Guards working for an Australian-owned security company fired on a car as it approached their convoy, killing two women civilians before speeding away in the latest bloodshed blamed on the deadly mix of heavily armed protection details on Baghdad's crowded streets.
The deaths on Tuesday of the two Iraqi Christians -- including one who used the white sedan as an unofficial taxi to raise money for her family -- came a day after the Iraqi government handed US officials a report demanding hefty payments and the ouster from Iraq of embattled Blackwater USA for a chaotic shooting last month that left at least 17 civilians dead.
"We deeply regret this incident," said a statement from Michael Priddin, the chief operating officer of Unity Resources Group, a security company owned by Australian partners but with headquarters in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
Priddin said that the company would disclose more details of the shooting after "the facts have been verified and the necessary people and authorities notified."
DWINDLING
Meanwhile, Britain's decision to bring half of its 5,000 troops home from Iraq by spring was the latest blow to the US-led coalition -- but it was not the only one.
The alliance is crumbling, and fast. Half a dozen other members are withdrawing troops or intend to. By the middle of next year, excluding US forces, there will be about 7,000 troops in the multinational force, down from a peak of about 50,000 at the start of the war four-and-a-half years ago.
US troops have already been stretched thin trying to contain Sunni and Shiite extremists. But defense experts say the shrunken coalition would probably not make much of a difference because non-US forces have stuck to limited rules of engagement.
"This is a US and Iraqi coalition -- nothing more and nothing less," said Anthony Cordesman, former director of intelligence assessment at the Pentagon and now an analyst with the private Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
"A British withdrawal and that of other countries really doesn't matter very much. They're playing a very limited role," he said.
EMBASSY WOES
Shoddy construction work, safety lapses, kickbacks, internal disputes and ballooning costs -- the new US embassy complex in Baghdad is mired in a deluge of problems, with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the frontline of fire from lawmakers.
Three months after the US State Department told Congress that the world's biggest US embassy would be completed on schedule, officials are now saying that it will be delayed indefinitely, with one report saying by more than a year.
A multitude of questions have been raised over the safety of the complex, budgeted originally at about US$600 million.
Based on inspections conducted days before its scheduled completion, the fire service mains are deficient, there is no reliable automatic fire sprinkler system coverage in any of the compound's 21 buildings and none of the fire alarm detection systems was ready for testing, a State Department report said.
The "entire installation is not acceptable," said the report on the embassy's fire suppression system.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would severely threaten the national security of the US, Japan, the Philippines and other nations, while global economic losses could reach US$10 trillion, National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) wrote in an article published yesterday in Foreign Affairs. “The future of Taiwan is not merely a regional concern; it is a test of whether the international order can withstand the pressure of authoritarian expansionism,” Lin wrote in the article titled “Taiwan’s Plan for Peace Through Strength — How Investments in Resilience Can Deter Beijing.” Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) intent to take Taiwan by force
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