.Iraqi Local Council Rejects Premier’s Police Appointee
BAGHDAD — An attempt by the prime minister to replace a police chief in southern Iraq boiled over into accusations of political manipulation and improper campaigning on Saturday, two weeks ahead of provincial elections scheduled across the country.
A day after Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered the police chief in Wasit Province, Maj. Gen. Abdul Haneen al-Amara, to be replaced for failing to enforce election laws, the local provincial council rejected Mr. Maliki’s new choice.
“The appointment came 13 days before the elections, and that sounds odd,” said Naseer al-Haddad, a provincial council member from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a Shiite coalition and rival of Mr. Maliki’s Dawa Party. “It also happened without consulting the provincial council and even occurred on a holiday Friday,” a day off for most Iraqis, he said.
Sayyd Sattar al-Masqsusi, another member of the Wasit provincial council representing the secular Iraqiya Party, said the police chief’s replacement occurred at a particularly delicate time.
“It’s really not good to replace him at this time,” Mr. Masqsusi said. “We called the minister of the interior himself and he didn’t know about the replacement, and was as surprised as we are. Only God and Maliki know the reasons behind the change at this time.”
Messages to the prime minister’s office asking for comment on Saturday were not returned.
The trouble started Dec. 20 when an official from Mr. Maliki’s governing Dawa Party reported seeing four police officers tearing down campaign posters of one candidate and pasting in their place the posters of a candidate representing Iraqiya. The new posters were for a candidate, Majid Latef al-Amara, who happened to be a cousin of the police chief. Both men are from the Amara tribe, a political power in the province.
The tribe is also well represented in Iraq’s Interior Ministry, which oversees the nation’s police forces. The prime minister and the interior minister, Jawad al-Bolani, have clashed politically in recent weeks.
The removal of the campaign posters of political candidates has become a commonly reported problem in Iraq this election season. The cost of campaign posters is often the primary expense for political candidates here, and competition to place posters in prominent, heavily trafficked spots is fierce.
The Iraqi High Electoral Commission said last week that it had uncovered 45 cases of campaign violations, including tearing down posters, illegally using religious symbols in campaign advertisements and bribery.
In Baghdad, many candidates are handing out gifts to potential supporters, including coupons for free meals for families at popular restaurants, food baskets and leather-bound diaries with the candidates’ names on them. There are also allegations that tribal leaders are getting cash payments to deliver blocs of votes to parties or candidates.
On Saturday, Najat Abdul Hussein, the Dawa official who said she saw the police officers tearing down posters in Wasit Province, said she began to record the police officers with her cellphone, but before she could leave they took it from her. She said that they tried to kidnap her but that she was able to escape in a taxi after breaking a leg and hurting a knee.
She said that after she complained about the incident, arrest warrants were issued for the candidate and one of his cousins, who is a police officer, but that no arrests were made.
“He was replaced because he didn’t implement the law and arrest his cousins,” she said.
The replaced police chief, General Amara, said he was taking his replacement in stride and had been assigned to a position in the Interior Ministry.
“We’re military officers and obey orders,” he said. “This has nothing to do with any political issues.”
Also on Saturday, a brother of Muntader al-Zaidi, the 29-year-old Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush at a Baghdad news conference in December, said he had been allowed to visit him in prison on Friday for the first time in a month.
The journalist’s brother, Maithem al-Zaidi, said the reporter appeared to be in reasonably good health despite having been burned with a cigarette and badly beaten during his imprisonment. Officials promised that the family would be allowed two visits each month, he said.
NYT
A day after Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki ordered the police chief in Wasit Province, Maj. Gen. Abdul Haneen al-Amara, to be replaced for failing to enforce election laws, the local provincial council rejected Mr. Maliki’s new choice.
“The appointment came 13 days before the elections, and that sounds odd,” said Naseer al-Haddad, a provincial council member from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a Shiite coalition and rival of Mr. Maliki’s Dawa Party. “It also happened without consulting the provincial council and even occurred on a holiday Friday,” a day off for most Iraqis, he said.
Sayyd Sattar al-Masqsusi, another member of the Wasit provincial council representing the secular Iraqiya Party, said the police chief’s replacement occurred at a particularly delicate time.
“It’s really not good to replace him at this time,” Mr. Masqsusi said. “We called the minister of the interior himself and he didn’t know about the replacement, and was as surprised as we are. Only God and Maliki know the reasons behind the change at this time.”
Messages to the prime minister’s office asking for comment on Saturday were not returned.
The trouble started Dec. 20 when an official from Mr. Maliki’s governing Dawa Party reported seeing four police officers tearing down campaign posters of one candidate and pasting in their place the posters of a candidate representing Iraqiya. The new posters were for a candidate, Majid Latef al-Amara, who happened to be a cousin of the police chief. Both men are from the Amara tribe, a political power in the province.
The tribe is also well represented in Iraq’s Interior Ministry, which oversees the nation’s police forces. The prime minister and the interior minister, Jawad al-Bolani, have clashed politically in recent weeks.
The removal of the campaign posters of political candidates has become a commonly reported problem in Iraq this election season. The cost of campaign posters is often the primary expense for political candidates here, and competition to place posters in prominent, heavily trafficked spots is fierce.
The Iraqi High Electoral Commission said last week that it had uncovered 45 cases of campaign violations, including tearing down posters, illegally using religious symbols in campaign advertisements and bribery.
In Baghdad, many candidates are handing out gifts to potential supporters, including coupons for free meals for families at popular restaurants, food baskets and leather-bound diaries with the candidates’ names on them. There are also allegations that tribal leaders are getting cash payments to deliver blocs of votes to parties or candidates.
On Saturday, Najat Abdul Hussein, the Dawa official who said she saw the police officers tearing down posters in Wasit Province, said she began to record the police officers with her cellphone, but before she could leave they took it from her. She said that they tried to kidnap her but that she was able to escape in a taxi after breaking a leg and hurting a knee.
She said that after she complained about the incident, arrest warrants were issued for the candidate and one of his cousins, who is a police officer, but that no arrests were made.
“He was replaced because he didn’t implement the law and arrest his cousins,” she said.
The replaced police chief, General Amara, said he was taking his replacement in stride and had been assigned to a position in the Interior Ministry.
“We’re military officers and obey orders,” he said. “This has nothing to do with any political issues.”
Also on Saturday, a brother of Muntader al-Zaidi, the 29-year-old Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush at a Baghdad news conference in December, said he had been allowed to visit him in prison on Friday for the first time in a month.
The journalist’s brother, Maithem al-Zaidi, said the reporter appeared to be in reasonably good health despite having been burned with a cigarette and badly beaten during his imprisonment. Officials promised that the family would be allowed two visits each month, he said.
NYT
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