57 candidates and Iraqi soldiers were killed and 123 injured after a suicide bomber at army recruitment center in Baghdad

Baghdad At least 57 candidates and Iraqi soldiers were killed and 123 injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up at army recruitment center in Baghdad, Tuesday, two weeks before U.S. combat duty in Iraq ended.The blast, which ravage the ranks recruits, is the one that claimed the most victims of this year and it happens when the unexpected guerrillas also launched a murder of the judges in the Iraqi capital and the restive provinces in northern Iraq.Bloodshed adds to the tension that has got worse after the general elections which did not complete more than five months ago. General elections were not yet produced a new government.

Guerrillas have been targeting Iraqi army and police as they prepared to assume full security responsibilities on 1 September, when the United States end the combat mission 7.5 years.The number of U.S. troops will be reduced to be 50 000 personnel to the mission of training before a full withdrawal is planned for next year.

“We’re waiting in line. Also, there officers and soldiers. Suddenly there was an explosion. Thanksgiving is just my hand injury,” said Aziz Saleh, one of which will be recruited, told Reuters Television, while doctors at al-Karkh hospital care victim injury.As many as 57 people were killed and 123 injured in an attack on an Army base in the field Maidan, the central part of Baghdad, according to information from the media office of the Ministry of Health.

The White House said U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the attack, but U.S. withdrawal timetable has not changed.”Our combat mission ended at the end of the month, but we’re still going to put forces in there that will help support the (Iraqi forces) as needed,” said spokesman Bill Burton told reporters on Air Force One.(AFP)

4 People Killed In Attack in Iraq

Mosul, Iraq  – A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in Mosul, northern Iraq, Monday, killing one policeman and one civilian, said several medics and security.

Two soldiers were also killed in another bombing near Baghdad, they said.(Reuters / AFP)

Israel approved the construction of houses illegally on Palestinian land in East Jerusalem as many as 3336 housing units during March

Ramallah  – Israel approved the construction of houses illegally on Palestinian land in East Jerusalem as many as 3336 housing units during March, according to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Monday. The giant project, including construction of 1600 housing units in the Jewish settlement of Ramat Shlomo and 600 other homes near these settlements, the report said. Meanwhile, the Jerusalem regional government has set a plan and is awaiting approval to build more houses 50,000 units in the coming months, according to the report.

Last month, the United States did not reach agreement with Israel on the Tel Aviv latest plan to build Jewish settlements in the West Bank including Jerusalem. Failure to achieve agreement came after a two-day visit of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the U.S.. Discussion between Prime Minister Netanyahu and U.S. Special Envoy for the Middle East, George Mitchell has been completed but did not resolve the dispute between the two countries, U.S. officials said.

U.S. President Barack Obama in his meeting with Netanyahu demanded that the Jewish state in order to rebuild trust resumed peace talks with the Palestinians. Obama-Netanyahu meeting comes amid tension that rarely happens between the U.S. and Israel relate to American demands to freeze all Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank. U.S. believes that Israel’s settlement building activities for the Jewish settlers disrupt the prospect of peace talks with the Palestinians.

Israel, Washington’s anger when the government announced the construction of 1600 houses in East Jerusalem, during U.S. Vice-President, Joe Biden, a visit to Tel Aviv. Later, a cabinet minister of Israel apologized for the attitude of Israel which is considered insulting VP nominee Joe Biden. “This attitude should not need to happen in one visit that the vice president of the United States. For that we should express apology for this blunder.” said Welfare Minister Isaac Herzogliter Isreal. Palestinian government said the plan to build homes near Jerusalem that can shut off any opportunity to revive peace negotiations between Israel and Palestine.( Xinhua-Oana)

Iraq says 20,000 Saddam Hussein-era army officers will rejoin the military after being dismissed from their posts after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion for serving under the former dictator

BAGHDAD Iraq says 20,000 Saddam Hussein-era army officers will rejoin the military after being dismissed from their posts after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion for serving under the former dictator.Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said Friday the reinstatement will begin immediately.The move comes just over a week before national elections the U.S. hopes will help bring together Iraq’s rival religious factions.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Shiite politicians have been criticized for unfairly targeting former members of Saddam’s ruling Baath Party.Rival Sunni lawmaker Maysoun Damlouji says the reinstatement is a blatant ploy by al-Maliki to win more votes on March 7. (AP)

Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops killed at least five people on Friday in a raid on suspected members of what Washington calls an Iranian-backed terrorist group

BASRA, Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops killed at least five people on Friday in a raid on suspected members of what Washington calls an Iranian-backed terrorist group, the U.S. military said. While overall violence in Iraq has fallen over the last two years, attacks and fighting remain common as Iraq gears up for a March 7 election and U.S. troops prepare to stop combat operations ahead of a withdrawal by the end of 2011.

