Holocaust in Gaza - We Demand an Israeli War Crimes Tribunal

israel* continues its slow holocaust of the Palestinian people. I say holocaust purposefully because that was the threat made by Matan Vilnai, Israel’s Deputy Defense [sic] Minister, from February of this year: "The more Qassam [rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, they will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves.” In Hebrew, “shoah” refers to the Jewish Holocaust of the 1940's.

I support Francis Boyle's call for an Israeli War Crimes Tribunal: "United Nations General Assembly must immediately establish an International Criminal Tribunal for Israel (ICTI) as a "subsidiary organ" under U.N. Charter Article 22. The ICTI would be organized along the lines of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was established by the Security Council.

The purpose of the ICTI would be to investigate and prosecute Israeli war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Peoples of Lebanon and Palestine--just as the ICTY did for the victims of international crimes committed by Serbia and the Milosevic Regime throughout the Balkans."

The criminal regime in Tel Aviv has mounted its re-election campaign on this holocaust in an effort to outdo the criminality of the likud* party.

And according to the Times: "Within hours of Israel launching its offensive against Gaza, lobbyists, spin-doctors and public relations experts were mobilised to head off critical reaction around the globe...The Israelis have prevented foreign journalists from entering and reporting from Gaza, thereby limiting the scope of the coverage from the Palestinian side."

The BBC have just reported that the isaelis will not let them report from Gaza, they do not want the world to see their crimes.

Robert Fisk rightly points out: "it was instructive yesterday to hear a member of the American Enterprise Institute – faithfully parroting Israel's arguments – defending the outrageous Palestinian death toll by saying that it was "pointless to play the numbers game". Yet if more than 300 Israelis had been killed – against two dead Palestinians – be sure that the "numbers game" and the disproportionate violence would be all too relevant. The simple fact is that Palestinian deaths matter far less than Israeli deaths."

The fact is that civilians are paying the price in Gaza.

This is Gideon Levy in the israeli* paper Haaretz:

"Good boys from good homes are doing bad things. Most of them are eloquent, impressive, self-confident, often even highly principled in their own eyes, and on Black Saturday dozens of them set out to bomb some of the targets in our "target bank" for the Gaza Strip.

They set out to bomb the graduation ceremony for young police officers who had found that rare Gaza commodity, a job, massacring them by the dozen. They bombed a mosque, killing five sisters of the Balousha family, the youngest of whom was 4. They bombed a police station, hitting a doctor nearby; she lies in a vegetative state in Shifa Hospital, which is bursting with wounded and dead. They bombed a university that we in Israel call the Palestinian Rafael, the equivalent of Israel's weapons developer, and destroyed student dormitories. They dropped hundreds of bombs out of blue skies free of all resistance.

In four days they killed 375 people. They did not, and could not, distinguish between a Hamas official and his children, between a traffic cop and a Qassam launch operator, between a weapons cache and a health clinic, between the first and second floors of a densely populated apartment building with dozens of children inside. According to reports, about half of the people killed were innocent civilians. We're not complaining about the pilots' accuracy, it cannot be otherwise when the weapon is a plane and the objective is a tiny, crowded strip of land. Our excellent pilots are effectively bullies now. As in training flights, they bomb undisturbed, facing neither an air force nor defense system. "

Meanwhile the israeli* criminals have tried to murder a former US congresswoman, British doctors and a Cypriot MP, and a CNN reporter, and their propaganda and lies have been exposed. First they claimed it was a 'terorist' vessel, then they said it was an accident: "the boat tried to outmaneuver an Israeli navy ship and crashed into it,". They didn't realise there was a former US Congresswoman and CNN journalist on board...





(* I refuse to dignify the terrorist state or its inhabitants with a capital letter)

Jewish terrorists in Hebron pogrom

Further violence from the Jewish terrorists and thieves in Hebron. The sheer chutzpah of these evil fanatics is evident for all to see. Not only do they have the nerve to use a many thousand year old fairy story as the basis for the naked theft of someone else's lands, they have been found guilty by their own racist justice system of forging the papers for the Orwellian-sounding 'House of Peace', and thus of the theft of the house from its Palestinian owners.



The violence has been described as a 'pogrom' by both the Olmert and a Haaretz journalist who witnessed it and received a settler rock on his head for his pains.

"As a Jew, I was ashamed at the scenes of Jews opening fire at innocent Arabs in Hebron. There is no other definition than the term 'pogrom' to describe what I have seen," he said at the weekly cabinet meeting.

"We are the sons of a nation who know what is meant by a pogrom, and I am using the word only after deep reflection," the prime minister said, quoted by public radio.

The violence was so bad that the UN Security Council issued a non-binding statement on Friday that "welcomed Israel's evacuation of settlers from the compound in Hebron on December 4" but also "condemned the resulting settler violence, including against Palestinian civilians and property." The UN statement came a day after 250 settlers were forcibly removed from the Hebron compound by Israeli security forces acting on an Israeli high court ruling.

Not only did these terrorists shoot 3 Palestinian civilians, they also set fire to Palestinian homes.

But that was not all the violence. A member of the Israeli SS assaulted a young female photographer on assignment for the Israeli daily Haaretz, armed with a camera...as Haaretz itself commented

"During discussions between Haaretz and the army yesterday, the soldiers' version changed considerably. Some details, confidently reported in the first hours after the incident, turned out to be mistaken. Lies are nothing new: When a soldier gets into trouble, his comrades tend to cover for him.

The attack on Scheflan raises questions regarding what might happen when an ordinary civilian (a Palestinian, or sometimes a right-wing activist) is attacked under similar circumstances. The victim is sometimes turned into the perpetrator, without reference to what actually happened. "

There is a suspicion that this violence had as its motive an intent to set fire to the whole of the Middle East, as according to Haaretz "The violence included the desecration of Muslim cemeteries in Hebron and anti-Muslim graffiti on mosque walls in the city, as well as around Qalqilya and Ramallah...Civil Administration officers in the area quickly washed off the graffiti, before pictures of it could be obtained by the Qatari news station Al Jazeera. "

Meanwhile, the human rights organisation Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) issued its Annual Report in which they warned: "Basic human rights, such as health, a life of dignity, education, housing, equality, freedom from racism, freedom of expression, privacy and democracy are increasingly being violated in Israel...extremely worrisome trends at the center of which are violations of the most elementary human rights...reminiscent, in many and increasing ways, of the apartheid regime in South Africa"

Sheeple

NATO (read US) bomber pilots are either completly incompetent or are high on heroin. They could also enjoy killing...

According to RIA Novosti, the Russian news organisation: "NATO aircraft killed a flock of sheep in the Afghan province of Laghman, in a botched attack on Taliban gunmen, according to sources in the governor's office...The sources told reporters that NATO troops claim they were targeting Taliban warriors."

As Jason Ditz comments on the antiwar.comblog: "When the helicopters finished firing, 200 were dead. Not Taliban. Not even civilians. 200 sheep. Apparently at a time when the ability of NATO forces to determine the difference between civilians and combatants is in doubt, they decided to underscore their inability to tell the difference between fierce Taliban warriors and a flock of hundreds of sheep roaming the countryside."

Perhaps they thought they were Taliban disguised as sheep - or just sheeple...

List of Iraqi academics assassinated in Iraq during the US-led occupation

I am publishing this list in its entirety as it is prima facie evidence of the genocide being perpetrated by the US in Iraq. We demand justice!

This is from the Pakistan Daily:

The following relation has being created against the Occupation and for the Sovereignty of Iraq with the information provided by direct Iraqi university sources and international and Arab media. It only includes names and data referred to university academics assassinated during the Occupation period.

BAGHDAD, Baghdad University

Abbas Al-Attar: PhD in humanities, lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Humanities.

Abdel Hussein Jabuk: PhD and lecturer at Baghdad University.

Abdel Salam Saba: PhD in sociology, lecturer at Baghdad University.

Abdel Razak Al-Naas: Lecturer in information and international mass media at Baghdad University’s College of Information Sciences. He was a regular analyst for Arabic satellite TV channels. He was killed in his car at Baghdad University on 28 January 2005. His assassination led to confrontations between students and police, and journalists went on strike.

Ahmed Nassir Al-Nassiri: PhD in education sciences, Baghdad University, assassinated February 2005.

Ali Abdul-Hussein Kamil: PhD in physical sciences, lecturer in the Department of Physics, Baghdad University.

Amir Al-Jazragi: PhD in medicine, lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Medicine, and consultant at the Iraqi Ministry of Health, assassinated 17 November 2005.

Basil Al-Karji: PhD in chemistry, lecturer at Baghdad University.

Essam Sharif Mohammed: PhD in history, professor in Department of History and head of the College of Humanities, Baghdad University.

Faidhi Al-Faidhi: PhD in education sciences, lecturer at Baghdad University and Al-Munstansiriya University. He was also member of the Muslim Scientists Committee. Assassinated in 2005.

Fuad Abrahim Mohammed Al-Bayaty: PhD in german philology, professor and head of College of Philology, Baghdad University.

