. Italy
- An al-Qaida suspect, the Tunisian-born Lased ben Heni, a suspected leader
of the European terror network, went on trial in Milan. Lased was arrested
in Germany last October and extradited to Italy. He is charged with trafficking
in arms, explosives and chemical weapons, receiving stolen goods, using false
documents and traffic of illegal immigrants into Italy.
- On January 28, 2003, the Italian police arrested 28 Pakistani, in Naples.
Explosive materials, maps of military bases, photos of jihad martyrs, and
about 100 mobile phones were found. They are believed to be terrorists. A
few days later we were told that their first target could have been the assassination
of the British Defence Chief of Staff, Admiral Sir Michael Boyce who was to
visit a nearby NATO base on March 13.
- Around February 8 it became clear that these Pakistani had little to do
with terrorism although they all are illegal immigrants working as "ambulanti"
(street vendors).
- On February 28, an Italian judge freed all of them after two weeks in prison;
he said that there was not enough evidence to link them to any al-Qaida plot.
- On June 6, 2003, the young Egyptian Saad bin Ubaida, the Imam of a Mosque
in Rome preached the death of all of Islam's enemies. The next day he was
removed from his charge.
- During his first appearance at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on
July 2, 2003, the second day of the Italian Presidency of the EU, Berlusconi,
the Italian Prime Minister, showed clearly why he likes Bush and supports
him: he is stupid. In answer to a nasty question by Martin Schulz, the leader
of the German socialists, he replied "Mr Schulz, I know there is a producer
in Italy who is making a film on Nazi concentration camps. I will suggest
you for the role of the commandant. You should be perfect". There was
nearly a riot in the parliament and the German Chancellor, Schroder, asked
the Italian Ambassador to Berlin to come and explain what is going on. The
fact that it was the chancellor and not the foreign minister who called the
ambassador shows the importance given by the Germans to this stupid answer.
Mr Schroder requested a formal and public excuse from Mr Berlusconi but he
refused, saying only that all he made was a cynical joke.
- He is even more stupid that he looks. On July 4, Berlusconi first said that
it was him who was insulted, and he added that he would not apologise, having
merely said that he was sorry to the German Chancellor, Schroder.
- On July 16, 2003, the Italian newspaper "La Republica" showed
copies of the forged documents alleging that Iraq was trying to buy uranium
from Niger. They were so badly made that it was easy to see that they were
false. It is unbelievable that the president Bush dared to use them to justify
invading Iraq, blaming Britain later on for the mistake.
- On July 20, 2003, Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, was invited
to President Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. It is well-known that Bush only
invites there his closest cronies and Berlusconi, a person who should be in
jail for his business dealings, is the right pal for the president.
- On July 21, 2003, President Bush thanked Mr Berlusconi for his support to
the "coalition of the willing" during the war in Iraq. He added,
"Defending freedom requires cost and sacrifice. The US is grateful for
Italy's willingness to bear the burden with us".
- Silvio Berlusconi is so stupid that each time he opens his mouth he tells
stupid things -just like George Bush. On September 11, 2003, he said that,
after all, "Mussolini was not so bad, and he did not kill anyone"
ignoring the thousand of Jews sent to die in Nazi concentration camps.
- In Rome, on November 17, 2003, ten of thousand of people are paying their
respects to the 16 Italian military policemen killed in Nasiriyah, Iraq. Such
a sense of national grief has not been seen in Italy since the end of World
War Two.
- On November 18, 2003, there were state funerals in St Paul Outside the Walls
Basilica, for the 19 Italian military policemen killed in Iraq. Thousand and
thousand of Italians watched the procession. The 20 surviving policemen were
also present together with the highest military authorities. Most Italians
are against the war but they showed their grieving for the dead soldiers.
- On December 26, 2003, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, said
in an interview to the Milan's Libero newspaper that the Vatican would be
a terrorist target on Christmas day. Terrorists, according to him, wanted
to attack it with a hijacked plane. He did not explain how he knew it and
why it did not take place. Apparently nobody else knew about. Probably it
was just a way to appear more important that he is.
- On March 25, 2004, a Tunisian member of al-Qaida told the Italian police
that his group had planned to attack the main railway station in Milan even
before September 11, 2001, as well as the Nato base at Mondragone. It is not
known why the plans were cancelled.
- On May 29, 2004, Italy decided to send tanks to Iraq as their soldiers there
are meeting very strong resistance.
- The hostage Fabrizio Quattrocchi who was murdered in Iraq in April was buried
in Genoa, on May 29, 2004.
- On June 8, 2004, the Milan Italian police arrested Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed,
a terrorist that is accused by the Spanish of participating in the attacks
on the trains in Madrid on March 11, 2004. This man is also known as "Mohammed
the Egyptian", is thought to have planned similar attacks in Italy. The
police said that he belong to a Moroccan terrorist group linked to al-Qaida.
- On February 21, 2005, Italy advised Italian journalists in Iraq to leave
because of the worsening security situation in the country.
- The body of an Italian secret service agent shot on March 4 by US forces
in Iraq moments after rescuing the hostage Giugliana Sgrena was brought back
to Italy on Sunday March 6, 2005. Fifty-one-year-old Nicola Calipari died
as he shielded journalist Giuliana Sgrena from gunshots fired at her car.
He negotiated the release of the journalist, held captive in Iraq for more
than a month. Close relatives watched as it was met by a guard of honour,
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the country's President, Carlo
Azeglio Ciampi.
- Central Rome came to a standstill on Monday March 7, 2005, for the state
funeral of an intelligence officer killed by US gunfire as he escorted a freed
Italian hostage to safety in Iraq. Up to 20,000 mourners crowded the streets
and applauded as the flag-wrapped coffin carrying the body of Nicola Calipari
was taken from the city's Vittoriano war memorial to the Santa Maria degli
Angeli basilica. More than a thousand people packed into the basilica, on
the city's Republic Square. Millions more watched the ceremony live on television
as the coffin was buried in the nearby Verano cemetery. Mr Calipari has been
lauded a hero for saving journalist Giuliana Sgrena's life by shielded her
with his body from US gunfire while travelling in a convoy to Baghdad's airport.
