Free the Captives: Witness Against Illegal Detention and Torture

There was no news Monday February 6 of Tom Fox or the other CPT peaceworkers held captive in Iraq since November 26, 2006. Today in Iraq, Muslim & Christian leaders have united in calling for an end to all detentions without trial there. We repeat our plea for their immediate release. No good purpose is served by holding or harming them.

from Ekklesia: Christian peacemakers told to keep low profile following anti-muslim cartoons

Members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) whose colleagues in Iraq were kidnapped at the end of November, say they have experienced a variety of angry reactions to the caricatures of the Prophet which first appeared in a Danish newspaper in September.

CPT has recently issued a statement condemning the anti-Muslim cartoons published by Denmark's daily paper the Jyllands-Posten, as spreading 'hate and bigotry'.

Last week CPT learned that two Swedish members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) team in Tel Rumeida had been advised by their leadership to leave Hebron, which they did briefly. They came back when they received assurances from Palestinian leadership that the presence of peace workers was welcome and appreciated.

from Reuters: Severe water shortage hits Baghdad suburbs

Residents of Baghdad's suburbs have been experiencing serious water shortages for a month due to poor infrastructure, leaking pipes and wastage, according to experts. [...]

Nearly half a million people have been affected by the scarcity. In some areas, water is available for only a few hours at night and for less than two hours during the day in other areas. [...]

Water shortages have traditionally occurred in Baghdad during the summer months, due to the intensive use of air conditioning, public swimming pools and increased washing activity. This year, however, marks the first time shortages have been recorded in the winter months.

"It's the first time we don't have water during winter," said Jawad Hakeem, resident of a Baghdad suburb. "They say it's a problem with the pipes, but I believe that careless maintenance and corruption are the main factors behind the shortage."

The problem has been compounded by dramatic increases in the urban population in recent decades due to countrywide poverty.

from the Associated Press: Attacks Across Iraq Kill At Least 11

Drive-by gunmen and roadside bombs killed at least 11 people across Iraq on Monday, while police uncovered the bullet-riddled bodies of two men in Baghdad, police said.

One Iraqi policeman was killed and his brother, also a policemen, was wounded in an attack by armed men firing from a speeding car in the northern city of Kirkuk, said police Capt. Firhad Talabani.

In Baghdad's southern Abu Dashir neighborhood, police found the bodies of two more brothers seized from their home late Sunday by men claiming to be Interior Ministry commandos, said Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razzaq.

The two brothers, both Sunni Arabs, were shot repeatedly and found with their hands and legs bound.

Sunni Arabs accuse Shiite-backed security forces and militias of targeting their community in a campaign of sectarian killings.

Sectarian tensions are high ahead of the feast of Ashoura this week, which marks the seventh century death in battle of the revered Shiite saint Imam Hussein, grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

Sunni extremists have targeted the past two Ashoura festivals. Eight suicide bombers killed 55 Shiites last year.

from Reuters: Military and civilian deaths in Iraq

Two U.S. soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Iraq on Friday, the U.S. military said.

One was killed in an attack near Ramadi and the other in a roadside bomb attack in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military reported.

Britain reported that one of its soldiers was killed late on Thursday and another hurt in a traffic accident south of Basra in southern Iraq.

The following are the latest figures for military deaths in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, in line with the most recent information from the U.S. military:

U.S.-LED COALITION FORCES:

United States 2,252 Britain 101 Other nations 94

IRAQIS: MILITARY Between 4,895 and 6,370

CIVILIANS Between 28,293 and 31,900 [Other plausible estimates put the civilian death toll above 100,000.]