Haifa Alwan Al-Hil: PhD in physics, lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Science for Women.

Heikel Mohammed Al-Musawi: PhD in medicine, lecturer at Al-Kindi College of Medicine, Baghdad University. Assassinated 17 November 2005.

Hassan Abd Ali Dawood Al-Rubai: PhD in stomatology, dean of the College of Stomatology, Baghdad University. Assassinated 20 December 2005.

Hazim Abdul Hadi: PhD in medicine, lecturer at the College of Medicine, Baghdad University.

Khalel Ismail Abd Al-Dahri: PhD in physical education, lecturer at the College of Physical Education, Baghdad University.

Kilan Mahmoud Ramez: PhD and lecturer at Baghdad University.

Maha Abdel Kadira: PhD and lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Humanities.

Majed Nasser Hussein Al-Maamoori: Professor of veterinary medicine at Baghdad University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Assassinated 17 February 2007.

Marwan Al-Raawi: PhD in engineering and lecturer at Baghdad University.

Marwan Galeb Mudhir Al-Heti: PhD in chemical engineering and lecturer at the School of Engineering, Baghdad University.

Majed Hussein Ali: PhD in physical sciences and lecturer at the College of Sciences, Baghdad University.

Mehned Al-Dulaimi: PhD in mechanical engineering, lecturer at Baghdad University.

Mohammed Falah Al-Dulaimi: PhD in physical sciences, lecturer at Baghdad University.

Mohammed Tuki Hussein Al-Talakani: PhD in physical sciences, nuclear scientist since 1984, and lecturer at Baghdad University.

Mohammed Al-Kissi: PhD and lecturer at Baghdad University.

Mohammed Abd Allah Al-Raawi: PhD in surgery, former president of Baghdad University, member of the Arab Council of Medicine and of the Iraqi Council of Medicine, president of the Iraqi Union of Doctors.

Mohammed Al-Jazairi: PhD in medicine and plastic surgeon, College of Medicine, Baghdad Univeristy. Assassinated 15 November 2005.

Mustafa Al-Hity: PhD in medicine, paediatrician, College of Medicine, Baghdad University. Assassinated 14 November 2005.

Mustafa Al-Mashadani: PhD in religious studies, lecturer in Baghdad University’s College of Humanities.

Nafea Ahmmoud Jalaf: PhD in Arabic language, professor in Baghdad University’s College of Humanities.

Nawfal Ahmad: PhD, lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Fine Arts. She was assassinated at the front door of her house on 25 December 2005.

Nazar Abdul Amir Al-Ubaidy: PhD and lecturer at Baghdad University.

Raad Shlash: PhD in biological sciences, head of Department of Biology at Baghdad University’s College of Sciences. He was killed at the front door of his house on 17 November 2005.

Rafi Sarcisan Vancan: Bachelor of English language, lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Women’s Studies.

Saadi Daguer Morab: PhD in fine arts, lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Fine Arts.

Sabri Mustafa Al-Bayaty: PhD in geography, lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Humanities.

Saad Yassin Al-Ansari: PhD and lecturer at Baghdad University. He was killed in Al-Saydiya neighborhood, Baghdad, 17 November 2005.

Wannas Abdulah Al-Naddawi: PhD in education sciences, Baghdad University. Assassinated 18 February 2005.

Yassim Al-Isawi: PhD in religious studies, Baghdad University’s College of Arts. Assassinated 21 June 2005.

Zaki Jabar Laftah Al-Saedi: Bachelor of veterinary medicine, lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Basem Al-Modarres: PhD and lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Philosophy. [Source: Al-Hayat, 28 February 2006.]

Jasim Mohammed Achamri: Dean of College of Philosophy, Baghdad University. [Source: Al-Hayat, 28 February 2006.]

Hisham Charif: Head of Department of History and lecturer at Baghdad University. [Source: Al-Hayat, 28 February 2006.]

Qais Hussam Al-Den Jumaa: Professor and Dean of College of Agriculture, Baghdad University. Killed 27 March 2006 by US soldiers in downtown Baghdad. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university source.]

Mohammed Yaakoub Al-Abidi: Baghdad University. Department and college unknown. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Abdelatif Attai: Baghdad University. Department and college unknown. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Ali Al-Maliki: Baghdad University. Department and college unknown. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Nafia Aboud: Baghdad University. Department and college unknown. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Abbas Kadem Alhachimi: Baghdad University. Department and college unknown. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Mouloud Hasan Albardar Aturki: Lecturer in Hanafi Teology at Al-Imam Al-Aadam College of Teology, Baghdad University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Riadh Abbas Saleh: Lecturer at Baghdad University’s Centre for International Studies. Killed 11 May 2006. [Source: CEOSI university source, 17 May 2006.]

Abbas Al-Amery: Professor and head of Department of Administration and Business, College of Administration and Economy, Baghdad University. Killed together with his son and one of his relatives at the main entrance to the College 16 May 2006. [Source: CEOSI university source, 17 May 2006.]

Muthana Harith Jasim: Lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Engineering. Killed near his home in Al-Mansur, 13 June 2006. [Source: CEOSI university source, 13 June 2006.]

Hani Aref Al-Dulaimy: Lecturer in the Department of Computer Engineering, Baghdad University’s College of Engineering. He was killed, together with three of his students, 13 June 2006 on campus. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university source, 13 June 2006.]

Hussain Al-Sharifi: Professor of urinary surgery at Baghdad University’s College of Medicine. Killed in May 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 12 June 2006.]

Hadi Muhammad Abub Al-Obaidi: Lecturer in the Department of Surgery, Baghdad University’s College of Medicine. Killed 19 June 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university source, 20 June 2006.]

Hamza Shenian: Professor of veterinary surgery at Baghdad University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Killed by armed men in his garden in a Baghdad neighborhood 21 June 2006. This was the first known case of a professor executed in the victim’s home. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 21 June 2006.]

Jassim Mohama Al-Eesaui: Professor at College of Political Sciences, Baghdad University, and editor of Al-Syada newspaper. He was 61 years old when killed in Al-Shuala, 22 June 2006. [Source: UNAMI report 1 May-30 June 2006.]

Shukir Mahmoud As-Salam: Lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Medicine and dental surgeon at Al-Yamuk Hospital, Baghdad. Killed near his home by armed men 6 September 2006. [Source: TV news, As-Sharquia channel, 7 September 2006, and CEOSI Iraqi sources.]

Mahdi Nuseif Jasim: Professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Baghdad University. Killed 13 September 2006 near the university. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university source.]

Adil Al-Mansuri: Maxillofacial surgeon and professor at the College of Medicine, Baghdad University. Kidnapped by uniformed men near Iban Al-Nafis Hospital in Baghdad. He was found dead with torture signs and mutilation in Sadr City. He was killed during a wave of assassinations in which seven medical specialists were assassinated. Date unknown: July or August 2006 [Source: Iraqi health service sources, 24 September 2006.]

Shukur Arsalan: Maxillofacial surgeon and professor at the College of Medicine, Baghdad University. Killed by armed men when leaving his clinic in Harziya neighbourhood. He was killed during a wave of assassinations in which seven specialists were assassinated. Date unknown: July or August 2006. [Source: Iraqi Health System sources, 24 September 2006.]

Issam Al-Rawi: Professor of geology at Baghdad University, president of the Association of University Professors of Iraq. Killed 30 October 2006 during an attack carried out by a group of armed men in which two more professors were seriously injured. [Sources: CEOSI sources and Associated Press.]

Yaqdan Sadun Al-Dhalmi: Professor and lecturer in the College of Education, Baghdad University. Killed 16 October 2006. [Source: CEOSI sources.]

Jlid Ibrahim Mousa: Professor and lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Medicine. Killed by a group of armed men in September 2006. During August and September 2006, six professors of medicine were assassinated in Baghdad. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi sources.]

Mohammed Jassim Al-Thahbi and wife: Professor and dean of the College of Administration and Economy, Baghdad University. Killed 2 November 2006 by a group of armed men when he was driving to university. His wife, a lecturer at the same university (name and academic position unknown) and son were also killed in the attack. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi sources and Tme Magazine, 2 October 2006.]

Mohammed Mehdi Saleh: Lecturer at Baghdad University (unknown position) and member of the Association of Muslim Scholars. Imam of Ahl Al-Sufa Mosque in Al-Shurta Al-Jamisa neighbourhood. Killed 14 November 2006 while driving in the neighbourhood of Al-Amal in central Baghdad. [Source: UMA, 14 November 2006.]

Hedaib Majhol: Lecturer at College of Physical Education, Baghdad University, president of the Football University Club and member of the Iraqi Football Asociation. Kidnapped in Baghdad. His body was found three later in Baghdad morgue 3 December 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 2 December 2006.]

Al-Hareth Abdul Hamid: Professor of psychiatric medicine and head of the Department of Psychology at Baghdad University. Former president of the Society of Parapsychological Investigations of Iraq. A renowned scientist, Abdul Hamid was shot dead in the neighbourhood of Al-Mansur, Baghdad, 6 December 2006 by unknown men. [Sources: CEOSI Iraqi sources, 6 December 2006, and Reuters, 30 January 2007.]

Anwar Abdul Hussain: Lecturer at the College of Odontology, Baghdad University. Killed in Haifa Street in Baghdad in the third week of January 2007. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 23 January 2007.]

Majed Nasser Hussain: PhD and lecturer at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Baghdad University. He was killed in front of his wife and daughter while leaving home in the third week of January 2007. Nasser Hussain had been kidnapped two years before and freed after paying a ransom. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 23 January 2007.]

Khaled Al-Hassan: Professor and deputy dean of the College of Political Sciences, Baghdad University. Killed in March 2007. [Source: Association of University Lecturers of Iraq, 7 April 2007.]

Ali Mohammed Hamza: Professor of Islamic Studies at Baghdad University. Department and college unknown. Killed 17 April 2007. [Sources: TV channels As-Sharquia and Al-Jazeera.]

Abdulwahab Majed: Lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Education. Department and college unknown. Killed 2 May 2007. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 5 May 2007.]

Sabah Al-Taei: Deputy dean of the College of Education, Baghdad University. Killed 7 May 2007. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources. 8 May 2007.]

Nihad Mohammed Al-Rawi: Professor of Civil Engineering and deputy president of Baghdad University. Shot dead 26 June 2007 in Al-Jadria Bridge, a few meters away from the university campus, when exiting with his daughter Rana, whom he protected from the shots with his body. [Sources: BRussells Tribunal and CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 26-27 June 2007, www.wmin.ac.uk]

Muhammad Kasem Al-Jebouri: Lecturer at the College of Agriculture, Baghdad University. Killed, together with his son and his brother-in-law, by paramilitary forces 22 June 2007. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 27 June 2007.]

Samir (surname unknown): Lecturer at Baghdad University’s College of Administration and Economy. His body was found shot one day after being kidnapped in Kut where he was visiting family. Professor Samir lived in the Baghdad district of Al-Sidiya. [Source: Voices of Iraq, www.iraqslogger.com, 29 June 2007.]

Amin Abdul Aziz Sarhan: Lecturer at Baghdad University. Department and college unknown. He was kidnapped from his home in Basra by unidentified armed men 13 October 2007 and found dead on the morning of 15 October. [Source: Voices of Iraq, 15 October 2007.]

Mohammed Kadhem Al-Atabi: Head of Baghdad University’s Department of Planning and Evaluation. He was kidnapped 18 October 2007 from his home in Baghdad by a group of armed men and found dead a few hours later in the area of Ur, near to Sadr City, which is under the control of Moqtada Al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 26 October 2007.]

Munther Murhej Radhi: Dean of the College of Odontology, Baghdad University. He was found dead in his car 23 January 2008. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 24 January 2008.]

Mundir Marhach: Dean of Faculty of Stomatology, Baghdad University. He was killed in March (exact day unknown), according to information provided by the Centre for Human Rights of Baghdad. [Source: Al-Basrah reported 12 March 2008.]



Al-Mamoon Faculty (private college, Baghdad)

Mohammed Al-Miyahi: Dean of Al-Maamoun Faculty in Baghdad. He was shot with a silencer-equipped gun in front of his house in Al-Qadisiah district, southern Baghdad, as he stepped out of his car 14 December 2007. [Source CEOSI Iraqi source and Kuwait News Agency, reported 19 December 2007, IPS reported 19 December 2007, and Al-Basrah, reported 12 March 2008.]



Al-Mustansiriya University (Baghdad)

Aalim Abdul Hameed: PhD in preventive medicine, specialist in depleted uranium effects in Basra, dean of the College of Medicine, Al-Mustansiriya University.

Abdul Latif Al-Mayah: PhD in economics, lecturer and head of Department of Research, Al-Mustansiriya University.

Aki Thakir Alaany: PhD and lecturer at the College of Literature, Al-Mustansiriya University.

Falah Al-Dulaimi: PhD, professor and deputy dean of Al-Mustansiriya University’s College of Sciences.

Falah Ali Hussein: PhD in physics, lecturer and deputy dean of the College of Sciences, Al-Mustansiriya University, killed May 2005.

Musa Saloum Addas: PhD, lecturer and deputy dean of the College of Educational Sciences, Al-Mustansiriya University, killed 27 May 2005.

Husam Al-Ddin Ahmad Mahmmoud: PhD in education sciences, lecturer and dean at College of Education Sciences, Al-Mustansiriya University.

Jasim Abdul Kareem: PhD and lecturer at the College of the Education, Al-Mustansiriya University.

Abdul As Satar Sabar Al Khazraji: PhD in history, Al Munstansiriya University, killed 19 June 2005. [A same name and surname lecturer in Engineering at the College of Computer Science Technology, Al-Nahrein University was assessinated in March 2006.]

Samir Yield Gerges: PhD and lecturer at the College of Administration and Economy at Al-Mustansiriya University, killed 28 August 2005.

Jasim Al-Fahaidawi: PhD and lecturer in Arabic literature at the College of Humanities, Al-Mustansiriya University. Assassinated at the university entrance. [Source: BBC News, 15 November 2005.]

Kadim Talal Hussein: Deputy dean of the College of Education, Al-Mustansiriya University.

Mohammed Nayeb Al-Qissi: PhD in geography, lecturer at Department of Research, Al-Mustansiriya University.

Sabah Mahmoud Al-Rubaie: PhD in geography, lecturer and dean at College of Educational Sciences, Al-Mustansiriya University.

Ali Hasan Muhawish: Dean and lecturer at the College of Engineering, Al-Mustansiriya University. Killed 12 March 2006. [Source: Middle East Online, 13 March 2006.]

Imad Naser Alfuadi: Lecturer at the College of Political Sciences, Al-Mustansiriya University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Mohammed Ali Jawad Achami: President of the College of Law, Al-Mustansiriya University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Husam Karyakus Tomas: Lecturer at the College of Medicine, Al-Mustansiriya University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Basem Habib Salman: Lecturer at the College of Medicine at Al-Mustansiriya University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al-Ani: PhD in engineering, lecturer at the College of Law, Al-Mustansiriya University. Kidnapped, together with his friend Akrem Mehdi, 26 April 2006, at his home in Palestine Street, Baghdad. Their bodys were found two days later. (CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 5 May 2006.]

Jasim Fiadh Al-Shammari: Lecturer in psychology at the College of Arts, Al-Mustansiriya Baghdad University. Killed near campus 23 May 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university source, 30 May 2006.]

Saad Mehdi Shalash: PhD in history and lecturer in history at the College of Arts, Al-Mustansiriya University, and editor of the newspaper Raya Al-Arab. Shot dead at his home with his wife 26 October 2006. [Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 27 October 2006.]

Kemal Nassir: Professor of history and lecturer at Al-Mustansiriya and Bufa universities. Killed at his home in Baghdad in October 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 2 November 2006.]

Hasseb Aref Al-Obaidi: Professor in the College of Political Sciences at Al-Mustansiriya University. Since he was kidnapped 22 October 2006 his whereabouts is unknown. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources.]

Najeb Al-Salihi: Lecturer in the College of Psychology at Al-Mustansiriya University and head of the Scientific Commitee of the Ministry of Higher Education of Iraq. Al-Salihi, 39 years old, was kidnapped close to campus and his body, shot dead, was found 20 days after his disappearance in Baghdad morgue. His family was able recover his body only after paying a significant amount of money. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources.]

Dhia Al-Deen Mahdi Hussein: Professor of international criminal law at the College of Law, Al-Mustansiriya University. Missing since kidnapped from his home in the Baghdad neighborhood of Dhia in 4 November 2006 by a group of armed men driving police cars. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 5 November 2006.]

Muntather Al-Hamdani: Deputy dean of the College of Law, Al-Mustansiriya University. He was assassinated, together with Ali Hassam, lecturer at the same college, 20 December 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 24 December 2006. The Iraqi police identified Ali Arnoosi as the deputy dean assassinated 21 December, and Mohammed Hamdani as another victim. It is unknown whether [Muntanther Al-Hamdani and Mohammed Hamdani] both are the same case or not.]

Ali Hassam: Lecturer at the College of Law at Al-Mustansiriya University. He was killed together with Muntather Al-Hamdani, deputy dean of the college, 20 December 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 24 December 2006. The Iraqi police identified Ali Arnoosi as the deputy dean assassinated 21 December, and Mohammed Al-Hamdani as another victim. It is unknown whether both [Muntanther Al-Hamdani and Mohammed Hamdani] are the same case or not.]

Dhia Al-Mguter: Professor of economy at the College of Administration and Economy of Al-Mustansiriya University. He was killed 23 January 2007 in Baghdad while driving. He was a prominent economist and president of the Consumer’s Defense Association and the Iraqi Association of Economists. A commentator at for As-Sharquia television, he participated in the Maram Committee, being responsible for investigating irregularities occuring during the elections held in January 2006. Al-Mguter was part of a family with a long anti-colonialist tradition since the British occupation. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources and Az-Zaman newspaper, 24 January 2007.]

