Updated at 7:17 p.m. EDT, Sept. 16, 2009
At least eight Iraqis were killed and 26 more were wounded in light violence as U.S. Vice President Joe Biden continues his visit to Iraq. Meanwhile, talks between Syria and Iraq have broken down, and former deputy prime minister of Iraq, Barham Salih, has been selected to head the semi-autonomous Kurdistan government.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is in Iraq and today met with a number of Iraqi officials in hopes of smoothing over some political tensions that could delay the U.S. drawdown; however, the Pentagon has approved sending 1,000 more U.S. soldiers to Iraq in the meantime. Tomorrow, Biden meets with Kurdish officials.
Iraqi spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said that talks with Syria have failed. Iraq claims it has evidence that Syria is harboring Saddam loyalists who were involved with recent bombings in Baghdad. Relations are so tense now that the talks took place in Turkey.
Camp Bucca in southern Iraq was closed. The remaining 180 or so prisoners were transferred to other U.S. prison camps. Some of the prisoners have been held without charges for a long as three years. About 65 others have already received death sentences.
A car bomb killed three and wounded eight in Khalis.
One woman was killed and five other people were wounded during a bomb blast near a mosque in Fallujah. U.S. forces shot and wounded a mentally handicapped person after the man threw his shoe at them.
In Mosul, gunmen killed a former policeman while he was shopping at a market. An explosion wounded a soldier and a civilian.
Two Kurdish Asayesh members were killed and a third was wounded in Touz. The Asayesh are the Kurdish secret service.
A bomb in Gharbiyah wounded five people.
Gunmen in Abu Ghraib killed an anesthetist as he was leaving a medical office.
A Kurdish-Norwegian citizen disappeared in Suleimaniya.
In Baghdad, U.S. troops arrested three people suspected of shelling the Green Zone yesterday, but later released them. A mortar fell near the Babel Hotel, wounding two civilians. Another civilian was injured by a roadside bomb in Adhamiya. A bomb planted on a councilmember’s car exploded but failed to injure him, but wounded a civilian bystander. On Palestine St. a bomb destroyed a car.
Gunmen stole a large amount of cash from a money exchange in Hilla.
A murder suspect was arrested in Kirkuk.
Najaf has made security preparations for the Eid holiday.
Two Ansar al-Islam members were captured in Arbil.
A bomb in Saqlawiyah destroyed a newly built home belonging to an Awakening Council member.
