Insurgents fired mortars at a meeting where Iraqi leaders met to pick an interim national assembly yesterday, killing at least one in a brazen attack showing the problems the country faces on its path to democracy.
The Interior Ministry said three mortar bombs hit a taxi and bus station on the edge of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, a few hundred meters away from the conference center, also wounding 17 people.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The three-day conference, attended by 1,300 delegates, was not affected and sessions proceeded as planned, although many delegates were startled as windows shook.
The attack, despite massive security, curfews around the zone, checkpoints and blocked streets illustrates Iraq's nightmarish security as politicians and religious leaders try to plot the country's stuttering road to democracy.
The Health Ministry said one person was killed and 17 hurt.
Clashes also broke out between police and gunmen in Haifa street in central Baghdad. There was no word of casualties.
The opening of the conference came amid sporadic fighting in the holy city of Najaf between Shiite militiamen and combined US and Iraqi forces after the collapse of peace talks on Saturday.
Five blasts echoed from near Najaf's holy sites after midday, but there were no signs US and Iraqi forces had launched an all-out offensive against the militia loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The failed peace talks had aimed to end 10 days of fighting that has killed hundreds and threatened to undermine the authority of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
Police chief Ghaleb al-Jazaeri earlier called a news conference and threatened to arrest local staff of all media outlets if both Iraqi and foreign staff did not leave Najaf.
He did not elaborate.
The political and religious leaders gathered for the conference in Baghdad will choose a 100-member assembly, or national council, to oversee the interim government until elections are held in January.
"Your presence here today is the biggest challenge to the forces of darkness that want to tear this country apart. This is not the end of the road, it is the first step on the way to democracy," Allawi said in opening remarks.
The conference has been beset by boycotts from key players such as Sadr and the Muslim Clerics Association, an influential grouping of Sunni religious leaders. Some Shiite leaders threatened to withdraw from the conference because of the fighting in Najaf.
The conference was due to open late last month but was delayed after the UN demanded more time for preparations. Some delegates taking part have accused the government of stacking the slate with Allawi supporters.
"The political parties in power now have the overwhelming majority of delegates. They left no room for independents," said Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum, a leading Shiite cleric.
Also see story:
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary