weapons and leave the holy city of Najaf, but the militiamen fortified their positions around an ancient cemetery with mines.
Witnesses said clashes erupted again yesterday in Najaf and also the squalid Baghdad district of Sadr City, as the death toll from four days of fighting in several regions mounted.
The clashes between US troops and men loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have killed hundreds of people and challenged the authority of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
The Health Ministry said at least 43 people had been killed in Najaf and Baghdad during the 24 hours to yesterday morning.
Allawi held talks with the governor of Najaf, the holiest Shiite city in Iraq. He was accompanied by his interior and defense ministers and other top officials.
Despite Allawi's order, fighters roamed the streets and laid mines around the crypts and mausoleums of Najaf's ancient cemetery, one of the oldest in the Middle East and scene of the worst fighting.
A senior US military official in Baghdad said marines had put a wide circle around the area to cut off supplies. He said the marines and Iraqi security forces numbered 5,500 men.
In Baghdad, an American OH-58 Delta helicopter made a "precautionary landing" northwest of Sadr City, but US military officials said initial reports indicated it had mechanical trouble.
Major General Peter Chiarelli of the 1st Cavalry Division said both pilots were safe. Militiamen from Sadr's Mehdi Army said the aircraft was shot down and celebrated as they displayed a pilot's helmet.
The Health Ministry said 22 people had died in clashes in Sadr City and other parts of the capital from 9am Saturday to 9am yesterday.
At least 21 people were killed in similar clashes in Najaf during the same period. "The figure from Najaf is initial because there are still bodies that could not be collected due to the ongoing fighting," an official said.
The US marines said on Friday they had killed 300 of the militiamen in Najaf, unleashing war planes and helicopter gunships against fighters armed mainly with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
A militia spokesman put losses at 36 dead. Four American marines and one soldier have been killed.
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘NATO-PLUS’: ‘Our strategic partners in the Indo-Pacific are facing increasing aggression by the Chinese Communist Party,’ US Representative Rob Wittman said The US House of Representatives on Monday released its version of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which includes US$1.15 billion to support security cooperation with Taiwan. The omnibus act, covering US$1.2 trillion of spending, allocates US$1 billion for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative, as well as US$150 million for the replacement of defense articles and reimbursement of defense services provided to Taiwan. The fund allocations were based on the US National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 that was passed by the US Congress last month and authorized up to US$1 billion to the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency in support of the
RSS