30/04/06 - Le nouveau rapport du Département d'Etat sur le terrorisme

Country Reports on Terrorism 2005
US State Department


Lire, Read :

US admits Iraq is terror 'cause'
Times 29/04/06

"Report says that 11,000 attacks worldwide shows the war has become driving factor for extremists.

THREE years after its invasion of Iraq the US Administration acknowledged yesterday that the war has become “a cause” for Islamic extremists worldwide and there is a risk of the country becoming a safe haven for terrorists hoping to launch fresh attacks on America.

According to CIA data released yesterday, there were 11,111 terrorist incidents last year, killing more than 14,600 non-combatants, including 8,300 in Iraq. Of the 56 American civilians killed by terrorists in 2005, some 47 of them were in Iraq..."


Terrorism Still Thriving, State Department Says
Jim Lobe, IPS 28/04/06

"Four years into the "global war on terror", terrorism appears to be thriving, according to the 2005 edition of the annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" released here Friday by the U.S. State Department.

While the control and reach of al Qaeda, which carried out the spectacular Sep. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, have weakened over the past four years, smaller autonomous groups and individuals that are "extremely difficult to detect or counter" have increasingly moved into the vacuum, according to the 265-page report.

And while its ability to mount "global acts of terrorism" has diminished, "AQ and its affiliates political will has not been undermined" and it remains the most prominent terrorist threat to the United States and its allies, the report stated..."


30/04/06 - La Turquie refuse toute aide aux Etats-Unis contre l'Iran

Report: Turkey won’t let U.S. attack Iran from its land
Ynetnews 30/04/06

"Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Sunday that his country refused a request from the United States to attack Iran from its Air Force base in Incirlik, despite the U.S. offer of a nuclear reactor, according to a report in Al Biyan.

In an interview for the United Arab Emirates newspaper, Gul noted that America’s efforts to attack Iran are “imaginary” and that Turkey’s stance is “strategic” and refuses the use of its land for any belligerent activity against neighboring countries. (Roee Nahmias)"


Turkish FM Abdullah Gul: Ankara will not be drawn into any US or Israel military operations against Iran
Debka 30/04/06

"The Dubai newspaper Al Bayan (out on April 30) quotes the Turkish leader as disclosing that, during her visit to Ankara last Tuesday, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice requested the use of the Incirlik air base for an American strike against Iranian nuclear installations. She was said to have offered Turkey in return a nuclear reactor for electricity, but was turned down.

DEBKAfile’s military sources add: Washington’s original request was for permission to build a new air base in eastern Turkey between Lake Van and the Iranian border. From there, US bombers could have reached nuclear targets situated in northern Iran where most of its nuclear sites are thought to be concentrated.


OUT OF STEP ON IRAN
Beirut As Safir, April 13, 2006

"The already-frayed relations between Washington and Ankara have encountered a new irritant: Iran. Despite a number of overtures from the United States in recent weeks, the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reportedly has categorically refused to participate in any American contingency planning against Iran. Ankara's moratorium appears to include a ban on the U.S. military's use of Turkish territory, such as the Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, as a launch pad for operations against the Islamic Republic, should the need arise."


30/04/06 - Dangereuses incursions turques et iraniennes au Kurdistan irakien

Kurdistan: Dangerous Passage
Newsweek 30/04/06

"Could another front be opening in the Iraq war? Over recent weeks, some 200,000 Turkish troops, backed by tanks and helicopter gunships, have massed along the mountainous border with Iraq. Trucks passing from Turkey, ferrying the imported goods and foodstuffs that are the lifeblood of the Kurdish economy, have slowed from 1,000 a day to just a couple of hundred. The Turkish military says its troops are there only to prevent armed insurgents of the Kurdish PKK rebel group from crossing into Turkey from their bases on Iraq's Kandil Mountain. But last week, according to angry Foreign Ministry officials in Baghdad, Turkish commandos briefly crossed 15 kilometers into Iraqi territory in pursuit of PKK rebels—a move that could signal dangerous new frictions to come..."


Iraq says Iran forces shelled Kurds in Iraq
Reuters 30/04/06

"Iraq's Defence Ministry said on Sunday that Iranian forces had shelled Kurdish rebel positions this month and crossed 5 km (3 miles) into Iraqi territory..."


