Updated at 8:10 p.m. EST, Jan. 27, 2009
At least three Iraqis
were killed and 10 more were wounded in the latest violence. A couple of the
attacks appeared to be election-related, but an expected uptick in such attacks
has not yet been seen. No Coalition deaths were reported. Separately, a British
tribunal has ordered
the government to release the minutes from a 2003 Cabinet discussion on the Iraq
invasion, while back in the U.S., senators questioned
the role of private contractors. Tomorrow, U.S. President Obama will
again discuss Iraq and Afghanistan with his advisors.
Many Shi'ite
voters will
sit out the election because it takes place during Arbaeen, a yearly pilgrimage
that many of the faithful take to the holy city of Karbala. Meanwhile,
the Interior Ministry has promised
to "track down" those who threaten journalists during their election coverage,
and the U.N. is
helping Iraq implement strategies that will prevent vote fraud.
In
Mosul, three
Iraqi soldiers were killed and three others were wounded when a car bomb blew
up near a Kurdish Democratic Party office; the soldiers were investigating the
suspicious vehicle when it exploded. Gunmen unsuccessfully made an assassination
attempt on an Assyrian Party member. Separately, four al-Qaeda suspects were
detained.
In Baghdad,
a senior customs official escaped injury when a roadside bomb blasted his motorcade,
but three
bodyguards were injured. Four
security personnel were injured during operations that netted 30 suspects
and liberated one hostage.
An unoccupied voting station was set
ablaze in Fallujah.
No
casualties were reported in Baquba after the home of a land forces
commander was bombed today.
Diyala province has completed
its preparations for this Saturday's elections, but some have complained
that it is too soon to hold elections there as sectarian friction is still too
thick there.
A weapons cache was discovered
near Karbala.
Two suspects were detained
in Mahaweel.
Greece has offered
to help Iraq rebuild its cultural institutions and repair damaged archaeological
sites.
The drama continues at Camp Ashraf where Iranian refugees
threaten
to use legal means to remain within Iraq. The group are afraid to return home
and no third country has come forward to take them. Members of the group were
once members of the
Compiled by Margaret Griffis