- BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) --
Iraq's interim prime minister announced the formation of a new spy agency
to tackle insurgents Thursday, hours after a car bomb killed 10 people
northwest of Baghdad.
-
- Iyad Allawi said he was creating the General Security
Directorate, a domestic intelligence agency, which he hoped would infiltrate
and expose those behind an insurgency that has raged since U.S.-led forces
toppled Saddam Hussein last year.
-
- "We are determined to bring down all the hurdles
that stand in the way of our democracy," Allawi told a news conference,
a day after a suicide car bomb in Baghdad killed 11 people and the governor
of the northern city of Mosul was assassinated.
-
- "Terrorism will be terminated, God willing."
-
- In the town of Haditha, officials said 10 people were
killed and 40 wounded when a car bomb exploded near the main police station.
The blast damaged a municipal building and a bank in the town, 125 miles
northwest of Baghdad.
-
- "Some of the dead are police, some work in the Haditha
bank, while two are children," Najim al-Din, a doctor at a Haditha
hospital, told Reuters.
-
- A Filipino hostage in Iraq told his family in a videotaped
message he would be returning home after the Philippines agreed to withdraw
its small military contingent from Iraq.
-
- Addressing his family, truck driver Angelo de la Cruz
said: "Wait for me, I'm coming back to you," Arabic television
channel Al Jazeera said in its translation of his remarks.
-
- The group holding him said Thursday it would only free
him after Manila withdraws the last of its soldiers from Iraq by the end
of this month, a statement read by Al Jazeera said.
-
- Two other foreign hostages are still under threat of
death.
-
- Allawi said security was improving despite fresh attacks.
-
- The prime minister did not give specific details on what
functions the new security body would carry out or how it would operate
with Iraq's fledgling police force, but he said it would function under
the judicial system.
-
- Wednesday's car bombing in Baghdad was the first big
guerrilla attack in the capital since the interim Iraqi government took
over from U.S.-led occupiers on June 28.
-
- AMNESTY EXPECTED FOR INSURGENTS
-
- For many Iraqis a new spy agency may have overtones of
the Mukhabarat, Saddam's feared domestic intelligence agency, which for
decades kept tight tabs on the nation, but Allawi said it was for the good
of the country.
-
- Many had expected Allawi to announce an amnesty to insurgents
who lay down their arms. He said the issue was being discussed, but that
any offer would only last a short time.
-
- Allawi said the death penalty -- used frequently under
Saddam -- was also under consideration.
-
- In central Baghdad, thousands of Iraqis marched through
the streets demanding the execution of Saddam and denouncing Islamist militant
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "Let every fool listen, Saddam has to be executed,"
shouted the crowd.
-
- Jordanian-born Zarqawi, suspected of being behind a string
of attacks, is the U.S. military's No. 1 target in Iraq.
-
- In Kirkuk, a mother and her three children were killed
when a rocket landed on their house late Wednesday as they slept on the
roof to escape the summer heat, police said.
-
- Reuters Television pictures showed spattered pools of
blood and blood-drenched furnishings on the roof of the house.
-
- In the southern city of Kerbala, a car bomb exploded
near a base where Bulgarian troops are based. No bystanders were hurt.
-
- In Manila, the Philippines military awaited orders to
pull its contingent of 51 personnel out of Iraq despite pressure from the
United States not to cave in to militants' demands. Allawi too urged Manila
not to give in to the hostage-takers' demands.
-
- Bulgaria watched a deadline for the execution of a Bulgarian
hostage pass without news Wednesday but stood firm on its pro-U.S. policies
and refused to pull out its troops.
-
- Militants led by Zarqawi have killed one of two Bulgarian
truck drivers held hostage and are threatening to execute the second. A
Saudi firm said it was ready to leave Iraq to meet the demands of militants
holding an Egyptian truck driver.
-
- Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon http://news.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jses sionid=HZCSU0RFBXFIQCRBAE0CFFA?type=topNews&storyID=5681695
|
