Iraq Press Roundup

Political balance in Ninawa province

The public in Iraq's northern Ninawa province called on the winning slates in the elections to honor their promises of better municipal services and more jobs, al-Sabaah reported Wednesday.

The public also asked the leading slates -- al-Hadbaa, Ninawa Brotherhood and the Iraqi Islamic Party -- to eliminate corruption and provide a better standard of living, adding that the results of the provincial elections brought a balance to the political landscape there.

The 2005 vote in Ninawa resulted in the appointment of corrupt officials to high positions in the province due to poor voter turnout amid reports of violence. This, the news service said, led the province to falter in development of municipal and security services.

However, the vote in Ninawa for the 2009 provincial elections took place amid tight security with few reports of violence.

The successful elections in January encouraged people to exercise their democratic rights by calling on elected officials to hold to their promises to bring improvements to the province.

The provincial capital, Mosul, is considered to be among the last remaining holdouts of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Lawmakers should face responsibility for sectarian killings

Leading Sunni lawmakers called on the government to launch an investigation into accusations that members of Parliament fomented sectarian violence, al-Iraq lil-Kul reported Wednesday.

Saleh Mutlaq, a prominent Sunni lawmaker, said Sunni lawmakers would face repercussions if Mohamed al-Daini was charged with plotting a 2007 bombing of the Iraqi Parliament. The Iraqi government also linked Daini to a string of car bombings and mass killings.

Mutlaq also said eight members of Parliament are linked to sectarian killings and corruption, though the central government has done little in terms of prosecution. He pointed to the various alliances in the Iraqi political landscape for covering the actions of its members.

The Sunni lawmaker also said Daini resigned from his party, the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, more than a year ago and any accusations against the disgraced lawmaker should have little effect on his party.

Mutlaq, however, said he would defend Daini because he believes the charges against him are politically motivated based on his allegations of human-rights abuses in the Iraqi prison system, the news service said.

Iraqi police linked to mass grave

The Iraqi Ministry of Interior announced a group of Iraqi police were linked to the death of 17 civilians in Baghdad in 2006, Azzaman reported Wednesday.

The allegations come on the heels of reports from the ministry saying Iraqi police forces played a role in the 2006 assassination of Maysoun al-Hashimi, the head of the women's affairs council in the Iraqi Islamic Party and sister of Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi.

Four police officers stand accused of assassinating Hashimi while 12 others were detained on charges of conspiring attacks based on sectarian motives. One of the four accused officers admitted to killing 17 people in Baghdad in one incident.

The Interior Ministry said the arrested officers handed over more than 40 names of others involved in the alleged crimes.

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(Edited by Daniel Graeber)