- Italy's Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini on Tuesday March 8, 2005, highlighted
sharp differences between Rome's probe into the shooting by US troops of its
top intelligence agent in Iraq and the version provided by its American allies.
Fini dismissed Washington's view that a lack of communication was responsible
for the death of Nicola Calipari, and demanded that the United States "identify
and punish" those responsible for the shooting.
- On March 11, 2005, we were told that the American troops who killed an Italian
secret agent in Iraq fired from a checkpoint set up to boost security for
the US ambassador who was on his way to dinner with General George Casey.
The US military says the Italian car was speeding toward the checkpoint and
ignored warning shots, an explanation rejected by Italian government ministers
and the driver of the car. Ms Sgrena said US forces may have deliberately
targeted her because Washington opposed Italy's policy of dealing with kidnappers.
US officials called that claim absurd and said it was a tragic accident. The
shooting has sparked tension between Italy and the United States and put pressure
on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to take a hard line with President Bush,
who has promised a full investigation. Calipari's death was followed by a
national outpouring of grief in Italy, where most people opposed the US-led
war in Iraq.
- Silvio Berlusconi said on March 15, 2005, that Italy would begin withdrawing
Italian troops from Iraq in September. The pace of the withdrawal will depend,
he said, "on the capability of the Iraqi government to give itself structures
for acceptable security. Between 70 and 80 per cent of Italians are hostile
to Italy's involvement in Iraq, but until now Mr Berlusconi has resisted pressure
to say when the Italian troops, described as peacekeepers, would leave. In
the past he said they would stay until the government of Iraq asked them to
go.
- Italy has about 2,700 soldiers and carabinieri based in Nasiriyah, a relatively
peaceful town in the south. Twenty-eight have lost their lives, 19 as a result
of a suicide bomb that struck their barracks nearly two years ago. One more
died yesterday, accidentally shooting himself in the head during target practice.
The killing of Nicola Calipari, a secret service agent, by American troops
on 4 March, minutes after he liberated Giuliana Sgrena, a journalist who had
been held hostage for a month, revived hostility to Italian involvement in
the war. Mr Berlusconi's popularity took a nosedive in opinion polls immediately
after the killing.
- On Thursday March 17, 2005, Premier Silvio Berlusconi said the possible
date for withdrawing Italian soldiers from Iraq was no more than a "hope."
He added that he wasn't setting a fixed date but just expressing a hope, and
insisted his alliance with the United States remained solid. Poverino scemo!
- The US-led coalition in Iraq -already thin as countries have pulled their
troops out of the troubled nation- suffered another blow on March 30, 2005,
when Italy detailed its withdrawal of the first 300 of its more than 3,000
troops from Iraq for in September. Ukraine announced that his country will
leave Iraq by the end of the year and Bulgaria said it would begin cutting
troop levels in the summer.
- The US military confirmed on Saturday April 30, 2005, that it will not discipline
the soldiers who shot dead Nicola Calipari, the Italian intelligence agent
in Baghdad two months ago. A 42-page report into the killing of Nicola Calipari,
and the wounding of the Italian journalist whose freedom he had just secured
from kidnappers, found that the Italians had failed to tell US troops of their
plans to drive into Baghdad airport and had ignored warning lights intended
to make them stop. The Italians disagreed.
- On Sunday May 1, 2005, Italy, stung by a US report it felt put much of the
blame on Rome for a "friendly fire" killing in Iraq, said it will
publish its own version of events on Monday that is likely to question the
testimony of American troops. Relations were strained when US troops at a
roadblock shot an Italian agent who had just rescued a hostage in Baghdad
on March 4; they soured further this weekend when Washington blamed the Italians
for poor communications and not heeding warnings.
- On Tuesday May 3, 2005, pressure is mounting on the Italian government from
its own supporters to reconsider the country's military presence in Iraq after
conflicting reports on the killing of an Italian agent by US soldiers. Calls
by opposition leaders to withdraw the 3,000 Italian soldiers from Iraq grew
after an Italian assessment of the March 4 death of intelligence agent Nicola
Calipari differed from the US finding. Now, even political allies of conservative
Premier Silvio Berlusconi are raising questions.
- US President George W. Bush Wednesday May 4, 2005, called Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi to renew his condolences for Italian agent who
was killed in a "friendly fire" by US troop in Iraq. During a long
and friendly telephone conversation, Bush told the prime minister that Calipari
was a "heroic servant of Italy" and an "esteemed friend"
of the US. Bush's call came a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice and Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said that disagreements
over the March 4 death of Nicola Calipari would not dent relations between
the two nations.
- Silvio Berlusconi said on May 5, 2005, that his centre-right government
would not unilaterally withdraw Italian troops from Iraq in spite of a disagreement
with the US over how American forces in Baghdad killed an Italian intelligence
agent.
- Italy's foreign minister, Fini, suggested Tuesday May 10, 2005, that Italian
troops would remain in Iraq until at least early next year. Premier Silvio
Berlusconi had previously said Italy would remove an initial 300 soldiers
from its 3,000-strong contingent beginning in September, but he stressed a
full pullout would depend on security conditions and consultation with the
US-led coalition and Iraqi officials.
- On July 21, 2005, Italy's lower house of parliament voted to keep troops
in Iraq at least until the end of the year. Italy has some 3,000 troops in
Iraq, the fourth largest foreign contingent there after the United States,
the United Kingdom, and South Korea. However Italy is due to start a phased
pullout of its forces in September, bringing some 300 troops back home.
- Italy started to withdraw troops from Iraq, about one month ahead of schedule,
we were told on Saturday August 13, 2005. The withdrawal process was put forward
because 130 Marines in southern Iraq had finished their mission and it is
pointless to replace.
