King Abdullah’s visit to further bilateral ties ~ Parliament votes over Iraq-Italy friendship dea ~ 20 gunmen surrender to police in Kirkuk ~ Gunman arrested, arms seized in eastern Baghdad……………..
King Abdullah’s visit to further bilateral ties – spokesman
Baghdad, 05 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq)
King Abdullah II of Jordan will pay a visit soon to Iraq in a bid to boost bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries, the Iraqi government’s official spokesman said on Saturday.
“The two countries are bonded by common interests and their relations should develop in the direction desired by the two countries’ leaders,” Ali al-Dabbagh told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
“The visit will also encourage other Arab countries to take the same step of His Royal Highness King Abdullah of paying a visit to Iraq,” he said.
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq and Baghdad province. With a municipal population estimated at 7,000,000, it is the largest city in Iraq. It is the second largest city in the Arab world (after Cairo) and the second largest city in southwest Asia (after Tehran).
Located on the Tigris River, the city dates back to at least the 8th century, and probably to pre-Islamic times.
Once the center of Dar al-Islam (the abode of Islam), Baghdad has been a center of violent conflict since 2003 because of the ongoing Iraq war.
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Parliament votes over Iraq-Italy friendship deal
Baghdad, 06 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq)
The Iraqi parliament resumed its sessions on Sunday to debate a number of draft laws on the Iraq-Italy friendship agreement and allocation of monthly pension for the family of former Iraqi president Abdul-Rahman Aref.
“The parliament, holding its 32nd session under Sheikh Khaled al-Attiya, the first deputy speaker, attended by 175 out of a total 275 members, also resumed the 2nd reading of drafts on military service and retirement and water resources ministry,” a parliament’s media source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI) on condition of anonymity.
Abdul-Rahman Aref took over as president of Iraq after the death of his brother, president Abdul-Salam Aref, whose private plane crashed in the southern Iraq city of Basra in the summer of 1966. Abdul-Rahman ruled Iraq for only two years, until July 1968.
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20 Gunmen Surrender To Police In Kirkuk
Kirkuk, 06 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq)
A total of 20 gunmen belonging to the self-styled ‘Islamic State of Iraq’ and al-Naqshabandiya group gave themselves up to local security forces in Kirkuk city, an Iraqi army source said on Sunday.
“The 20 gunmen gave themselves up to the security apparatus in al-Rashad district, southwestern Kirkuk, under the national reconciliation project,” the commander of the Iraqi army’s 4th regiment, 15th Brigade, Staff Major Shiwan Hamma Ghareeb, told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI).
The source did not provide further details.
The Islamic State of Iraq is an al-Qaeda-linked Sunni armed group centered in Diala, Mosul, and Anbar.
he group is considered responsible for several kidnappings and murders throughout the country.
Al-Naqshabandiya, formed before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, is a group that introduces itself as an Islamic spiritual dogmatic organization, but its ideologies changed into ones of armed struggle against the occupation forces.
Kirkuk, an oil-rich and mixed city of Kurds, Turkmen, Christians, and Arabs, lies 250 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
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Gunman arrested, arms seized in eastern Baghdad by IRAQI POLICE FORCE
Baghdad, 06 July 2008 (Voices of Iraq)
An Iraqi police force captured a gunman wanted by security authorities and seized arms during a search raid in eastern Baghdad on Sunday, a security official said.
“A force from the 8th Brigade of the National Police managed to arrest a gunman wanted by security agencies during a raid on al-Nasr neighborhood, eastern Baghdad,” Maj. General Qassem Atta, the spokesman for the Baghdad Security Operations Command, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).
He did not refer to the organization to which the captured man belonged.
Various kinds of arms and two unlicensed vehicles were seized in the raid, Atta said, giving no more information about the incident.
News courtesy of Iraq Updates