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BBC Monitoring Headlines, Quotes From Iraqi Press 20 Dec 05

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 December 2005, 09:00 CST

The following is a selection of headlines and quotes taken from the Iraqi press published on 20 Dec:

Headlines

Al-Bayyinah [Baghdad, general cultural political daily newspaper temporarily published twice-weekly by the Hezbollah Movement in Iraq]: We will let hell break loose if our electoral bliss is taken away from us by aliens \ [Mithal] Al-Alusi: Cheney wouldn't have been able to free Saddam's cronies if our legal institutions were strict enough \ Oil Minister threatens to resign, asks Cabinet to put on hold decision to boost fuel prices \ Adil Abd al-Mahdi: We will seek alliance with small lists \ Public Prosecution: We have enough unquestionable evidence to send Saddam to the gallows \ [Secretary-General of the Hezbollah Movement in Iraq, Hassan] Al- Sari: We hold the High Electoral Commission responsible for any discrepancies that may emerge in electoral results. We have given rivers of blood over three decades and are willing to give more if need be

Al-Dustur [Baghdad, independent daily newspaper]: New hike in ground-line telephone billing rates [agencies quoted] \ Demonstrations continue in protest against fuel price rise \ Alliance, Kurdish , Iraqi lists emerging as top election winners in ten governorates \ Australian Foreign Minister reviews country's troops in Iraq [agencies quoted] \ Iraqis should be allowed enough time to form new government, says Rice [agencies quoted] \ Iraqi forces launch Operation Bright Moonlight in Ramadi, Operation Iron Fist in Basra \ Power grid towers along Kirkuk-Baiji highway blown up by unidentified assailants [Voices of Iraq quoted]

Al-Ittihad [Baghdad, political daily newspaper published by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan]: President receives US ambassador in Baghdad, both officials emphasize necessity of forming national unity government based on consensus \ Abu- Dhabi Summit condemns terrorist acts in Iraq [KUNA quoted] \ Ex-Military Industrialization Ministry companies, staff reinstated by Ministry of Industry [Voices of Iraq quoted] \ Baghdad Mayoralty starts campaign to remove electoral posters [NINA quoted] \ Iraqis resort to drugs to escape harsh reality [AFP quoted]

Al-Sharq al-Awsat [Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily newspaper, Saudi-owned]: Iraqi judiciary threatening to track down former senior officials released by US, including Dr. 'Germs', Dr. 'Anthrax', and said to have arrived [in Amman] amid reports of Jordan refusing to host them \ Following announcement of partial results in Baghdad, Shi'ite, Kurdish provinces, no dramatic changes expected in wake of elections, with 'Alliance', 'Kurdistan' [Coalition] retaining predominance \ Kuwaiti resentment at Saddam Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary being part of Qatari delegation to GCC Summit \ Fifteen fundamentalists detained in Spain under suspicion of involvement in recruiting, dispatching fighters to join the fray in Iraq

Baghdad [Baghdad, political daily newspaper published by the Iraqi National Accord Movement]: [Iraqi-Multinational] Military drills conducted along Iraqi-Iranian border \ Fuel crisis sets Iraqi street ablaze, unleashing nationwide resentment, grumbles and queries about unknown future \ With year approaching end, citizens raise questions about fate of food ration voucher, compensation money \ New setback in security situation [agencies quoted] \ GCC Summit resumes amid qualms about Iranian nuclear programme [AFP quoted]

Al-Zaman [Baghdad edition of London-based independent daily newspaper]: With rage in Nasiriyah, Samawah, Ba'qubah, Tikrit, Diwaniyah, Basra, Mosul growing ever greater, police use bullets to curb angry hordes protesting fuel price hike \ Bush: War in Iraq tougher than anticipated \ Woman killed, five people wounded in car bomb detonation in Al-Iskan [Baghdad neighbourhood] \ Berlin announces Osthoffe's release amid news of US hostage being killed \ Five civilians injured in car bombing in Al-Muqdadiyah \ Multinational Forces: Suspects apprehended, three arms caches seized near Kirkuk

Al-Adalah [Baghdad, general political daily newspaper published by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq]: Receiving Australian Foreign Minister in audience, Sayyid Adil Abd al-Mahdi: Upcoming government must be all-inclusive and we have no veto on any political coalition \ [Alliance candidate, Khudayir] Al- Khuza'i: 'Alliance' envisioning possible coalition with all blocs, except for those that want Ba'thists back \ Ministry of Trade: Coupons being prepared for new scheme offering money in compensation for food ration vouchers \ Seven terrorists implicated in killings, bombings detained in Al-Bayya' [Baghdad neighbourhood]

Quotes

Al-Bayyinah [From editorial]: "Americans, along with some Iraqis, are busy these days, trying to strike secret deals that can only be described as a vile effort to rob Iraqis of the joy of a dazzlingly successful election, a treacherous conspiracy to shatter the hopes of the downtrodden masses. We warn the Americans against sliding down this perilous slope, for the Shi'ites of Iraq, though thankful to the Americans for toppling Saddam, have not yet forgotten the treacherous US stand in 1991. I say, they'd better beware the wrath of the poor, whose patience is running out, and heed the Iraqi lion, [Al-Sistani], when the time comes for him to utter his word."

Al-Dustur [From editorial]: "Regardless of the reasons behind it, the government's decision [to raise fuel prices] is clearly seen as the first step towards instituting a ferociously competitive capitalist market that will grind an already battered middle class out of existence, resulting in an ever wider gap between the haves and the have-nots in a way Iraqi society has never known before."

Al-Ittihad [From commentary by Muhammad Thamir Yusif]: "If the abolitionist-Ba'thist brand of terror is waning and is bound to be defeated in the end, the social contract we have endorsed to safeguard individual freedoms in the new constitution should prompt us to stand up to another sort of violence that is manifesting itself in the moral coercion being practised under a religious guise, a vicious claw tearing at the very fabric of the civil liberties and civilized ethics our society has been accustomed to for decades."

Sources: as listed

Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile

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