Ridha Abdul Hussein Al-Kuraishi: Deputy Dean of the University of Al-Mustansiriya’s College of Administration and Economy. He was kidnapped 28 March 2007 and found dead the next day. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers, 7 April 2007. See the Arabic letter sent to CEOSI.].



University of Technology (Baghdad)

Muhannad Al-Dulaimi: PhD in mechanical engineering, lecturer at the Baghdad University of Technology.
Muhey Hussein: PhD in aerodynamics, lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Baghdad University of Technology.
Qahtan Kadhim Hatim: Bachelor of sciences, lecturer in the College of Engineering of the Baghdad University of Technology.
Sahira Mohammed Machhadani: Baghdad University of Technology. Department and college unknown. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers, March 2006.]
Ahmed Ali Husein: Lecturer at the Baghdad University of Technology, specialist in applied mechanics. He was killed by a group of armed men in downtown Baghdad 22 May 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 24 May 2006.]
Name unknown: Lecturer at Baghdad University of Technology. Killed 27 June 2006 by a group of armed men. They were driving a vehicle in the Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Mansur and shot him without stopping. Next day, students and professors staged demonstrations in all universities across the country opposing the assassination and kidnapping of professors and lecturers. [Source: Al-Jazeera and Jordan Times, 27 June 2006.]
Ali Kadhim Ali: Professor at Baghdad University of Technology. Shot dead in November 2006 in the district of Al-Yarmuk by a group of armed men. His wife, Dr Baida Obeid — gynecologist — was also killed in the attack. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi sources, 16 November 2006.]
Moa’ayed Jasim Al-Janabi: Lecturer in physics at Baghdad University of Technology. Killed 23 May 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, December 2006.]
Jalil Enjad Al-Jumaily: Lecturer at University of Technology. Department and college unknown. He was killed 22 December 2006 with his son, a physician, after being kidnapped. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 24 December 2006..]
Abdul Same’e Al-Janabi: Deputy president of the Baghdad University of Technology. Missing after being kidnapped during the third week of January 2007. In 2004, Abdul Sami Al-Janabi was dean of Al-Mustansiriya University’s College of Sciences in Baghdad. He resigned from this position after Shia paramilitary forces threatened to kill him. Such forces began then to occupy university centres in the capital. Transferred by the Ministry of Higher Education to a new position to preserve his security, Sami Al-Janabi has almost certainly been assassinated. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 23 January 2007.]
Ameer Mekki Al-Zihairi: Lecturer at Baghdad University of Technology. He was killed in March 2007. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers, 7 April 2007.



Al-Nahrein University (Baghdad.]

Akil Abdel Jabar Al-Bahadili: Professor and deputy dean of Al-Nahrein University’s College of Medicine. Head of Adhamiya Hospital in Baghdad. He was a specialist in internal medicine, killed 2 December 2005.
Mohammed Al-Jazairy: Lecturer at University College Al-Kadhemiya Hospital, Al-Nahrein University. He was a specialist in plastic surgery.
Layth Abdel Aziz: PhD and lecturer at the College of Sciences, Al-Nahrein University. [Source: Al-Hayat, 28 February 2006.]
Abdul As Satar Sabar Al-Khazrayi: Lecturer in engineering at the College of Computer Science Technology, Al-Nahrein University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.] [A same name and surname PhD in History at Al Munstansiriya University was killed on 19 June 2005.]

Uday Al-Beiruti: Professor at Al-Nahrein University. Kidnapped in University College Al-Kadhemiya Hospital’s parking lot by armed men dressed in Interior Ministry uniforms. His body was found with sigs of torture in Sadr City. Date unknown: July/August 2006. His murder took place during a wave of assassinations in which seven of his colleagues were killed. [Source: Iraqi health service sources, 24 September 2006.]
Jalil Al-Jumaili: Professor at the College of Medicine, Al-Nahrein University. He was found shot dead in December 2006 (exact date unknown) after being kidnapped at University College Al-Kadhemiya Hospital, together with his son, Dr Anas Al-Jumaili, lecturer at the same college. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 24 December 2006.]
Anas Al-Jumaili: Lecturer at the College of Medicine, Al-Nahrein University. He was found shot dead in December (exact date unknown) with his father, Dr Jalil Al-Jumaili, professor of medicine, after being kidnapped at University College Al-Kadhemiya Hospital. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 24 December 2006.]
Adnan Mohammed Saleh Al-Aabid: Lecturer at the College of Law, Al-Nahrein University. He was found dead 31 January 2007 after having been kidnapped from his home 28 January 2007 together with lecturers Abdul Mutaleb Abdulrazak Al-Hashimi and Aamer Kasem Al-Kaisy, and a student. All were found dead in Baghdad morgue. [Sources: CEOSI Iraqi university sources and Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 1 February 2007.]
Abdul Mutaleb Abdulrazak Al-Hashimi: Lecturer at the College of Law, Al-Nahrein University. He was found dead 31 January 2007 after having been kidnapped 28 January 2007 on his way home, together with lecturers Adnan Mohammed Saleh Al-Aabid and Aamer Kasem Al-Kaisy, and a student. All were found dead in Baghdad morgue. [Sources: CEOSI Iraqi university sources and Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 1 February 2007.]
Aamer Kasem Al-Kaisy: Lecturer at the College of Law, Al-Nahrein University. He was found dead 31 January 2007 after having been kidnapped on his way home 28 January 2007, together with a student and lecturers Abdul Mutaleb Abdulrazak Al-Hashimi and Adnan Mohammed Saleh Al-Aabid. All were found dead in Baghdad morgue. [Sources: CEOSI Iraqi university sources and Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 1 February 2007.]
Khaled Al-Naieb: Lecturer in microbiology and deputy dean of Al-Nahrein University’s College of Higher Studies in Medicine. Killed 30 March 2007 at the main entrance to the college. Having been threatened by the Mahdi Army, Moqtada Al-Sadr’s militia, Dr Al-Naieb had moved to work in Irbil. During a brief visit to his family in Baghdad, and after recently becoming a father, he was killed at the main entrance to the college on his way to collect some documents. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 4 April 2007. Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report dated 7 April 2007.]
Sami Sitrak: Professor of English and dean of Al-Nahrein University’s College of Law. Professor Sitrak was killed 29 March 2007. He had been appointed dean of the College after the former dean’s resignation following an attempt to kill him along with three other College lecturers. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers, 7 April 2007.].
Thair Ahmed Jebr: Lecturer in the Department of Physics, College of Sciences, Al-Nahrein University. Jebr was killed in the attack against satellite TV channel Al-Baghdadiya 5 April 2007. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers, 7 April 2007.].

Iyad Hamza: PhD in chemistry, Baghdad University. He was the academic assistant of the President of Al-Nahrein University. On 4 May 2008 he was killed near his home in Baghdad. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi source. 6 May 2008.].



Islamic University (Baghdad)

Haizem Al-Azawi: Lecturer at Baghdad Islamic University. Department and college unknown. He was 35 years old and married and was killed 13 February 2006 by armed men when he ariving home in the neighborhood of Habibiya. [Source: Asia Times, 3 March 2006.]

Saadi Ahmad Zidaan Al-Fahdawi: PhD in Islamic science, lecturer at the College of Islamic Science, Baghdad University. Killed 26 March 2006.

Abdel Aziz Al-Jazem: Lecturer in Islamic theology at the College of Islamic Science, Baghdad University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]

Saad Jasim Mohammed: Lecturer at the Baghdad Islamic University. Department and college unknown. Killed, together with his brother Mohammed Jassim Mohammed, 11 May 2007 in the neighburghood of Al-Mansur. The armed men who commited the crime where identified by the Association of Muslims Scholars as members of a death squad. [Sources: Press note of the Association of Muslims Scholars, 12 May 2007, and CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 13 May 2007.]

Qais Sabah Al-Jabouri: Professor at the Baghdad Islamic University. Killed 7 June 2007 by a group of armed men who shot him from a car when he was leaving the university with the lecturers Alaa Jalel Essa and Saad Jalifa Al-Ani, who were killed and seriously injured respectively. press note of the Association of Muslims Scholars, 7 June 2007, and CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 9 June 2007.]

Alaa Jalel Essa: Professor at the Baghdad Islamic University. Killed 7 June 2007 by a group of armed men who shot him from a car when he was leaving the university with the lecturers Qais Sabah Al-Jabouri and Saad Jalifa Al-Ani, who were killed and seriously injured respectively. press note of the Association of Muslims Scholars, 7 June 2007, and CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 9 June 2007.]



Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education (Baghdad)



Lecturers killed after a mass kidnapping, 13 November 2006[4]:

Abdul Salam Suaidan Al-Mashhadani: Lecturer in political sciences and head of the scholarships section of the Ministry of Higher Education. He was kidnapped 13 November 2006 in an assault on the ministry. His body was found with signs of torture and mutilation 24 November 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 26 November 2006.]
Abdul Hamid Al-Hadizi: Professor (speciality unknown). He was kidnapped 13 November 2006 in an assault on the ministry. His body was found with signs of torture and mutilation 24 November 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 26 November 2006.]