- Italian secret services warned the United States months before it invaded
Iraq that a dossier about Saddam Hussein's effort to buy uranium in Africa
was fake, Brutti, a lawmaker, said on November 3, 2005. The warning was given
in January 2003, but he did not know whether it was made before or after President
Bush's speech. The United States and Britain used the claim that Saddam was
seeking to buy uranium in Niger to bolster their case for the invasion. The
intelligence supporting the claim later was deemed unreliable. Italian lawmakers
questioned Premier Silvio Berlusconi's top aide and SISMI director Nicolo
Pollari about allegations that Italy knowingly gave forged documents to Washington
and London detailing a purported Iraqi deal to buy 500 tons of uranium concentrate
from Niger. The uranium ore, known as yellowcake, can be used to produce nuclear
weapons.
- On November 4, 2005, Italy's chief of military intelligence (Sismi), Nicolo
Pollari, has denied any role in passing bogus documents to the US claiming
Iraq had tried to buy uranium from Niger. The claim was used by US President
George Bush to help justify the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. It is now at
the centre of a CIA leak investigation.
- The president of Iraq on Tuesday November 8, 2005, thanked Italy for sending
troops to his country and warned against a premature pullout, after weeks
of pre-election debate in Italy over how much longer its forces should stay.
On a weeklong visit to Italy, Jalal Talabani said Italians were heroes for
helping establish democracy in Iraq, words which delighted Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi who will fight an election next April vowing to retain a
military presence there.
- On December 22, 2005, the Italian authorities are investigating a US soldier
accused of being involved in the killing of the secret service man, Nicola
Calipari, in March in Baghdad. Calipari was escorting the free hostage Giuliana
Sgrena to the Baghdad airport when they came under fire at a mobile American
checkpoint. Caligari was killed and Sgrena wounded. The soldier could be accused
of murder in relation to Calipari and attempted murder against the other two
people in the car including Sgrena.
- On December 23, 2005, the Italian judge, Prosecutor Armando Spataro, issued
European arrest warrants for 22 CIA employees accused of kidnapping an Egyptian
cleric. The 25 nations of the European are now, by law, authorised to arrest
these people. The Italian government has not yet decided if it will forward
an extradition request to Washington. Of course, Berlusconi does not intend
to do it.
- On December 29, 2005, Prime minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, is again
in trouble. Milan prosecutors accuse him of bribing a lawyer to make him give
a false testimony. The prosecutors argue that Berlusconi gave up to $600,000
to a British lawyer, David Mills, in 1997 for his false testimony. Mills is
the husband of the British Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell.
- On January 19, 2006, Italy announced that they will pull back all their
2,600 troops out of Iraq this year. Berlusconi must be real afraid that he
could loose the coming parliamentary elections.
- The incoming Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, described on May 18, 2006, the US-led invasion of Iraq as a "grave mistake" that had encouraged global terrorism. Mr Prodi said he would consult with US-led forces in Iraq over Italian troop withdrawal. Mr Prodi said his government would participate in anti-terror operations if they were sanctioned by international organisations such as the UN.
- Italy will pull 1,100 of its troops -from 2,700 to 1,600- from Iraq in
June, the new government said Friday May 26, 2006, giving its first specific
numbers about the planned withdrawal. Most Italian troops in Iraq are in the
southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah. They are involved in training, security
and reconstruction. The decision to withdraw this many troops by June belongs
to the previous government of conservative Silvio Berlusconi. The new centre-left
government of Romano Prodi was merely staying with it for the time being.
- n Italian soldier was killed and four others were wounded on Monday June
5, 2006, when a bomb blew up their vehicle.
-Italy, the last major Western European ally of the United States and Britain in Iraq, ended its mission on Thursday September 21, 2006, handing the province under its control over to Iraqi troops. The country lost 32 soldiers, including 19 caribinieri police in a single suicide bomb attack that remains one of the deadliest single attacks on U.S.-led troops.
On February 16, 2007, an Italian judge has ordered 26 US citizens -most of them CIA agents- to stand trial over the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Milan in 2003. Osama Mustafa Hassan was seized there by the CIA and flown to Egypt, where he says he was tortured. Five Italians were also indicted by the judge, including Italy's ex-military intelligence chief, Nicolo Pollari. The case would be the first criminal trial over the secret US practice known as "extraordinary rendition". The Italian government has yet to decide whether or not it wishes to request the extradition of the indicted men and women, who have returned to the US. Those indicted include the former station chief of CIA operations in Milan, Robert Seldon Lady, who says his opposition to the proposal to kidnap the Imam was over-ruled.
- Prime Minister Romano Prodi resigned on February 21, 2007, after radical, anti-American senators demanding Italy withdraw troops from Afghanistan failed to support the centre-left government, setting off an unexpected political crisis. Mr. Prodi, a former Christian Democrat and former president of the European Commission, was defeated by two votes on its Afghanistan policy in the upper house, where any chance for a majority would be razor thin.
- The Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi, given a second chance to prove that he can govern Italy, scrambled for support on February 26, 2007, ahead of a vote of confidence this week that he must win to stay on as Prime Minister. Mr. Prodi resigned last week after suffering an embarrassing defeat in the upper house over plans to keep 1,900 soldiers in Afghanistan. While his fractious Catholics-to-communists coalition has a comfortable majority in the lower house, in the 315-seat Senate the bloc is effectively level with the opposition, forcing him to court outside senators for support. Mr. Prodi appeared to have won the backing of two extra senators, an independent and a Christian Democrat who served as deputy prime minister in Silvio Berlusconi's previous, centre-right government.
- The trial of a US soldier charged with the murder of an Italian intelligence agent in Iraq in March 2005 has begun in a Rome court on April 17, 2007. The soldier, Mario Lozano of the 69th Infantry Regiment, is not attending the trial, but in Italy the defendant can be tried in absentia. The agent, Nicola Calipari, was shot dead on his way to Baghdad airport. Mr Lozano is charged with murder and two counts of attempted murder. He denies the charges. He was escorting Giuliana Sgrena, an Italian journalist who had just been freed by kidnappers. She was wounded in the incident, along with an Italian secret agent -Andrea Carpani- who was driving the car.
- Police checked through a traveller's checked baggage at Fiumicino Airport,
looking for smuggled drugs. What they found instead was a catalogue of weapons,
a clue to something bigger. Their discovery led anti-Mafia investigators down
a monthslong trail of telephone and e-mail intercepts, into the midst of a
huge black-market transaction, as Iraqi and Italian partners haggled over
shipping more than 100,000 Russian-made automatic weapons into the bloodbath
of Iraq. As the secretive, $40 million deal neared completion, Italian authorities
moved in, making arrests and breaking it up. But key questions remain unanswered.
