Iraq Press Roundup

Kul Al Iraq newspaper said Thursday in its editorial on the latest violence in Baghdad and Basra that Iraqis raised their hands asking God to end the strife that could have cost many lives.

The editorial with the title "This is the wisdom of Iraqis" said that the past few days put Iraqis through a hard test on many issues and was a filter for the decisions by the government, which took a courageous step in fighting gangsters' groups.

"The government was wise when it positively responded to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr's statement when he disowned followers who carry weapons to shed the blood of people, destroy the economy of Iraq or perform actions against humanity," it said.

The paper said the past few days proved to the people of Iraq their government is able to impose its law on everybody.

"The fighting in Basra and elsewhere last week deepened the unity of the Iraqi people and showed their united vision and true willingness to end the occupation," it said.

Kul Al Iraq concluded that Sadr's statement suited the Iraqi government's decision to confront the "criminals" and follow them in order to stop them from carrying out the agenda of neighboring countries.

In an editorial with the title "The Iraqi people's suffering … continues," the Kurdish Al Taakhi newspaper highlighted last week's "surge" operations in many Iraqi cities.

The editorial said Iraqis live an unstable life and the security improvement is being threatened especially after the latest security operations. It also said the government must repeat the Awakening Councils' experiment in other cities.

Al Taakhi criticized the government for killing large numbers of people and arresting others for being "terrorists" during security operations. The paper also said the Iraqi government, after giving amnesty to prisoners, is slowing down the process of releasing them.

"Officials in charge of prisons take in regard the prisoners' sects and areas where they come from when they release them," it said.

It said the Ministry of National Reconciliation and its efforts are "ink on paper."

"The Ministry of National Reconciliation gets its employees paid from the state budget, which means from Iraqis' pockets, then they only appear when there is a statement to be given or when a visitor from the Arab League and the like, to be welcomed," it said.

It concluded that in the new Iraq, though after five years it is no longer new, officials and politicians take poor decisions about laws and other issues of importance and are dependent on personal agreements and satisfaction among political blocs and parties.