Iran 'attacks Iraq Kurdish area'
BBC 30/04/06

"Iraq has accused Iranian forces of entering Iraqi territory and shelling Kurdish rebel positions in the north.

Iranian troops bombed border areas near the town of Hajj Umran before crossing into Iraq, the defence ministry in Baghdad said on Sunday.

It said the Iranians targeted the PKK, a Kurdish group that has waged a 15-year insurgency against Turkey.

The PKK is believed to have links with anti-Iranian Kurdish fighters. There are no details on casualties.

The Iraqi defence ministry also says Iran launched a similar attack on Kurdish rebel positions in the same area on 21 April.

There are no reported comments from Tehran on either of the alleged incidents."


‘Don’t attack us or else,’ Kurdish guerrillas warn Iran
AFP 30/04/06

"ANZI, Iraq - While Turkish Kurdish guerrillas based in northeast Iraq continue to wrestle their foes in Turkey, tensions have been brewing with neighbouring Iran. Lodged in northern Iraq in an area flanked by NATO member Turkey and Washington’s foe Iran, elements of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have accused Teheran of attacking their encampments..."


Iraq Concerned Over Turkish Invasion
Middle East Newsline 30/04/06

"Iraq has become increasingly concerned over a major Turkish military invasion of Kurdistan.

The two countries have met to discuss what diplomatic sources said was Turkish military deployment along the Iraqi border. The sources said Baghdad asserted that Turkish troops have been entering Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish insurgents.

"This [deployment] is only aimed to prevent infiltrations of the terrorist organization into Turkey," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said. "Our security forces are taking measures because with the arrival of spring the terrorists have become active and are infiltrating our borders."

So far, the Turkish military was said to have penetrated 10 kilometers into Iraq in the operation against the Kurdish Workers Party, or PKK. Ankara has been aided by a 2,000-soldier Turkish contingent, based in northern Iraq prior to the U.S.-led invasion in 2003"


Turkish Armed Forces Strike PKK Camps in N. Iraq
By National News Desk, Istanbul 29/04/06

"The Turkish armed forces have launched their first military operation along the Iraqi border where Turkish troops have concentrated for days.

The Northern Iraqi cities of Amedi and Zaho, sheltering Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants, were hit with mortar attacks in “Operation Crescent.”

First reports say that locations where militants were lodged in the regions of Geliye, Pisaxa, Pirbela, Sheshdara, Sheranish and Elanish were demolished.

The "Burgundy Beret" units performed a recognizance mission in the area a while ago as part of the Special Forces Command.

Troop deployment to the region from different parts of the country continues...."


Iraq expresses dismay at Turkish incursion into northern Iraq
KUNA 26/04/06

"An incursion into northern Iraq by military units of the Turkish Special Forces was reported Wednesday by a Turkish daily.

"The operation was aimed at chasing Kurdish secessionist armed elements near the Turkish border," the paper said.

"Turkish forces were reported several kilometers deep into Iraqi territory as they were chasing Kurdish gunmen in neighboring Kurdish villages," the paper said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiar Zibari expressed dismay about the incursion and summoned Turkish Ambassador to Iraq Unal Cevikoz and asked him to convey to Ankara "Iraq's wish that such incusions be halted." Meanwhile, Iraqi Ambassador in Ankara Sabah Omran on Wednesday paid a visit to Turkish Special Representative in Iraq Oguz Celikkols at his office in Ankara and urged him to put a stop to the Turkish incursions because they could "upset law and order in the entire Iraqi territories." Celikkols is due to convey this wish to the Ankara government.

Iraqi President Jalal Talbani had earlier announced that a 1990 accord with Turkey allowing its forces to enter northern Iraq to a depth of 15 kilometers was no longer valid."


Rice warns Turkey to keep out of Iraq
IHT 26/04/06

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assured Turkish leaders on Tuesday that the United States would step up efforts to stop the infiltration of Kurdish insurgents from Iraq into Turkey, but she warned the Turkish government not to send troops into Iraq to do the job.

Addressing what has become a new irritant in relations with Turkey, Rice acknowledged that the problem of infiltration by Kurdish rebels into Turkey from Kurdish regions in northern Iraq had been allowed to grow..."