- The Pentagon welcomed an Italian judge's decision October 25, 2007, to throw
out a case against a US soldier in the killing of a top Italian intelligence
agent in Iraq in 2005. Specialist Mario Lozano, 37, already had been cleared
of wrongdoing by a US investigation. Lozano, manning a mobile checkpoint,
opened fire at a vehicle carrying left-wing journalist Giuliana Sgrena to
the Baghdad airport shortly after Italian agent Nicola Calipari had secured
her freedom from kidnappers. Calipari, deputy director of Italian military
intelligence, was killed in the hail of bullets. Sgrena and the driver of
the vehicle were wounded but survived the attack.
- Italy and NATO on Thursday October 15, 2009, denied a newspaper report that Italian intelligence secretly paid the Taliban thousands of dollars to keep the peace in an Afghan area under Italian control. Premier Silvio Berlusconi's office called the report in the Times of London "completely groundless." The Italian defence minister denounced it as "rubbish" and said he wanted to sue the newspaper. In Kabul, a U.S. spokesman for NATO forces in Afghanistan denied the allegations. "We don't do bribes," Colonel Wayne Shanks said. "We don't pay the insurgents."
- Three Italian medical workers are among nine men arrested in Afghanistan in connection with an alleged plot to kill a provincial governor we were told on April 10, 2010. The detentions came after suicide bomb vests and weapons were discovered at a hospital run by a Milan-based charity in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand. Helmand Governor Gulab Mangal said the devices had been brought to the clinic "with the help of the foreign staff". But the charity, Emergency, said it was confident its employees were innocent.
- On April 18, 2010, Afghanistan freed three Italian aid workers arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill a provincial governor. The members of the Italian medical charity Emergency were detained on April 10 in violence-torn Helmand province and accused of taking part in a scheme to assassinate the governor.
- On Friday October 26, 2012, former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been handed a jail sentence of four years - later cut it to one year because of an amnesty law- and barred from office after being found guilty of tax fraud. He and others were accused of buying US film rights at inflated prices via two offshore companies under his control. Mr Berlusconi, who has faced a number of trials, will remain free pending an appeal against the verdict. It ordered him and his co-defendants to pay 10m euros (£8m) in damages and banned him from holding public office for three years. Both the jail term and the ban would only take effect if the sentence is upheld by a higher court. In all, 11 people were on trial. Three were acquitted including Mediaset chairman Fedele Confalonieri, a close associate of Mr Berlusconi, and four were cleared because the statute of limitations had run out. The three others convicted alongside the former prime minister included Hollywood producer Frank Agrama, who received a three-year sentence. The trial began six years ago and has been subject to repeated delays, in part because of an immunity law that protected Mr Berlusconi while he was prime minister.
- On Wednesday December 16, 2015, Italy has decided to send 500 soldiers to defend Iraq's largest dam in Mosul. The troops will provide security for contractors from an Italian firm who have been given the job of repairing the massive Mosul dam after it was seized last year by Isil
. Japan
On July 25, 2003, Japan decided to send troops to support the US in Iraq.
This is the first time Japanese soldiers will be sent outside Japan since
World War II. This is especially without an UN mandate. The opposition in
Parliament opposed the decision but Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi got the
majority it needed.
- On September 14, 2003, Japan's Defence Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, said that
his country had the right to strike North Korea missile sites if an attack
was believed to be imminent. They would not wait to be hit first. Does not
this sound like America? It is estimated that North Korea has about 100 Rodong
ballistic missiles able to hit Japan.
- On October 15, 2003, Japan pledged $1.5bn and 600 troops to help rebuilt
Iraq. Loans of up to $3.5bn could follow in 2007 to be repaid by Iraq with
its oil revenues. The soldiers will not fight but will aid Iraq.
- On December 9, 2003, Japan decided to send about 600 non-combat troops to
Iraq at the beginning of 2004.
- On January 19, 2004, Japanese soldiers -about 30- entered a conflict zone
for the first time since World War II. They are the spearhead of a contingent
of about 1,000 soldiers on a humanitarian mission in southern Iraq. They will
help purify water supplies, rebuild schools and provide medical care.
- On May 28, 2004, two Japanese journalists have been killed together with
their Iraqi interpreter south of Baghdad. A rocket-propelled grenade hit their
car.
- On July 21, 2004, Japan decided to keep its troops in Iraq despite threats,
from a terrorist group of attacks if Japan does not withdraw its forces. This
statement from Zarqawi, an Islamic militant with suspected ties to al Qaida,
was posted on an Islamist website and demanded Japan follow the Philippines
and pull its troops out.
- Japan will extend its humanitarian troop deployment to Iraq after its current
commitment expires on December 14, 2004, the Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi
promised to Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. This is a much-needed
morale booster for the coalition. Though its Self-Defence Forces troops are
restricted to non-military activities, renewal of Japan's commitment follows
the early withdrawal of Spanish and Philippine troops and the return home
of a succession of other small national contingents as their commitments finished.
- Japan's contingent of military engineers operating in Iraq under Australian
protection will be withdrawn by Christmas if the opposition Democratic Party
of Japan wins next month's general election we were told on August 16, 2005.
DPJ officials confirmed the commitment to withdraw the contingent of about
550 soldiers was contained in the party's election manifesto, released yesterday.
- A new public opinions poll on October 10, 2005, found Japanese are strongly
opposed to extending their country's humanitarian mission to Iraq. Three out
of four Japanese (77 percent) are against the extension while only 18 percent
support it.
- The Japanese government plans to begin withdrawing the about 600 Ground
Self-Defence Force troops on a humanitarian reconstruction mission in the
southern Iraqi city of Samara in late March we were told on February 16, 2006.
But the Air Self-Defence Force will maintain and expand its logistic support
for the multinational forces in Iraq.