The firefight with suspected members of Kata’ib Hizballah, a group that the U.S. State Department says has ties to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, occurred 265 km (165 miles) southeast of Baghdad in a village near the Iranian border. Twelve people were arrested.”The joint security team was fired upon by individuals dispersed in multiple residential buildings … members of the security team returned fire, killing individuals assessed to be enemy combatants,” the U.S. military said in a statement.”While the number of casualties has not yet been confirmed, initial reports indicate five individuals were killed,” it said without specifying who was killed in the raid.

Maitham Laftah, a member of the provincial council of Maysan province, said 10 people were killed, including two women, and five people wounded in the village 75 km (46 miles) north of the city of Amara. Eleven people were arrested, he said.Hospital sources in Amara put the death toll at eight killed, including a woman, and three wounded.A Reuters photographer who arrived after the firefight saw bloodstains on the ground and bullet holes in the walls.The U.S. military said that Iraqi and U.S. intelligence sources have spotted a recent increase in weapons smuggling by Iranian-backed militia like Kata’ib Hizballah. It gave no further information.(Reuters)

discovery of an ancient road called David in Jerusalem by the archaeological

JERUSALEM, Israeli archaeological Agency Wednesday (10/2/2010) to find a street in the Old city of Jerusalem, which became the central veins of the economy and trade about 1,500 years ago. The old road was discovered when workers from the city infrastructure to conduct excavations on the side of the Jaffa Gate, west of town. Here was found a large rock, whose position was under way currently known by the street name of David, reports the Israel Antiquities Authority Board (Israel Antiquities Authority / IAA). “Today we have released a number of archaeological artifacts at a depth of 4.5 meters below the surface of the road. Many of our findings. We found a large floor slabs, which kemukinan a road in the past,” said Ofer Sion, Director of the Israel Antiquities Authority Excavations . According to the IAA, a number of ancient artifacts were also found at the dig site.

“The possibility of a road from a busy period. The main artery road, when Jerusalem became a Christian city. It is widely used, it turns out the way David held so many stories, so many human lives the journey interesting, always passing through the road which was built about 1,500 years before this, “says Zion. This ancient artifacts unearthed ancient mosaic map match, which was found in a church Jordan, which is currently known as the Madaba map, which describes the holy land in the Byzantine period. According to the IAA, in the old map is described, “To enter into the holy city of Jerusalem from the West side has to go through a very large door, which leads to a downtown street that is very busy.” Among the ancient artifacts found in excavations are coins, pottery vessels and five small bronze square, weights are likely used by traders to consider the ancient noble metals.

BAGHDAD A bomb targeting a church in northern Iraq killed two men

Shiite Muslim men

BAGHDAD  A bomb targeting a church in northern Iraq killed two men and damaged the historic building Wednesday, a day before Christmas Eve services that will be heavily guarded for fear of more attacks on the country’s Christian minority.The bomb in the city of Mosul was hidden under sacks of baking flour in a handcart left 15 yards (meters) from the Mar Toma Church, or the Church of St. Thomas, a police officer said.

The officer said the two men killed were Muslims and that five other people were injured. A hospital official confirmed the casualties.Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information to news media.

“Instead of performing Christmas Mass in this church, we will be busy removing rubble and debris,” Hazim Ragheed, a priest at the church, said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.The blast damaged the wooden doors, windows, some furniture and one of the walls of the church, which is more than 1,200 years old, Ragheed said. Services will be moved out of the church, but Ragheed did not say where they would be held.

“We demand that the government put an end to these repeated attacks,” Ragheed said.The blast occurred in an area where streets have been closed to cars and trucks to protect Mosul’s dwindling Christian population.

Iraqi defense officials warned earlier in the week that intelligence reports pointed to attacks during Christmas, leading the government to step up security near churches and Christian neighborhoods.Most of the increased security will be in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk, said Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari.

Christians have frequently been targeted since turmoil swept the country after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, although the attacks have ebbed with an overall drop in violence. Still, tens of thousands of Christians have fled; many who stayed were isolated in neighborhoods protected by barricades and checkpoints.A coordinated bombing campaign in 2004 targeted churches in the Iraqi capital and anti-Christian violence also flared in September 2007 after Pope Benedict XVI made comments perceived to be against Islam.

