Traders targeted

In the name of fighting Al-Qaeda, Iraqi government forces and the US occupation are set to launch a citywide offensive on Mosul, writes Nermeen Al-Mufti

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An Iraqi soldier inspects the site of an explosion in the market of Baghdad. Powerful blasts, one triggered by a female suicide attacker, ripped through two Baghdad markets today, killing at least 64 people

Mosul is bracing itself after Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki promised a new offensive against "terror" in the city. Al-Maliki's remarks followed a bombing in which 500 people were either killed or wounded in Al-Zanjili district of Mosul.

Eyewitnesses say that a building was booby trapped and then blown up when Iraqi troops went inside. The district mayor, Raad Al-Jaburi, said that barrels were brought into the house before the blast occurred. An envoy of Al-Maliki, Zuheir Al-Jalabi, told Al-Iraqiya television that investigations point to Al-Qaeda involvement in the case, though some reports contest this, pointing to the involvement of government-backed Kurdish groups. The perpetrators rigged a shop in the building with explosives, called police to the scene, and then detonated the bombs, Al-Jalabi said.

Inhabitants of Mosul, reached by telephone, told Al-Ahram Weekly that they were swiftly stocking up on foodstuffs and fuel in anticipation of further turmoil. In previous occupation offensives elsewhere, thousands of innocent people have lost their lives. An anti-terror offensive has been ongoing in Diyala, 90 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, for months.

Mosul inhabitants have no guarantee that they will be spared death by "friendly" fire, a fate all too familiar in this war-torn country. The US army recently admitted killing nine civilians, including two women, by mistake while chasing "terrorists" in Al-Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad.

Fear of renewed violence resurged in Baghdad after Friday's twin bombings. A first blast destroyed a textile market downtown while a second wreaked havoc in a livestock market in the eastern section of the city. Government reports suggested that two mentally impaired women were used in the attacks, their explosive belts allegedly detonated by remote control. The Iraqi Resistance Islamic Front and Hamas-Iraq -- constituent parts of the Iraqi popular resistance -- disavowed the attacks and called for an international investigation. The two bombings left 98 civilians dead and more than 100 injured.

Clashes motivated by turf rivalries erupted between the police and Awakening Councils gunmen in various parts of Baghdad. Police accuse the gunmen of acting above the law and failing to take orders. The militiamen claim to be independent and refuse to coordinate with anyone but the Americans.

As government forces prepare for a "decisive battle" in Mosul, Kirkuk remains enveloped in controversy. Turkomen parties have launched a bid to declare the city an independent zone with no connection to the northern, Kurdish-dominated, administration. In a meeting held in Baghdad, Turkomen groups said that Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution -- which should have been implemented prior to 31 December 2007 -- was now null and void. Kurdish political forces want the article deadline to be extended, which would require a constitutional amendment.

A UN delegation visited Kirkuk to discuss the conflict with Arab, Turkomen and Kurdish officials. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was also in Kirkuk for talks with Turkomen representatives. The latter have been boycotting the local parliament for over a year, refusing to take part unless the Turkomen language is declared an official language in Kirkuk. They also want government posts to be distributed in an equitable manner. Talabani promised to meet these demands.

Since April 2003 over 600,000 Kurds were brought into Kirkuk in a bid by Kurdish leaders to change the demographics of the city. Most of the newcomers are squatting in abandoned buildings and state property, including the sports stadium. Raed Fahmi, chairman of the Kirkuk Normalisation Committee, says that only one out of four people living in the stadium are former Kirkuk inhabitants who were banished from the city by the former regime of Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, the Green Zone parliament has postponed a vote on the annual budget because of Kirkuk-related differences. The regional Kurdish administration wants 17 per cent of national revenues, plus salaries for the Peshmerga and its local troops. The Kurds asked Talabani to veto the budget unless their demands are met.

News this week also suggests that Iraq is losing petroleum from its fields bordering Iran and Kuwait. Abdul-Karim Lueibi, inspector-general at the Iraqi Petroleum Ministry, told Al-Zaman newspaper that Iran and Kuwait are stealing petroleum from Iraqi fields near their borders. Iraq has no agreement regulating the production of petroleum from these fields and the absence of such an agreement leaves the situation delicate. "The problem of joint petroleum fields is not only a petroleum problem, but a national problem that Iraq is seeking to resolve," Lueibi said.

Iran is said to be pumping petroleum from the Khana field in Khaniqin and the Maysan fields. The Iraqi Petroleum Ministry protested to Iran over the "theft of petroleum from the southern field" and is waiting for a response.

Mohamed Mahmoud Al-Haj, undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry, told reporters that the ministry has received "an official notification from the Petroleum Ministry indicating that Iran has taken control of 14 petroleum fields in the Maysan governorate."