-On May 21, 2006, we were told that Japan might begin withdrawing its 600 non-combat troops from southern city of Samawa as early as next month, winding down the country's riskiest mission since World War Two.
- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced on June 20, 2006, plans to withdraw his country's troops from Iraq. The 600 non-combat troops have been working on reconstruction projects in southern Iraq since February 2004, protected by UK and Australian forces. The decision was unpopular with the Japanese public, many of whom said it violated Japan's pacifist constitution. It was Japan's first foray into an active foreign war zone since World War II.
- On July 23, 2006, we were told that the arrival of 220 Japanese troops in Kuwait last week marked the complete withdrawal of Japan's 600-man Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) from Iraq.
- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned on September 12, 2007, after less than a year in office. Mr Abe had been facing growing calls to quit since his party lost upper house elections in July, and opinion polls showed he was increasingly unpopular. Visibly distressed, he told a packed news conference that Japan needed a new leader to "fight against terrorism".
- Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda failed to make a deal with the main
opposition party on October 29, 2007, to continue a naval mission backing
forces in Afghanistan. Japan has been providing fuel for coalition forces
in Afghanistan, but its mandate runs out on 1 November.
- A Japanese naval ship headed Thursday January 24, 2008, for the Indian Ocean
on a refuelling mission as the country rejoined the US-led "war on terror"
after months of bitter political wrangling.
- Japan is planning to withdraw the last of its troops deployed in Iraq by
the end of the year we were told on September 12, 2008. The recall would affect
about 210 Japanese air force personnel who have been used to transport supplies
and staff for US-led forces and the United Nations.
- Japan has announced on November 28, 2008, that it will end its air support for US-led coalition forces in Iraq by the end of the year because the mission had achieved its goal. Taro Aso, the prime minister, said the national Security Council issued the order, which was anticipated for months, because there was progress in Iraq's security situation and its move towards democracy.
- On December 12, 2008, Japanese lawmakers have extended a naval refuelling mission that supports a US-led anti-terrorism effort in the Indian Ocean. The vote in the lower house of parliament extends the mission until January 2010. The mission was rejected earlier by the upper house of parliament, which is controlled by the main opposition party. The measure was then sent back to the more powerful lower house, which is controlled by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
- Japan announced Friday December 12, 2008, it would end its airlift operations
in Iraq by the end of the year, citing security improvements and moves toward
democracy in Iraq. The largely formal order to end the nation's four-year
participation in Iraq came at a government national Security Council meeting,
and had been expected for months. Prime Minister Taro Aso said the mission
had achieved its goal.
- Japan's Emperor Akihito has strongly indicated on Sunday August 7, 2016, that he wants to step down, saying he fears his age will make it difficult to fulfil his duties. The revered 82-year-old emperor's comments came in only his second-ever televised address to the public. Emperor Akihito did not explicitly say he wanted to abdicate as he is barred from making political statements. PM Shinzo Abe said the government would take the remarks "seriously" and discuss what could be done.
. Jordan
- On October 28, 2002, an US envoy, Laurence Foley, 60, a senior administrator
of the US Agency for International Development, was shot dead in Amman, the
capital of Jordan.
- Jordan has always been a safe country for western diplomats and this killing
shows that the USA is becoming less and less popular in the Muslim world.
Two so-called al-Qaida members were arrested around December 12, 2002, on
suspicion of being the killers. Salem Saad bin Suweid from Libya and Yasser
Fatih Ibrahim, a Jordanian citizen, have confessed their affiliation to al-Qaida
and to the killing.
- Jordan is not very popular with the Iraqis on August 2003 because they allowed
the US forces to use the country to invade their country. Jordan also offered
asylum to two of Saddam Hussein's daughters.
- The Iraq war is creating friction between the USA and its long-time Arab
allies. On April 20, 2004, King Abdullah of Jordan flew home from the USA
after cancelling a planned meeting with President Bush. At the same time President
Hosni Mubarak of Egypt said that the Arab world now hated America more that
ever before as a result of the invasion of Iraq.
- On April 26, 2004, Jordan broadcasted the confessions from several al-Qaida
suspects who admitted plotting to use poison gas and bomb attacks against
the US embassy and other targets in Amman such as the headquarters of the
Jordan intelligence service. Their leader, Azmi al-Jayousi, admitted that
he had acted on the order of al-Qaida.
- On July 19, 2004, Iraq's interim prime minister, making his first foreign
visit since taking office, met with Jordan's King Abdullah II to discuss security
issues and the possibility of connecting the two countries with an oil pipeline.
After the talks, the king reaffirmed Jordan's support for Iraqi interim Prime
Minister Iyad Allawi's "efforts to reinstate security and stability in
Iraq."
- On August 24, 2004, an Islamic group threatened to attack Royal Jordanian
Airlines planes flying into Baghdad.
- On September 26, 2004, King Abdullah of Jordan warned it will be impossible
to hold elections in Iraq if the current state of chaos continues. He told
a French newspaper that only extremists would gain if the elections, planned
for January 2005, went ahead without an improvement in the security. US leaders
and the interim Iraqi government have both insisted the elections will go
ahead.
- On September 28, 2004, Jordan's King Abdullah II warned in an interview
published Tuesday that extremists - "the best organized faction"
in Iraq - would emerge the victors if elections were held on schedule in January
amid the current chaos.
- Three missiles have been fired from the Jordanian port of Aqaba. The first
two missed a US Navy ship, the USS Ashland, docked in the port, but the third
hit Israel, near Eilat airport causing no injuries, on August 19, 2005. A
Jordanian soldier died when one of the two missiles hit the dockside. A statement,
allegedly from the Abdullah al-Azzam Brigades, said the attacks were their
first attack in Jordan and were aimed at both the US and Israel.
- On August 20, 2005, security forces in the Jordanian port of Aqaba are hunting
for suspected Arab militants who fired three rockets at two US warships and
nearby Israel. Hundreds of police and troops conducted house-to-house searches
for Iraqi, Syrian and Egyptian suspects. A group that claims links to al-Qaida
said it was behind the attacks.