Churches, priests and businesses have been attacked by militants who denounce Christians as pro-American “crusaders.” Paulos Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, was found dead in March 2008 after being abducted by gunmen after a Mass.

Also Wednesday, Iraqi forces increased security around the Shiite religious observance of Ashoura, which coincides with Christmas.Insurgents have routinely targeted pilgrims on their way to the southern holy city of Karbala during Ashoura, which marks the seventh-century death of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussein.More than 25,000 Iraqi police and soldiers have been assigned to protect pilgrims, said Karbala police Capt. Alaa Abbas Jaafar, a media spokesman.

Elsewhere, gunmen stormed a checkpoint Wednesday in Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad, killing four Iraqi police officers, two police officials said.

A bomb planted on a minibus killed two people and injured five in a Shiite neighborhood in north Baghdad, police and hospital officials said. Another bomb in Fallujah targeted an Anbar University professor but missed and killed the man’s brother, police said.

official Iraqi : Iranians seized Iraqi oil well

Mohammed Haj Aziz

BAGHDAD  Iraq’s deputy foreign minister says Iranian troops have seized an oil well in southern Iraq along their disputed border.Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Haj Aziz said Friday that Iranian troops seized oil well No. 4 Thursday night.

He said he did not know whether Iranians were still in control of the oil well. He said the Foreign Ministry and the Oil Ministry are coordinating over what steps to take and were considering summoning the Iranian ambassador to discuss the issue on Saturday.

Such incidents have happened before along the Iran-Iraq border, which was never clearly delineated after the brutal war between the two countries in the 1980s.

Jewish settlers planned a mass protest in downtown Jerusalem on Wednesday night

downtown Jerusalem

JERUSALEM  Jewish settlers planned a mass protest in downtown Jerusalem on Wednesday night in what they said would be the largest show of resistance to the government’s new slowdown on new housing construction in the West Bank.

Police expected thousands of people to attend the demonstration, to take place outside the residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The size of the turnout could reflect how widespread support is for increasingly fierce settler resistance to the government building ban.

Separately, Israel’s parliament on Wednesday gave preliminary approval to a piece of legislation that would require a national referendum on any peace deal that gives up control of east Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.

Netanyahu announced the 10-month halt in most West Bank construction late last month in an attempt to restart peace talks, which broke down a year ago. The new restrictions have infuriated Jewish settlers and their backers in Netanyahu’s hard-line coalition, and government inspectors have been harassed while trying to enforce the ban.

The settlers have been struggling to regain their strength since Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, uprooting all 8,000 settlers who were living there.

At the Wednesday protest, lawmakers and settler leaders planned to speak out against Netanyahu, whom they accuse of caving to American pressure.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, himself a settler, said the protest was legitimate.

“If someone came to you and froze construction on your house while you were building it, you would also object,” he told Israel Radio. “I just hope the struggle and the resistance remain within the framework of a legitimate political protest that is acceptable in a democratic state.”

While Netanyahu has painted his order as an unprecedented concession, the Palestinians have dismissed it as insincere and insufficient, since it does not include east Jerusalem or 3,000 homes already under construction in the West Bank. The Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and east Jerusalem as parts of a future independent state. They say they will not resume talks until all settlement construction ceases.

Speaking after a meeting of top ministers and security chiefs on Wednesday, Netanyahu said the Palestinians seem to have adopted a strategy of “rejecting negotiations with Israel.”

“This is a mistake. There can be no genuine solution without direct negotiations with Israel, in the framework of which we will reach agreements and arrangements between the sides,” he said.

The Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now also cast new doubts on the building freeze, saying that building in the West Bank continues to take place at a greater pace than elsewhere in Israel.

“Beyond the political dispute going on around the settlements, the argument of the settlers that they are discriminated against is simply not true,” said Peace Now leader Yariv Oppenheimer.

Some 300,000 settlers live in the West Bank, in addition to 180,000 Jewish Israelis living in east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war and annexed soon after. Netanyahu opposes any withdrawal from east Jerusalem, which Israel considers part of its eternal undivided capital.

If approved, the measure passed by parliament Wednesday could constrain the ability of any future Israeli government to turn over captured land as part of a peace deal.

While the Palestinians seek east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, Syria demands the return of the Golan Heights. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war and subsequently annexed them.

The measure was approved by parliament 68 to 22, but it needs to pass two more parliamentary votes to become law.