Baghdad Institutes

Izi Al-Deen Al-Rawi: President of the Arabic University’s Institute of Petroleum, Industry and Minerals. Al-Rawi was kidnapped and found dead 20 November 2006. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 20 November 2006)





BABYLON
Hilla University

Jaled M Al-Janabi: PhD in Islamic history, lecturer in Hilla University’s School of Humanities.
Mohsin Suleiman Al-Ajeely: PhD in agronomy, lecturer in the College of Agronomy, Hilla University. Killed 24 December 2005.
Fleih Al-Gharbawi: Lecturer in the College of Medicine. Killed in Hilla (capital of the province of Babylon, 100 kilometers south of Baghdad) 20 November 2006 by armed men. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi sources, 20 November 2006.]
Ali Al-Grari (or Garar): Professor at Hilla University. He was shot dead 20 November 2006 by armed men in a vehicle on the freeway between Hilla and Baghdad. [Source: Iraqi police sources cited by Reuters, 20 November 2006,



AT-TAMIM
Kirkuk University

Ahmed Izaldin Yahya: Lecturer in the College of Engineering, Kirkuk University. Killed by a car bomb in the vicinity of his home in Kirkuk, 16 February 2007. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 17 February 2007.]
Hussein Qader Omar: professor and Dean of Kirkuk University’s College of Education Sciences. Killed in November 20, 2006 by shots made from a vehicle in the city center. An accompanying colleague was injured. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, November 21, 2006, and Iraqi Police Sources cited by Reuters, 20 November 2006.].
Sabri Abdul Jabar Mohammed: Lecturer at the College of Education Sciences at Kirkuk University. Found dead 1 November 2007 in a street in Kirkuk one day after being kidnapped by a group of unidentified armed men [Source: Iraqi university sources to the BRussells Tribunal and CEOSI, 2 November 2007.]

Abdel Sattar Tahir Sharif: Lecturer at Kirkuk University. Department and college unknown. 75-years-old, he was assassinated 5 March 2008 by armed men in the district of Shoraw, 10 kilometres northeast of Kirkuk. [Source: Aswat Al-Iraq/ Voices of Iraq, 5 March 2008.]





NINEVEH
Mosul University

Abdel Yabar Al-Naimi: Dean of Mosul University’s College of Humanities.
Abdul Yabar Mustafa: PhD in political sciences, dean of Mosul University’s College of Political Sciences.
Abdul Aziz El-Atrachi: PhD in plant protection in the College of Agronomy and Forestry, Mosul University.
Eman Abd-Almonaom Yunis: PhD in translation, lecturer in the College of Humanities, Mosul University.
Jaled Faisal Hamid Al-Shijo: PhD and lecturer in the College of Physical Education, Mosul University.
Leila Abdu Allah Al-Saad: PhD in law, dean of Mosul University’s College of Law.
Mahfud Al-Kazzaz: PhD and lecturer at University Mosul. Department and college unknown. Killed 20 November 2004.
Mohammed Yunis Thanun: Bachelor of sciences, lecturer in the College of Physical Education, Mosul University.
Munir Al-Jiero: PhD in law and lecturer in the College of Law, Mosul University. Married to Dr Leila Abdu Allah Al-Saad, also assassinated.
Noel Butrus S. Mathew: PhD, professor at the Health Institute of Mosul University.
Ahmad Hamid Al-Tai: Professor and head of Department of Medicine, Mosul University. Killed 20 November 2006 when armed men intercepted his vehicle as he was heading home. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 20 November 2006.]
Kamel Abdul Hussein: Lecturer and deputy dean of the College of Law, Mosul University. Killed 11 January 2007. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 23 January 2007.]
Talal Younis: Professor and dean of the College of Political Sciences. Killed on the morning of 16 April 2007 at the main entrance to the college. Within less than half an hour Professor Jaafer Hassan Sadeq of the Department of History at Mosul University was assassinated at his home. [Sources: CEOSI Iraqi university sources and Al-Mousl.]
Jaafer Hassan Sadeq: Professor in the Department of History of Mosul University’s College of Arts. Killed 16 April 2007 at home in the district of Al-Kafaaat, northwest of Mosul. Within less that half an hour, Professor Talal Younis, dean of Mosul University’s College of Political Sciences, was killed at the main entrance to the college. [Sources: CEOSI Iraqi university sources and Al-Mousl.]
Ismail Taleb Ahmed: Lecturer in the College of Education, Mosul University. Killed 2 May 2007 while on his way to college. [Source: Al-Mosul, 2 May 2007.]
Nidal Al-Asadi: Professor in the Computer Sciences Department of Mosul University’s College of Sciences. Shot dead by armed men in the district of Al-Muhandiseen, according to police sources in Mosul. [Sources: INA, 2 May 2007, and Iraqi sources to the BRussells Tribunal, 3 May 2007.]
Aziz Suleiman: Lecturer at Mosul University. Department of Mosul University’s College of Sociology. Killed in Mosul 22 January 2008. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 24 January 2008.].

Jalil Ibrahim Ahmed al-Naimi: Director of the ‘Sharia’ Department (Islamic Law), Mosul University. He was shot dead by armed men when he came back home (in Mosul) from University, 30 January 2008. [Sources: CEOSI and BRussells Tribunal University Iraqi sources, al-Quds al-Arabi, 31 de enero de 2008.].





QADISIYA
Diwaniya University

Hakim Malik Al-Zayadi: PhD in Arabic philology, lecturer in Arabic literature at Al-Qadisyia University. Dr Al-Zayadi was born in Diwaniya, and was killed in Latifiya when he was traveling from Baghdad 24 July 2005.]
Mayed Husein: Physician and lecturer at the College of Medicine, Diwaniya University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]





BASRA
Basra University

Abdel Al-Munim Abdel Mayad: Bachelor and lecturer at Basra University.
Abdel Gani Assaadun: Bachelor and lecturer at Basra University.
Abdul Alah Al-Fadhil: PhD, professor and deputy dean of Basra University’s College of Medicine.
Abdul-Hussein Nasir Jalaf: PhD in agronomy, lecturer at the College of Agronomy’s Center of Research on Date Palm Trees, Basra University.
Alaa Daoud: PhD in sciences, professor and chairman of Basra University (also reported as a lecturer in history). Killed 20 July 2005.
Ali Galib Abd Ali: Bachelor of sciences, assistant professor at the School of Engineering, Basra University.
Asaad Salem Shrieda: PhD in engineering, professor and dean of Basra University’s School of Engineering.
Faysal Al-Assadi: PhD in agronomy, professor at the College of Agronomy, Basra University.
Gassab Jabber Attar: Bachelor of sciences, lecturer at the School of Engineering, Basra University.
Haidar Al-Baaj: PhD in surgery, head of the University College Basra Hospital.
Haidar Taher: PhD and professor at the College of Medicine, Basra University.
Hussein Yasin: PhD in physics, lecturer in sciences at Basra University Killed 18 February 2004 at his home and in front of his family.
Khaled Shrieda: PhD in engineering, dean of the School of Engineering, Basra University.
Khamhour Al-Zargani: PhD in history, head of the Department of History at the College of Education, Basra University Killed 19 August 2005.
Kadim Mashut Awad: visiting professor at the Department of Soils, College of Agriculture, Basra University. Killed December 2005 (exact date unknown.].
Karem Hassani: PhD and lecturer at the College of Medicine, Basra University.
Kefaia Husein Saleh: PhD in English philology, lecturer in the College of Education Sciences, Basra University.
Mohammed Al-Hakim: PhD in pharmacy, professor and dean of Basra University’s College of Pharmacy.
Mohammed Yassem Badr: PhD, professor and chairman of Basra University.
Omar Fakhri: PhD and lecturer in biology at the College of Sciences, Basra University.
Saad Alrubaiee: PhD and lecturer in biology at the College of Sciences, Basra University.
Yaddab Al-Hajjam: PhD in education sciences and lecturer at the College of Education Sciences, Basra University.
Zanubia Abdel Husein: PhD in veterinary medicine, lecturer at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Basra University.
Jalil Ibrahim Almachari: Lecturer at Basra University. Department and college unknown. Killed 20 March 2006 after criticizing in a public lecture the situation in Iraq. (Arabic Source: Al-Kader.]
Abdullah Hamed Al-Fadel: PhD in medicine, lecturer in surgery and deputy dean of the College of Medicine at Basra University. Killed in January 2006 (exact date unknown). [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources.]
Fuad Al-Dajan: PhD in medicine, lecturer in gynecology at the College of Medicine, Basra University. Killed at the beginning of March 2006 (exact date unknown). [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources.]
Saad Al-Shahin: PhD in medicine, lecturer in internal medicine at Basra University’s College of Medicine. Killed at the beginning of March 2006 (exact date unknow). [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources.]
Jamhoor Karem Khammas: Lecturer at the College of Arts, Basra University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]
Karem Mohsen: PhD and lecturer at Department of Agriculture, College of Agronomy, Basra University. Killed 10 April 2006. He worked in the field of honeybee production. Lecturers and students called for a demonstration to protest for his assassination. [Source: Al-Basrah, 11 April 2006.]
Waled Kamel: Lecturer at the College of Arts at Basra University. Killed 8 May 2006. Other two lecturers were injured during the attack, one of them seriously. [Source: Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 9 May 2006.]
Ahmad Abdul Kader Abdullah: Lecturer in the College of Sciences, Basra University. His body was found 9 June 2006. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 10 June 2006.]
Kasem Yusuf Yakub: Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Basra University. Killed 13 June 2006 at the university gate. [Sources: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 14 June 2006 and Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 16 June 2006.]
Ahmad Abdul Wadir Abdullah: Professor of the College of Chemistry, Basra University. Killed 10 June 2006. [Source: UNAMI report, 1 May-30 June 2006.]
Kathum Mashhout: Lecturer in edaphology at the College of Agriculture, Basra University. Killed in Basra in December 2006 (exact date unknown). [Source: CEOSI Iraqi university sources, 12 December 2006.]
Mohammed Aziz Alwan: Lecturer in artistic design at the College of Fine Arts, Basra University. Killed by armed men 26 May 2007 while walking in the city. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 1 June 2007.]
Firas Abdul Zahra: Lecturer at the College of Physical Education, Basra University. Killed at home by armed men 18 July 2007. His wife was injured in the attack. [Source: Iraqi university sources to the BRussells Tribunal, 26 August 2007.]
Muayad Ahmad Jalaf: Lecturer at the College of Arts, Basra University. Kidnapped 10 September 2007 by a group of armed men that was driving three cars, one of them with a government license plate. He was found dead in a city suburb the next day. [Source: Iraqi university sources to the BRussells Tribunal, 12 September 2007.]