- Al-Qaeda in Iraq carried out the triple bomb attack on November 9, 2005,
which killed at least 56 people in Jordan's capital Amman, a statement posted
on the Internet said. Nearly 100 people, mostly Jordanians, were injured in
the blasts at the Grand Hyatt, Radisson and Days Inn hotels. Most of the dead
are Jordanians but a number of other Arabs, two Chinese, one American and
an Indonesian also died.
- On November 11, 2005, the people of Jordan were holding special services
of mourning for the victims of the triple suicide bombings that killed 57
people in Amman. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is visiting the country as
it remembers those killed in the hotel bombings. There have been angry protests
against Wednesday's attacks - prompting a rare second statement from al-Qaeda
in Iraq, seeking to justify the blasts.
- Two militants convicted of killing a US diplomat, Laurence Foley, in the
Jordanian capital in 2002 have been hanged on March 11, 2006. Libyan Salem
bin Suweid and Jordanian Yasser Freihat were among 10 Islamic militants found
guilty in 2004 over the killing. Mr Foley, of the US Agency for International
Development, was shot dead in Amman in October 2002. Al-Qaida in Iraq leader
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was accused by the Jordanian government of masterminding
the attack.
-A military court in Jordan has found on October 18, 2006, eight Islamist militants guilty of plotting to kill US troops in Iraq and Americans and Jews in Jordan. The militants, three of whom are still on the run, were given sentences of between 10 and two years. Ahmed Shabaneh, who received the longest sentence, led the plot. Jordan has claimed a series successes in foiling terror plot in recent years, but has also suffered several attacks on civilian, tourist and military targets.
- On February 28, 2007, Jordan introduced new regulations to stem the flow of Iraqi refugees entering its territory. The law states refugees fleeing the violence in Iraq must carry a new type of passport only available since 2006. The new G-Series passports are issued only in Baghdad, and are often only obtainable in return for a large bribe. Jordan has become safe haven for anything up to one million Iraqis, but in recent months the flow has been drying up as border regulations have been tightened.
-The brother of a Jordanian suicide bomber who killed seven CIA officers
in Afghanistan in 2009 has been arrested, after police clashed with Salafist
protesters we were told on Tuesday April 19, 2011. Ayman Balawi was arrested
Friday in his home, although he did not take part in Zarqa's demonstration
that day. More than 90 people, most of them policemen, were hurt on Friday
when protesters from the ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim Salafi movement armed
with swords, daggers and clubs attacked police in the northern city of Zarqa.
22 prominent figures of the Islamist group, including its chief in Jordan,
Abdul Shahatah al-Tahawi, were among those detained after the attack, which
was described by the government as a "terrorist act."
---------------
2011 Jordanian protests
The 2011 Jordanian protests were a series of protests occurring in 2011, which resulted in the firing of the government. Food inflation and salaries were a cause for resentment in the country.
Background
Jordan's economy continues to struggle, weighed down by a record deficit
of $2 billion this year. Inflation in Jordan has risen by 1.5% to 6.1% in
December 2010, and unemployment and poverty have become rampant, estimated
at 12% and 25% respectively. The government is also accused of impoverishing
the working class with regressive tax codes which forced the poor to pay a
higher proportion of their income as tax. The parliament is accused of serving
as a "rubber stamp" to the executive branch.
Jordan has a history of persecuting activists and journalists. The country
amended its penal code in August 2010 and passed a Law of Information System
Crimes, to regulate the Internet. Revised laws continue to criminalize peaceful
expression and extend those provisions to Internet expression. Jordanian authorities
prosecuted peaceful dissidents and prohibited peaceful gatherings to protest
government policies. Dissidents confined by the General Intelligence Department
routinely sign confessions. According to a report by Amnesty International,
intelligence agents in Jordan frequently use torture to extract confessions
from suspects.
According to an Al Jazeera correspondent in Amman, East Bank Jordanians and Bedouins form the "bedrock" of the government's support, while self-identifying Palestinians are generally closer to the opposition. Conversely, Palestinian-Jordanian protesters want their degree of political power to reflect their significant demographic share.
Protests
Protests began on January 14, as protesters demanded Samir Rifai's resignation.
On January 26, the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest opposition groups
in Jordan, urged Jordanians to pour into streets on January 28 to continue
the protests against Prime Minister Samir Rifai's economic policies and the
political situation in the country.
January-April
Demonstrators protested against rising prices and demanded the dismissal of the Prime Minister and his government, but they have not directly challenged the king, criticism of whom is banned in Jordan. The demonstrators have been peaceful and have not been confronted by the police. So far no deaths, injuries or riots have been reported; however the protests' leaders said that the king had failed to take substantial steps to address mounting public resentment and they warned that unless real changes are made, that unrest could worsen. King Abdullah II has come under pressure recently from various protesters which include a coalition of Islamists, secular opposition groups and a group of retired army generals, all of whom are calling for substantial political and economic reforms.
Ali Habashnah, one of the retired generals desiring reforms, said that unrest
has spread to rural areas dominated by Bedouin tribes. These tribes have been
a traditional backbone of the monarchy. It was the first time, he said, that
the Bedouins had joined with other groups in demands for change.
On January 28, following Friday prayers, 3,500 activists from the Muslim Brotherhood,
trade unions, and communist and leftist organisations demanded that Samir
Rifai step down as prime minister and that the government control rising prices,
inflation and unemployment. Protests were reported in Amman and six other
cities. Thousands took to the streets in the capital, Amman, as well as several
other cities. Banners complained of high food and fuel prices and demanded
the resignation of the prime minister, an appointee of the king.
On February 2, demonstrations continued in demanding that King Abdullah II sack his newly appointed prime minister. Hamza Mansour, one of the leaders of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, demanded elections to choose another prime minister. He said that Al-Bakhit "doesn't believe in democracy."
The day after King Abdullah met with Muslim Brotherhood leaders at the royal palace, in an attempt to defuse tensions in the country. On February 4, hundreds of people, including members of leftist groups and the Muslim Brotherhood, congregated outside the prime minister's office to demand economic and political reforms and the dissolution of parliament.
