Car bomb kills 25 in Tal Afar

Car was parked when it exploded near crowded market, official

BAGHDAD - At least 25 people were killed in a car bombing at a crowded market in the city of Tal Afar, officials in northern Iraq reported Saturday. The blast was carried out by a lone Sunni Turkoman bomber, whose identity was confirmed after forensic tests. The bomber had been released from detention four months ago under an amnesty agreement passed by parliament earlier this year.

The bomber may have avoided detection at a checkpoint by having someone ride with him, officials said. The passenger apparently got out out after the checkpoint. Suicide car bombers are known to ride alone. For that reason, Tal Afar has banned men from driving alone. The bombing took place in a region where tensions have been growing among ethnic groups because of a dispute over control of the oil-rich area around Kirkuk. The city has now been placed under an indefinite curfew.

More than 10,000 detainees released in Iraq

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said Saturday it has released more than 10,000 detainees in Iraq so far this year — more than in all of 2007 — as it continues to try phase out its running of Iraqi prisons.

The military said about 21,000 people remained in custody, and it is currently releasing about 45 detainees and detaining 30 a day.The United States wants to transfer the detainees to Iraqi control. Reaching that goal has been slowed partly by the lack of adequate Iraqi prison space and trained guards. More than 8,900 people were released from detention last year.The U.S. military says its detention system is authorized by a U.N. resolution under which the Iraqi government allows U.S. troops to arrest people at will. U.S. military attorneys say it also complies with international laws covering warfare and was created in "the spirit" of the Geneva Conventions.Commanders say they are entitled to hold any prisoner until the detainee is no longer considered a threat to U.S. forces. Local law and court rulings do not apply, they add. Rights groups have criticized U.S. detention policy as a misrepresentation of international law, which they say requires some form of legal process to detain someone.The military has increased control over prisons to correct widespread U.S. prison abuses that sparked international criticism.Allegations of abuse at U.S. prisons escalated in 2004 with the release of pictures of grinning U.S. soldiers posing with detainees at the Abu Ghraib facility west of Baghdad. Some were naked, being held on leashes or in painful and sexually humiliating positions.That prison has since been closed, and 11 U.S. soldiers were convicted of breaking military laws. Five others were disciplined in the scandal.

Iraqi Police Say Female Bomber Kills 8 U.S.-Allied Soldiers

BAGHDAD — Iraqi police say at least eight people have been killed in a female homicide bombing against a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied Sunni guards northeast of Baghdad.
A police officer who read the report says the woman blew herself up about 8:30 p.m. Thursday near the so-called awakening council checkpoint in central Baqouba.The officer says at least eight awakening council members were killed and 24 other people were wounded. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Iraqi Police Say Female Bomber Kills 8 U.S.-Allied Soldiers

BAGHDAD — Iraqi police say at least eight people have been killed in a female homicide bombing against a checkpoint manned by U.S.-allied Sunni guards northeast of Baghdad.
A police officer who read the report says the woman blew herself up about 8:30 p.m. Thursday near the so-called awakening council checkpoint in central Baqouba.The officer says at least eight awakening council members were killed and 24 other people were wounded. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

UK Mly Investigating 2003 Iraq Abuse Claim

Monday, July 14, 2008

LONDON: British military police are investigating an abuse allegation after a newspaper reported an Iraqi youth claimed troops made him perform a sex act on another prisoner in 2003, the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday.The Independent on Sunday said the youth claims he was forced to perform a sex act on another youth while the two were being held as suspected looters by British forces in May,2003 at a base in southern Iraq called Camp Bread Basket. Four British servicemen have already been jailed over photographs taken at the camp in the same month which showed troops beating prisoners who were tied up and forcing others to pose in sexually humiliating positions.

The Ministry of Defence said it had referred the latest allegation to the Royal Military Police.

"All but a handful of the more than 120,000 British troops who have served in Iraq have conducted themselves to the highest standards of behaviour, displaying integrity and selfless commitment,” it said in a statement.