Khaled Naser Al-Miyahi: PhD in medicine, Professor of neurosurgery at Basra University. He was assassinated in March 2008 (exact date unknown). His body was found after his being kidnapped by a group of armed men in the streets of Basra. There were no ransom demands, according to information provided by Baghdad’s Center for Human Rights. [Source: Al-Basrah, 12 March 2008.]



Technical Institute of Basra

Mohammed Kasem: PhD in engineering, lecturer at the Technical Institute of Basra.
Sabah Hachim Yaber: Lecturer at the Technical Institute of Basra.
Salah Abdelaziz Hashim: PhD and lecturer in fine arts at the Technical Institute of Basra. Kidnapped in 4 April 2006. He was found shot dead the next day. According to other sources, Dr Hashim was machine-gunned from a vehicle, injuring also a number of students. [Sources: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 6 April 2006, Az-Zaman, 6 April 2006, and Al-Quds Al-Arabi, 7 April 2006.]





TIKRIT
Tikrit University

Basem Al-Mudares: PhD in chemical sciences and lecturer in the College of Sciences, Tikrit University. His body was found mutilated in the city of Samarra 21 July 2004.
Fathal Mosa Hussine: PhD and professor at the College of Physical Education, Tikrit University.
Mahmud Ibrahim Hussein: PhD in biological sciences and lecturer at the College of Education Sciences, Tikrit University.
Madloul Albazi Tikrit University. Department and college unknown. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]
Mojbil Achaij Issa Al-Jabouri: Lecturer in international law at the College of Law, Tikrit University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]
Damin Husein Al-Abidi: Lecturer in international law at College of Law, Tikrit University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]
Harit Abdel Yabar As Samrai: PhD student at the College of Engineering, Tikrit University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]
Farhan Mahmud: Lecturer at the College of Theology, Tikrit University. Disappeared after being kidnapped 24 November 2006. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 26 November 2006.]
Mustafa Khudhr Qasim: Professor at Tikrit University. Department and college unknown. His body was found beheaded in Al-Mulawatha, eastern Mosul, 21 November 2007. [Sources: Al-Mosul, 22 November 2007, and Iraqi university sources to the BRussells Tribunal and CEOSI, 22-25 November 2007.]

Taha AbdulRazak Al-Ani: PhD in Islamic Studies, he was professor at Tikrit University. His body was found shot dead in a car on a highway near Al-Adel, a Baghdad suburb. Also, the body of Sheikh Mahmoud Talb Latif Al-Jumaily, member of the Commision of Muslim Scientists, was found dead in the same car last Thursday afternoon, 15 May 2008. [Source: CEOSI Iraqi sources, 21 May 2008.]





DIYALA
Baquba University

Taleb Ibrahim Al-Daher: PhD in physical sciences, professor and dean at the College of Sciences, Baquba University. Killed 21 December 2004.
Lez Mecchan: Professor at Baquba University. Department and college unknown. Killed 19 April 2006 with his wife and another colleague. [Sources: DPC and EFE, 19 April 2006.]
Mis (surname unknown): Lecturer at Baquba University. Department and college unknown. Wife of Professor Lez Mecchan, also assassinated. Both were killed with another colleague 19 April 2006. [Sources: DPC and EFE, 19 April 2006.]
Salam Ali Husein: Taught at Baquba University. Department and college unknown. Killed 19 April 2006 with two other colleagues. [Sources: DPC and EFE, 19 April 2006.]
Meshhin Hardan Madhlom Al-Dulaimi: Professor at Baquba University. Department and college unknown. Killed at the end of April, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 10 May 2006.]
Abdul Salam Ali Al-Mehdawi: Professor at Baquba University. Department and college unknown. Killed at the end of April, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 10 May 2006.]
Mais Ganem Mahmoud: Lecturer at Baquba University. Department and college unknown. Killed at the end of April, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 10 May 2006.]
Satar Jabar Akool: Lecturer at Baquba University. Department and college unknown. Killed at the end of April, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 10 May 2006.]
Mohammed Abdual Redah Al-Tamemmi: Lecturer in the Department of Arabic Language and head of the College of Education, Baquba University. Killed 19 August 2006 together with Professor Kreem Slman Al-Hamed Al-Sadey, 70 years old, of the same Department. A third lecturer from the same department escaped the attack carried out by a group of four armed men Students and lecturers demonstrated against his and other lecturers’ deaths. [Source: World Socialist, 12 September 2006, citing the Iraqi newspaper Az-Zaman, CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 25 December 2006.]
Karem Al-Saadi: Lecturer at Baquba University. Department and college unknown. Killed August 2006. Students and lecturers demonstrated against his and other lecturers’ deaths. [Source: World Socialist, 12 September 2006, citing the Iraqi newspaper Az-Zaman.]
Kreem Slman Al-Hamed Al-Sadey: Professor in the Department of Arabic Language at the College of Education, Baquba University. He was 70 years old when killed 19 August 2006. In the attack Mohammed Abdual Redah Al-Tamemmi, head of Education Department was also killed. A third lecturer from the same department escaped the attack of a group of four armed men. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 25 December 2006.]
Hasan Ahmad: Lecturer in the College of Education, Baquba University. Killed 8 December 2006. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, December 2006.]
Ahmed Mehawish Hasan: Lecturer in the Department of Arabic at the College of Education, Baquba University. Killed in December (exact date unknown). [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 25 December 2006.]
Walhan Hamid Fares Al-Rubai: Dean of the College of Physical Education, Baquba University. Al-Rubai was shot by a group of armed men in his office 1 February 2007. According to some sources his son was also killed. [Source: Reuters and Islamomeno, 1-3 February 2007 respectively, and CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 2 February 2007.]
Abdul Ghabur Al-Qasi: Lecturer in history at Baquba University. His body was found by the police 10 April 2007 in Diyala River, which crosses the city, with 31 other bodies of kidnapped people. [Source: Az-zaman, 11 April 2007.]
Jamal Mustafa: Professor and head of the History Department, College of Education Sciences, Baquba University. Kidnapped at home in the city of Baquba 29 October 2007 by a group of armed men driving in three vehicles. [Source: Iraqi university sources to the BRussells Tribunal, 30 October 2007.]





Al-ANBAR
Ramadi University

Abdel Karem Mejlef Saleh: PhD in philology, lecturer at the College of Education Sciences, Al-Anbar University.
Abdel Majed Hamed Al-Karboli: Lecturer at Ramadi University. Killed December 2005 (exact date unknown.].
Ahmad Abdel Hadi Al-Rawi: PhD in biology, professor in the School of Agronomy, Al-Anbar University.
Ahmad Abdul Alrahman Hameid Al-Jhbissy: PhD in Medicine, Professor of College of Medicine, Al-Anbar University.
Ahmed Saadi Zaidan: PhD in education sciences, Ramadi University. Killed February 2005 (exact date unknown.].
Hamed Faisal Antar: Lecturer in the College of Law, Ramadi University. Killed December 2005 (exact date unknown.].
Naser Abdel Karem Mejlef Al-Dulaimi: Department of Physics, College of Education, Ramadi University. Killed December 2005 (exact date unknown.].
Raad Ojssin Al-Binow: PhD in surgery, lecturer at the College of Medicine, Al-Anbar University.
Shakir Mahmmoud Jasim: PhD in agronomy, lecturer in the School of Agronomy, Al-Anbar University.
Nabil Hujazi: Lecturer at the College of Medicine, Ramadi University. Killed in June 2006 (exact date unknown). [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 20 June 2006, confirmed by Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education.]
Nasar Al-Fahdawi: Lecturer at Ramadi University. Department and college unknown. Killed 16 January 2006. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, December 2006.]
Khalid Jubair Al-Dulaimi: Lecturer at the College of Engineering, Ramadi University. Killed 27 April 2007. [Source: Iraqi sources to the BRussells Tribunal, 3 May 2007.]