On February 18, protesters who gathered in central Amman to demand political
reform, have clashed with a small group of government supporters that eyewitnesses
claim attacked the protesters with sticks and stones, before the police restored
order. Eyewitnesses said about 2,000 protesters, mostly young people joined
by trade unionists and others, took to the streets after prayers at the Husseini
Mosque, though other reports said the number was about 300.
About 7,000-10,000 protesters were on the streets of Amman on February 25,
in the largest protests so far. The Islamic Action Front, along with 19 other
political parties, called for the protests.
In the first week of March anti-government protesters continued where opposition groups demanded such greater political freedoms as a constitutional monarchy.
On March 24, Al-Jazeera English reported that around 500 protesters, mainly university students and politically unaffiliated unemployed graduates have set up a protest camp in a main square in the capital to press demands for the ouster of the prime minister, seen as insufficiently reformist, as well as wider public freedoms. Other demands include dissolving the parliament, which is seen as too docile, dismantling the intelligence department and giving greater powers to the people, including a new, more proportional, election law. Jordan's opposition also want to strip the king of some of his powers, specifically in appointing the prime minister, as they want the premier to be elected by a popular vote.
On March 25, clashes occurred between supporters of the king and more than 2000 protesters camped in Gamal Abdel Nasser Circle. Some witnesses said the police stood by as government supporters moved in to the square and began throwing stones. As many as 100 people were reported injured, most with head wounds, while two people are said to have been killed. However, the next day in a press conference, the commandant of public security, Lieutenant General Hussein Al-Majali confirmed that there was one death only, with 62 injured civilians, and 58 injured policemen (including a Brigadier General and a Lieutenant Colonel). Al-Majali also confirmed that 8 civilians and 17 policemen were still receiving hospital treatment at the time of the conference, and also stressed that policemen were completely unarmed and they interfered just to save the lives of people whatever their political view is. On the same day of clashes, thousands gathered in Al-Hussein Gardens west of Amman to express loyalty and allegiance to the king, dancing to national songs and waving large Jordanian flags and pictures of the monarch.
On April 1, nearly 400 policemen were deployed to separate hundreds of government
supporters and pro-reform activists holding rival rallies outside municipal
offices in Amman.
On April 15, more than 2,000 Jordanians took to the streets throughout the
country demanding greater political representation, with half of them demonstrating
in Amman, immediately after prayers. Also, a crowd of a few hundred Islamists
clashed with a somewhat smaller group of monarchy loyalists in Zarqa. Eight
civilians and 83 policemen were wounded, including 4 in critical condition.
May-October
On June 13, the motorcade of King Abdullah II was attacked with stones and bottles by protesters in the city of Tafileh, although this was later denied. Some indication is that this was actually an outbreak of violence between the Darak (Jordanian Gendarmerie) and local unemployed protesters.
On June 17, youth groups and activists protested calling on greater reforms,
which the kingdom has dismissed for 2-3 years, including the election of a
prime minister and cabinet.
A rare outbreak of violence marred protests in Amman on July 15, with police
beating journalists and protesters alike. On July 16, a more peaceful demonstration
took place.
On Sunday, August 14, clashes erupted between government loyalists and pro-reform demonstrators in a street protest in Karak after midnight.
After a lull in September, protests started again on October 7, when former prime minister Ahmad Obeidat led over 2000 people in a march outside the Grand Husseini Mosque in central Amman. There were also marches in the cities of Karka, Tafileh, Maan, Jerash and Salt.
There was a further march on October 15, as part of the global "Occupy"
movement, which was held in the northern city of Salhub. A counter-protest
attacked the marchers, hurling stones and firing their guns into the air.
At least 35 people were injured and 27 cars damaged in the incident. The next
day, a memorandum signed by 70 out of 120 lawmakers was presented to the royal
palace demanding that the prime minister and the cabinet be sacked. Much to
the surprise of the opposition in the country, the king almost immediately
complied, naming Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh to head the new government the next
day.
November-December
Riots took place in the several cities and towns in mid November, most notably in Ramtha, which lasted three days and was sparked by the death in custody of Najem Azaizeh. Also, the trial of nearly 100 protesters indicted the previous April began, and much of the Government of the capitol Amman was arrested for corruption.
In December, there were protests in Amman, and riots in the northeastern
cities of Mafraq and Qatraneh. On December 24, protesters gathered outside
of the prime minister's office to protest the treatment of protesters by the
security forces the previous day in Mafraq.
Domestic response
On February 1, the Royal Palace announced that King Abdullah II has sacked the government as a consequence of the street protests and has asked Marouf al-Bakhit, an ex-army general, to form a new cabinet. Abdullah told al-Bakhit his authority will be to "take quick, concrete and practical steps to launch a genuine political reform process,". The reforms should put Jordan on the path "to strengthen democracy," and provide Jordanians with the "dignified life they deserve," the monarch said. He also asked al-Bakhit for a "comprehensive assessment ... to correct the mistakes of the past." and also the statement said Abdullah demanded an "immediate revision" of laws governing politics and public freedoms.
Bakhit stated that opposition groups, both Islamist and leftists, might possibly be included in the new government, but the Islamic Action Front immediately rejected that offer, stating that the current political conditions did not allow for them to join the government and that they were looking for real reform. Despite calls to stay away from the new government, the Islamic Action Front and five leftists were represented in a new government sworn in on February 10.
There have also been talks of reforming electoral law to reduce gerrymandering in constituency boundaries and guarantee greater proportionality. A $500m package of price cuts in fuel and staples, including sugar and rice, was announced, along with salary increases for civil servants and the military.
On February 15, the Public Gatherings Law was reformed to allow unrestricted freedom of expression; the former law required permission from the governor to hold demonstrations. A reform of the electoral law was also promised.
On March 15, King Abdullah II said a 53-member committee with government officials and opposition leaders will draft new laws for parliamentary elections and political parties, setting a three-month deadline for agreement on political reforms. However, the Muslim Brotherhood said it would not take part unless parliament is dissolved and a prime minister is elected from a parliamentary majority.
On March 28, three days after deadly clashes between protesters and supporters
of the king, King Abdullah II called for national unity, telling his citizens
to avoid "any behaviour or attitude that would affect our unity."
