Updated at 8:05 p.m. EST, Nov. 19, 2009
At least four Iraqis were killed and five more wounded. Also, a man believed to be Egyptian was also killed. These attacks all occurred in Mosul. Two attacks on U.S. targets also took place, but no casualties were reported in those.
Saturday, lawmakers will vote on how to break an impasse that could delay January’s national elections. The latest obstacle is the allocation of seats for Iraqis living overseas. The U.N. estimates that 1.5 million refugees are living outside the country, but Iraq is too unstable to reabsorb them any time soon. U.S. General Ray Odierno said that the U.S. has until April or May to decide whether the election delay has jeopardized the planned drawdown.
A polarizing Awakening Council leader was sentenced to death on kidnapping and murder charges. The arrest of Adil al-Mashhadani in Baghdad’s Fadhil neighborhood last March set off fighting between local Sahwa fighters and security forces. Some then complained that the arrest was political; however, other residents agreed that he was guilty of many criminal charges.
In Mosul, gunmen killed an Iraqi man at one market; at least one other man was wounded. A man who was stabbed to death at another souk was carrying an Egyptian passport. Three policemen were killed and five were wounded during a blast.
No casualties were reported after a roadside bomb blasted a U.S. patrol in Basra province. Seventeen suspects were detained across the province and a number of arms were also confiscated.
Mortars fell on a U.S. base in Salah ad Din province, but no casualties were reported.
Three suspects were detained in Rashad.
U.S. forces dropped all charges and released 17 detainees from Kirkuk.