NAJAF
Kufa University

Jawla Mohammed Taqi Zwain: PhD in medicine, lecturer at College of Medicine, Kufa University.
Shahlaa Al-Nasrawi: Lecturer in the College of Law, Kufa University. Assassinated 22 August 2007 by members of a sectarian militia. [Source: CEOSI university Iraqi sources, 27 August 2007.]
Adel Abdul Hadi: Professor of philosophy, Kufa University’s College of Arts. Killed by a group of armed men 28 October 2007 when returning home from university. [Source: Iraqi university sources to the BRussells Tribunal, 30 October 2007.]



KARBALA
University of Karbala



Kasem Mohammed Ad Dayni: Lecturer in the Department of Psychology, College of Pedagogy, Karbala University. Killed 17 April 2006.


MOSUL
Mosul University

Omar Miran: Baghdad University bachelor of law (1946), PhD in history from Paris University (1952), professor of history at Mosul University, specialist in history of the Middle East. Killed, along with his wife and three of his sons, by armed men in February 2006 (exact date unknown.].
Noel Petros Shammas Matti: Lecturer at the College of Medicine, Mosul University. Married and father of two daughters. He was kidnapped and found dead 4 August 2006.
Muwafek Yahya Hamdun: Deputy dean and professor at the College of Agronomy, Mosul University. [Source: Al-Hayat, 28 February 2006.]
Naif Sultan Saleh: Lecturer at the Technical Institute, Mosul University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]
Natek Sabri Hasan: Lecturer in the Department of Agricultural Mechanization and head of the College of Agronomy, Mosul University. [Source: Iraqi Association of University Lecturers report, March 2006.]
Abdul Kader Ali Abdullah: Lecturer in the Department of Arabic, College of Education Sciences, Mosul University. Found dead 25/26 August 2007 after being kidnapped five days before by a group of armed men. [Source: Iraqi sources to the BRussells Tribunal and CEOSI 26-27 August 2007.]
Unknown: Lecturer at Mosul University, killed in the explosion of two car bombs near campus, 1 October 2007. In this atack six other people were injured, among them four students. [Source: KUNA, 1 October 2007.]



OPEN UNIVERSITY

Kareem Ahmed Al-Timmi: Head of the Department of Arabic Language in the College of Education at the Open University. Killed in Baghdad, 22 February 2007.



COMMISSION OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION [5]

Aamir Ibrahim Hamza: Bachelor in electronic engineering, lecturer at the Technical Institute.
Mohammed Abd Al-Hussein Wahed: PhD in tourism, lecturer at the Institute of Administration.
Mohammed Saleh Mahdi: Bachelor in sciences, lecturer at the Cancer Research Centre. Killed November 2005.



INSTITUTIONAL POSITIONS

Emad Sarsam: PhD in surgery and member of the Arab Council of Medicine.
Faiz Ghani Aziz: PhD in agronomy, director general of the Iraqi Company of Vegetable Oil. Killed September 2003.
Isam Said Abd Al-Halim: Geologic consultant at the Ministry of Construction.
Kamal Al-Jarrah: Degree in English philology, researcher and writer and director general at the Ministry of Education.
Raad Abdul-Latif Al-Saadi: PhD in Arabic language, consultant in higher education and scientific research at the Ministry of Education.
Shakier Al-Jafayi: PhD in administration, head of the Department of Normalization and Quality at the Iraq Council.
Wajeeh Mahjub: PhD in physical education, director general of physical education at the Ministry of Education.
Wissam Al-Hashimi: PhD in petrogeology, president of the Arab Union of Geologists, expert in Iraqi reservoirs, he worked for the Iraqi Ministry of Petroleum.



UNIVERSITY AFFILIATION UNKNOWN

Amir Mizhir Al-Dayni: Professor of telecommunication engineering.
Khaled Ibrahim Said: PhD in physics.
Mohammed Al-Adramli: PhD in chemical sciences.
Mohammed Munim Al-Izmerly: PhD in chemical sciences. He was tortured and killed by US troops. His body was sent to the Baghdad morgue. The cause of death was initially registered as “brainstem compression”.
Nafi Aboud: Professor of Arabic literature.



OTHER CASES

Khalel Al-Zahawi: Born in 1946, Al-Zahawi was considered the most important calligraphist in Iraq and among the most important in the Arab-Muslim world. He worked as a lecturer in calligraphy in several Arab countries during the 1990s. He was killed 19 May 2007 in Baghdad by a group of armed men. He was buried in Diyala, where he was born. [Source: BBC News, 22 May 2007. His biography is available on wikipedia.].

Israeli art students in Andalucia, Southern Spain

Surprise, surprise!

Israeli art students have suddenly appeared in Southern Spain not 50 miles from a major US base.

There I was this morning, having breakfast of toast and coffee in the my local bar the 'Manicomio' (lunatic asylum in Spanish), when in walked two youngsters, a boy and girl in their early twenties, aspect slightly hippyish, who announced themselves as Israeli art students and did anyone want to buy some pictures.

Now, having read about Mossad agents posing as Israeli art students around 9/11, and then about an Israeli art student scam in the US, South Africa to Australia, I politely declined, an action I now regret. I should have elicited more information before declining their offer.

The town, where I am at the moment is called Conil de la Frontera, and is about 50 miles from the major US base at Rota near Cadiz.

Spanish Daily El Pais and its coverage of Latin America

I had been wondering for some time why the Spanish daily El País, was so pro-Uribe and so intent on the demonisation of Chavez, Morales, Correa, etc.

But, back in June, I was doing some research for a letter I was writing to the editors * of said newspaper, when I came across the following information:

El Pais forms part of PRISA (Promotora de Informaciones SA), a large Spanish media and publishing conglomerate ( this I already knew!). In Spain, El País is known as a daily newspaper with sympathies towards the Spanish socialist party, the PSOE, and so I had been a bit confused as to their repeated negative coverage of Chavez, Morlaes, Correa or any leftish leader in Latin America, and their positive coverage of Uribe. Yes, I know, very naive.

What I found out was that PRISA has for some time now had 'interests' in Colombia (they own Radio Caracol, and newspapers in Cali, Cartagena y Bucaramanga), and only last year they were pipped at the post in their attempts to buy El Tiempo, the most influential newspaper, with the highest circulation, in Colombia. This honour went to the Planeta Group, also Spanish, which owns A3TV, OndaCero radio station and La Razón daily newspaper, all with a right wing bias.

I also found out PRISA is one of several conglomerates bidding for the licence for the 3rd private TV channel in Colombia (the other big bidders are the Planeta Group and the partnership between the Venezuelan Cisneros Group and Colombian businessman Luis Carlos Sarmiento), which will be adjudicated in May 2009.

According to the Spanish daily El Público, edited by former PRISA man Ernesto Ekaizer, an Argentinian by birth, all the media conglomerates in Colombia are vehemently 'Uribista', so much so that they are called 'furibistas'. Indeed, Polanco, President of PRISA, seems to have a decent relationship with Uribe, as he was awarded the National Order of Merit by Uribe in June 2005, who emphasized the "contribution to the creation of more employment for Colombians" ("que contribuye a la generación de más empleo para los colombianos"). An interesting phrase considering that when PRISA bought Radio Caracol, it had a staff numbering about 1,500 and that in June 2005 the staff numbered about 450...

As the Comisión Nacional de Televisión (CNTV) is entirely controlled by furibistas too (Uribe named the members), one can assume with certainty that they will do his bidding, even though it is supposed to be an auction with the highest bid winning the pot.

Bu that's not all! Since 2000, when Business Week announced that PRISA wanted to "to Conquer the New World", it has engaged in a massive expansion throughout Latin America.

Of course, business is business, and this explains perfectly the editorial position with regard to Latin America in all PRISA's Spanish media which includes Cadena Ser, Cuatro TV station and the CNN+.

You may be asking, why mention all this now?

Well the reason is that I came across this tidbit on the excellent Inka Kola News blog:

"Meanwhile, it's not just the US that is fed total crap on Bolivia. It took numerous complaints from people who know better to get Spain's "El Pais" newspaper (that believes itself to be the journal of record in Spain, but is woefully poor compared to even the NYT) to change this caption....


....to the corrected caption now shown here. For around three days, Spain was told that the racist, fascist scum depicted were actually supporters of Evo Morales (the caption translated saying "Party Members of the President of Bolivia, Evo Morales"). I suppose this is why Abiding has been getting praise heaped upon his blog by all and sundry...he does this weird thing called "telling the truth" and also stuff like "fact checking". Semi OT: Note to Simon Romero; please check on both phrases before next opening your laptop."

Without all the other information mentioned above this could be seen as a simple mistake. Now I'm not so sure.



* NB: Alterzoom left out the links I sent with my letter. Here they are for what they're worth:

1) http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/Colombia/asegura/FARC/planeaban/atentado/Madrid/elpepiint/20080529elpepiint_10/Tes

(2) http://www.cadenaser.com/internacional/articulo/gobierno-colombiano-asegura-farc-buscaron/csrcsrpor/20080530csrcsrint_2/Tes

(3) http://www.publico.es/119383/farc/planeaban/realizar/atentado/madrid/segun/computador/reyes

http://www.fac.mil.co/index.php?idcategoria=1425&facmil_2007=f42554182bec56f1910906b59c0f7fbc

http://www.caman.mil.co/?idcategoria=119

(4) http://www.lukor.com/not-mun/america/0607/19182217.htm

(5) Zapatero dice que está por confirmar la relación entre ETA y las FARC

http://www.diariodecadiz.es/article/espana/145888/zapatero/dice/esta/por/confirmar/la/relacion/entre/eta/y/las/farc.html

(6) http://www.proexport.gov.co/VBeContent/VerImp.asp?ID=7246&IDCompany=16

(7) http://www.cntv.org.co/cntv_bop/noticias/2008/mayo/20_05_08.html

New UN president criticises “acts of aggression’’ in Iraq and Afghanistan

New UN president, Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, a Nicaraguan Roman Catholic priest and former foreign minister under the Sandinistas, has called on world powers "to democratize our United Nations".

“The state of our world today is deplorable, inexcusable and, therefore, shameful. What Tolstoy denounced as ‘mad selfishness’ explains why, as trillions of dollars are spent on wars of aggression, more than half the world’s people languish in hunger and destitution. Our priorities, sisters and brothers, could hardly be more confused.”

He also said a high-level dialogue will be held during the next year on the subject of democratizing the UN. The event will be split into three sessions that consider the Bretton Woods and other international finance institutions, the role of the General Assembly, and the size and format of the Security Council.

Reform of the 15-member Council was among the most urgent challenges facing the UN, he noted.

“It is a sad but undeniable fact that serious breaches of the peace and threats to international peace and security are being perpetrated by some members of the Security Council that seem unable to break what appears like an addiction to war.

“In the case of some of those members, the veto privilege seems to have gone to their heads and has confused them to the point of making them think they are entitled to do as they please without consequence.”

The resolutions of the General Assembly should also become binding, warning that all too often the resolutions are ignored by Member States.

“We must… do away with dreams and hopes about planetary domination. All imperial dreams and behaviour are totally against the spirit and the letter of our Charter and certainly are going to lead us to our extinction.”

View video here.

US Embassy in Bolivia 'encourages' all its citizens to leave Bolivia

The US Embassy in Bolivia yesterday issued an alert advising US citizens to "defer non-essential travel to Bolivia" and encouragement for "U.S. citizens currently in Bolivia...to depart". They also announced that the "Peace Corps has temporarily suspended its program in Bolivia and Peace Corps volunteers have left the country."

Not surprising when we find out from the dude at Abiding in Bolivia that the "new director of Bolivia's Peace Corp, Kathleen M. Sifer, just arrived from her last position directing Peace Corp operations in... wait for it.... Georgia, yea the country! "

Also check out this video from the Real News Network:



The following video is from the 31 August 2008 in Santa Cruz, starting the night Morales decreed the referendum for a new constitution and continuing the following morning. Racist insults and beatings of government supporters were the order of the day. Little wonder then that it degenerated in other Prefectures into the Porvenir Massacre.












This from Machetera: "Dump trucks as a killing platform"

"ABN, La Patria Nueva, Erbol

Translation: Machetera

Sunday, September 14, 2008, 10:02 p.m.

Cobija. - After military troops sent by the government of Evo Morales took control of Pando department, the accounts from survivors of last Thursday’s Porvenir Massacre where there are 30 dead, 25 wounded and 106 missing, began to multiply, reported the Bolivian government and the Pando Peasant Workers Federation.

The Bolivarian Erbol Broadcasters Network and Radio Patria Nueva have compiled some of them, which we present in this note.

“They shot at pregnant women and children”

Today a woman leading the Bolivian peasants denounced the fact that during yesterday’s confrontation in Pando, armed opposition groups killed pregnant women and children and those who were driven to the Tahuamanu river.

In statements to Patria Nueva, the peasant leader, who didn’t wish to give her name for fear of reprisals said that the farming comrades were “victims of racism” and added that “the objective of the massacres was met.” “There were pregnant women, boys and girls who were killed when they crossed the river to escape; they shot them and pushed them into the water,” she said.

The leader added that “furthermore there are other pregnant women who are wounded and at the point of miscarrying.” The number of deaths in Pando, in Bolivia’s north, during the confrontations between opposition shock troops with a column of government sympathizers, grew to 15, the majority of them peasants allied with President Evo Morales.

Yesterday morning the cadavers of six people were found floating in the waters of the Tahuamanu river, which crosses the region, and it’s feared that there are other bodies in the jungle, according to the presidential delegate Nancy Texeira.

According to another source, many peasants who identified with Morales were pursued by armed gangs and “fled to the bush” causing a confrontation near Filadelfa, 45 kilometers to the southwest of Cobija. The woman also told the station that the attackers carried machine-guns and automatic weapons and said that many of them “came from the Brazilian side.”

“It was incredible, but the police only watched and inspected the peasants,” she said, and later added that “when the Prefecture’s attackers came toward us, the police fled.” “When we began to escape toward the bridge in order to cross the river, many of the attackers pushed the comrades from the bridge, threw them into the water and then shot them from above,” she concluded.

More Testimonies

Señora Zaida from Filadelfia: “They threatened us in a deep trench that they opened at three in the morning; the dump trucks from the Department of Roads Services were there. The police betrayed us, they didn’t protect us. They asked us to stay where we were, and they sent a dump truck our direction, from which they shot at us. We tried to escape through the river, but they shot at the water to kill us.”

Vanessa Yubacero said: “I was from the Nuevo Triunfo community. We’d arrived less than five meters from the Pozo Bridge when they threatened us. They said it would be better for us to turn around and we continued…we went forward and the police stopped us, let’s see how they can, no-one was expecting them to give us water, they surrounded us, they didn’t give us any time, they shot at the children, how they died, with gunshots to the heart, how those children cried, with those machine-guns.”

“We ran for the bush and the gunshots followed them, there was a woman who didn’t know how to swim, with her children, how they cried, ‘Mama, I don’t want them to kill you!’ They had no compassion for us,” said one of the survivors.

Another account from a woman who lives in Cobija indicated that officials from the Prefecture are responsible for the murder of the peasants in El Porvenir. One woman told Erbol: “There are two groups, they’ve looted, they’ve robbed, it’s not possible that among Bolivians they should kill us.”

A male peasant from Filadelfia: “Cobija is already peaceful through the presence of the military, but now the war has moved to the town. We understand that there are many people wounded in the bush and there are people who continue their flight because we can’t return to the fields where we have no security.”

Oscar, a student from Filadelfia who’s now in hiding in Cobija, said “We came in a small pickup truck and at our side appeared a dump truck from the Prefecture, and they began to shoot at us.”

Saakashvili "planned S. Ossetia invasion" -ex-minister

Further to my earlier post, which highlighted the accusations by Prof. Charles King, Ion Ratiu Professor of Romanian Studies and Professor of International Affairs in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, that "Georgia for a long time, and in fact Georgians and the political elite and elsewhere have talked about an incident now 13 years ago, but 13 years ago actually this month in August, something called Operation Storm, when the Croatian military moved into a region of its own territory called the Krajina, to oust a local secessionist Serb entity", it now seems that this is confirmed by this Reuters report:

"Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had long planned a military strike to seize back the breakaway region of South Ossetia but executed it poorly, making it easy for Russia to retaliate, Saakashvili's former defence minister said."

"Okruashvili, a close Saakashvili ally who served as defence minister from 2004 to 2006, said he and the president worked together on military plans to invade South Ossetia and a second breakaway region on the Black Sea coast, Abkhazia. "Abkhazia was our strategic priority, but we drew up military plans in 2005 for taking both Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well," Okruashvili said."

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UPDATE 16 September 2008:

See this report from Der Spiegel: "Five weeks after the war in the Caucasus the mood is shifting against Georgian President Saakashvili. Some Western intelligence reports have undermined Tbilisi's version of events, and there are now calls on both sides of the Atlantic for an independent investigation."

Georgia has also leaked directly to the NYT this supposed 'evidence', that Russia was to blame. Unfortunately for them, these are excerpts of conversations and prove nothing.