He went on to state that economic and political reforms were on their way.
However, the Parliament rejected calls to reduce the king's power. As a response
to the same violent clashes, 15 members of the government-appointed committee
for national dialogue quit, effectively suspending its activity, although
12 of them retracted their resignations following a meeting with the king.
The government decided to ban its supporters from demonstrating in the capital,
while the opposition was allowed to demonstrate in specially designated areas
in Amman.
On June 12, in a television speech commemorating 12 years on the throne, the
king said he will relinquish his right to appoint prime ministers and cabinets,
instead, elected parliamentary majority will be the ones to form future cabinets.
He also said that more reforms would be announced in the future, including
new election and political party laws.
PM al-Bakhit resigned on October 17, 2011, after 70 of 120 MPs had called
for his resignation for failing to swiftly implement the political reform
package. Awn al-Khasawneh was seen as the most likely candidate to replace
him.
--------------------------------
- The United States has deployed troops to Jordan to help monitor Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons and determine what efforts to take if violence spreads to neighbouring nations. Roughly 150 U.S. Army special operations soldiers have been working with Jordanian forces to monitor the chemical and biological weapons sites in Syria while trying to determine how to respond should an issue arise.
- A Jordanian soldier was killed in clashes with Islamist fighters trying to cross the country's northern border into Syria, we were told on Monday October 22, 2012. The soldier died during an infiltration attempt; it was the first death in Jordanian army ranks on the border since the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad broke out in March last year. Troops detained 12 Islamist fighters after the clashes. Jordan said on Sunday it foiled a plot by an al Qaeda-linked cell to bomb shopping centres and assassinate Western diplomats. Security sources said the 11 suspects detained, all Jordanians, had envisaged carrying out attacks in the capital Amman using smuggled weapons and explosives from Syria.
- Three Jordanians jailed in Iraq since 2003 over allegedly entering the neighboring country illegally have been released and authorities have flown them home we were told on Friday September 27, 2013. The three were granted a special pardon following intense negotiations between the two countries. Four more Jordanians included in the pardon remain in Iraqi jails. Another Jordanian was released and flown home last month. The eight Jordanians, some of them students, had gone to Iraq legally before 2003. He says they were arrested in 2003 by the Badr Brigades, an Iranian-allied Shiite militia, allegedly for lacking proper visa documents. They were tried and released by a U.S. military court in Iraq but Iraqi authorities kept them in jail.
10 gunmen from Syria opened fire on troops patrolling an isolated border area in the north. The patrols returned fire, wounding seven and arresting three. It is the first time that Jordan publicly reports an armed attack from Syria, although there have been several smuggling incidents in recent months.
Jordanian border guards opened fire on four vehicles trying to enter illegally from Syria after they ignored orders to stop. The incident took place Friday June 13, 2014.
A Jordanian missile shot down a drone in the governorate of al-Mafraq we were told on Friday July 25, 2014. It is the first such incident since the conflict started in neighbouring Syria in 2011. The Jordanian Armed Forces intercepted the drone hovering over Mafraq, north-east the capital Amman. As it was a violation of Jordan's airspace Jordan took measures at a high level after identifying the drone. There were no injuries. ---
Islamic State (IS) militants have captured the pilot of a Jordanian warplane that crashed in northern Syria. The jihadist group claimed it had shot down the jet with a heat-seeking missile near the city of Raqqa. The pilot has been named as Flight Lieutenant Moaz Youssef al-Kasasbeh. This is the first US-led coalition aircraft to be lost on IS territory since air strikes began in September. Jordan is one of four Arab states which have bombed targets in Syria. The pilot was apparently burned alive on January 3, 2015 although it only became known at the end of January 2015.
Dozens of Jordanian fighter jets have bombed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) targets. Jordan pledged to keep up the attacks until the armed group is defeated. The raids have now expanded into Iraq. Jordan joined the US-led military alliance against ISIL in September, but up until recently was believed to have only bombed sites in Syria. American F-16 and F-22 jets are providing security to the Jordanian fighter planes, in case of emergency, with additional support from refuelling tankers and surveillance aircraft.
On Friday February 6, 2015, thousands rallied in capital Amman to honour Kassasbeh and in support of the king and the army. People in Jordan say that the only positive thing that has come from the murder of Kassasbeh is that it has united Jordan in its opposition against ISIL. On Thursday, Jordan hit targets in al-Raqqa, the ISIL stronghold in Syria. The strikes were "the beginning of Jordan’s retaliation. ---
Tariq Aziz was laid to rest Saturday June 13, 2015, after a ceremony in his honour at a church in the Jordanian capital, Amman, eight days after he died in prison of a heart attack. Hundreds of Iraqis and Jordanians attended the church services of Aziz, the only Christian in Saddam Hussein's inner circle, at St. Mary of Nazareth church in Amman. Aziz died June 5 at age 79. He had been in prison since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and suffered a series of strokes. He faced execution for his role in a government that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. After the ceremony in Amman, Aziz was buried in the historical Christian town of Madaba, ending an eight-day sojourn from southern Iraq to the Baghdad airport, where his body briefly disappeared, before being flown to Jordan for burial.
A Jordanian was killed on Thursday June 25, 2015, when a stray mortar bomb from fighting in southern Syria hit a bustling market place in the Jordanian town of Ramtha. The mortar killed a street vendor, wounded several people and damaged some shops. Earlier three other mortar bombs had hit the town. Ramtha is close to the Syrian city of Deraa, where rebels launched a dawn offensive against Syrian government forces.
Dhalaein, a Jordanian parliamentarian's son died carrying out a suicide attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group in Iraq this week we were told Friday October 2, 2015. Dhalaein’s 23-year-old son had been studying medicine in Ukraine before deciding to join ISIS this summer, travelling to Iraq through Turkey and Syria. He considered his father and his mother to be apostates and was trying to convince them to join ISIS.
Six Jordanian security personnel have been killed in a suicide truck bomb attack near a makeshift refugee camp on the border with Syria. The attack took place in the remote Rukban area Tuesday June 21, 2016. ---
Jordan Saturday June 2, 2017: