Iraqi police chief killed, weapons confiscated

BAGHDAD, May 31 (KUNA) -- Unknown gunmen killed a police officer outside a bank in Baghdad, while the Multi-National Force (MNF) discovered a large weapons cache, it was announced here on Thursday.A US Army statement said five gunmen opened fire and immediately killed Lt. Col. Mohammad Shaka Mohammad outside a bank in Baghdad's Sheikh Marouf district as he prepared to withdrawal the payroll of a police unit.A coalition force patrol nearby responded to the sounds of small-arms fire, killing one of the militants.Three vehicles were also damaged in the exchange of fire and there was light damage to surrounding buildings, the statement added.The area was secured the area and the attack is under investigation, it said.Meanwhile, an Iraqi security source said the Multi-National Force discovered a weapons cache containing 100 gas bombs and half a ton of explosive materials in the University District, western Baghdad.

Armed insurgents try to assassinate pro-government tribal chief in Iraq
Military and Security 5/31/2007 10:29:00 AM


BAGHDAD, May 31 (KUNA) -- Gunmen burst into house of a tribal chief aligned with the government at dawn on Thursday and opened up a hail of gunfire, seriously wounding him along with his wife, police said.The unknown gunmen stormed the residence of Sheikh Obeid Al-Masoudi, the chief of Al-Masoudi clan, in the town of Al-Iskandaria south of Baghdad, and targeted him and his wife with volleys of automatic gunfire. He and his wife were critically wounded in the attack and the couple were whisked to hospital, a police spokesman said.Hospital sources said the condition of the clan chief was critical and that he was suffering from serious cuts as a result of several hits with bullets.Sheikh Al-Masoudi has recently established an alliance with several tribes in Babel Governorate, south of Baghdad, reminiscent to the pro-government tribal alliance in the province of Al-Anbar, west of the Iraqi capital. He, along with other tribal chiefs, signed an accord prohibiting spilling of Iraqi blood, rejecting any breach of person's honor and barring aid to insurgents.They have also prohibited attacks on religious sites and supported the government's national conciliation process.Al-Anbar has witnessed a spate of attacks and counter attacks pitting armed insurgents against tribal gunmen aligned with the government.

Coalition: Taliban have Iran arms : From Brian ToddCNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Weapons crossing the border from Iran to Afghanistan may be winding up in the hands of the Taliban, the hard-line Islamic militia that is battling U.S.- and NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, U.S. and British officials said. Coalition officials in Afghanistan said they have intercepted Iranian-made AK-47s, C-4 plastic explosives and mortars. One explosively-formed penetrator bomb (EFP) that was found can pierce American armor, a NATO official said. The EFP is similar to the weaponry the United States says Iran has provided to militants in Iraq, but the NATO official said the weapon has not been traced directly to the Iranian regime. Some analysts question whether the top echelons of the Iranian government are behind any transfer of arms from the Islamic Republic to the Taliban, Iran's long-time foe. Rogue elements -- perhaps the Quds force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard -- may be operating on their own, the analysts suggest. But a U.S. official who requested anonymity told CNN the United States believes Iran's supreme leaders know about these operations and could stop them if they wanted to. Another U.S. official said Iran still sees the Taliban as an enemy but has a history of dealing with people it considers "nasty" as long as it is "congruent with Iran's overall objectives." In this case, Iran is "working the Taliban angle" to "bleed the U.S." in Afghanistan, the official said. The British government called any provision of arms by Iran to the Taliban "unacceptable." "We know about illegal movements of munitions across the border from Iran to Afghanistan, destined for the Taliban," the British Ministry of Defense said in a statement. "We are concerned that some of these munitions are of Iranian origin." A former U.S. intelligence official said Iranian activities in Afghanistan would be a disturbing development. "That suggests the Iranians are now turning up the pressure on the NATO forces in Afghanistan," said former national security official Bruce Riedel. "Since Iran has one of the most extensive intelligence networks in the entire country, they would have an enormous capability to cause mischief."
Denial by Iran
An Iranian official at the United Nations denied his country is giving weapons to the Taliban, noting that the Iranian government has long supported Afghan President Hamid Karzai and has always seen the Taliban as an enemy. Both U.S. officials and outside analysts said any malicious intentions on Iran's part would only be directed at the United States. The majority-Shiite Iran would not want the Taliban to gain too much strength, they said. "Iran and the Taliban nearly went to war in 1998 over the killing of 11 Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan," said Afshin Molavi of the New American Foundation, a non-profit, public policy institute based in Washington. "And the Taliban are also virulently anti-Shiite. So if these allegations are true, Iran is playing a very dangerous and delicate game." One analyst called it a game of "managed chaos," just enough to bloody America's nose in Afghanistan.