A car bomb exploded yesterday in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, killing at least 13 people and threatening to sharpen sectarian tensions. Shiite politicians blocked a bid to have parliament try to break the deadlock on forming a new government.
Elsewhere, the US military announced the arrest of a top insurgent leader believed to have been behind last year's kidnapping of Italian journalist Guiliana Sgrena.
About 30 people were wounded in the Najaf car bombing, which occurred about 300m from the Imam Ali shrine, police chief Major General Abbas Miadal said. The shrine is among the world's most sacred sites for Shiite Muslims and contains the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed's son-in-law, Imam Ali.
Munther al-Ethari, director of the city's health services, earlier said 10 people were killed.
Such attacks are rare in Najaf, which is tightly controlled by police and Shiite security guards. Even though the casualty figure was modest by Iraqi standards, such attacks within Najaf are seen by Shiites as a grave provocation because of the city's stature as one of the world's most sacred in Shiite Islam.
The bombing on Feb. 22 that destroyed the golden dome of a Shiite shrine in Samarra triggered a wave of reprisal attacks against Sunni mosques and clerics, plunging the country to the brink of civil war.
Following yesterday's blast, Iraqi police and army sealed off the center of Najaf and ordered people to leave the area for fear other bombs may be hidden there. The bomb exploded on Tosi street which leads to the city's massive cemetery. The route is often used for funeral processions of Shiites from throughout the country who come to Najaf to bury their dead.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
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