With the transfer of 37 detainees into Iraqi custoday, the United States is down to its last prisoner in Iraq. Meanwhile, at least four Iraqis were killed and 11 more were wounded in attacks.
Ali Mussa Daqduq is now the last detainee remaining in U.S. custody in Iraq. Although the 2008 SOFA agreement requires the U.S. military to hand over all detainees before next month’s withdrawal, officials fear that once in Iraqi hands, the Lebanese Hezbollah commander will simply be freed. The White House would instead like to see him tried for the deaths of four U.S. soldiers killed in 2007, but Daqduq’s fate remains unclear, as Iraq would have to approve his continued detention. Thirty-seven other men were transferred into Iraqi custody. U.S. forces once held as many as 90,000 Iraqis in detention.
Salah ad Din’s governing council is continuing its bid to gain "region" status for the province despite protests from the towns of Balad and Dujail. Meanwhile, Sheikh Ajil al-Yawar, who is the secretary-general of the Justice and Reform Movement, rejected attempts to divide the country and called for a strong central government.
In Baghdad, a blast on Saadoun Street wounded six people, mostly soldiers. A bomb exploded at a checkpoint leading into Sadr City from Baghdad; the blast killed a soldier and wounded two other people. A bomb in Amil wounded three people.
The body of a government employee was found in Kirkuk.
In Mosul, killed an attempted suicide bomber at a checkpoint. Gunmen killed a policeman who was at his home.
A curfew is in effect for Qaim, which is near the Syrian border.
Turkey continued itsair strikes on Iraqi territory, while ground troops have gathered near the Iraqi border. Across the country, scores of people, including lawyers, were detained today and charged with having ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party.
