As Iraqi Militants Flee, Families Are Targets of Blood Reckoning

But someone needed to pay. Late last year, Faras’s younger brother Yousef was kidnapped, shot in the head and dumped in an abandoned lot. The police called it a lawless act of revenge — one brother dying for the sins of another.

Tribal leaders say that scores of other family members of insurgents have been attacked and killed in recent years as Iraqis turned against Al Qaeda and other militant groups. Insurgents’ families have also been driven from their homes and villages, accused of being complicit in their loved ones’ crimes or simply guilty by association.

The attacks represent a small fraction of the overall violence, but they illustrate one of Iraq’s greatest struggles as it tries to break a vicious cycle of killing and revenge. As Iraq tries to evolve into a more settled nation, one based on the rule of law instead of codes of blood, its leaders struggle to persuade Iraqis to put their faith in a flawed, sometimes ineffective, legal system. “This is the problem in Iraq,” said Zuhair al-Chalabi , Iraq’s national reconciliation adviser, who spends his days trying to mediate blood disputes between warring militias and tribes. “Iraqis have to forget their wounds. Time. We need time.”

But not everyone is patient, or ready to forgive. “The law and the courts do not help us,” said Jasim al-Ajili, a Shiite Muslim in the northeastern city of Baquba, who lost two nephews to Qaeda assassinations. He said he had identified the family responsible for the murders and is planning his revenge.

“I will arrest him, kidnap him, record his confessions,” he said. “Then I will kill him if the judiciary does nothing.”

There is little sympathy for families associated with the foreign and homegrown Qaeda fighters who slaughtered tens of thousands of Iraqis and tilted the country toward chaos. The militants’ wives and widows are pariahs. Their young children are not legally recognized by Iraq’s government.

In the rural stretches of Diyala Province, in northeastern Iraq, militant recruiters found fertile soil in the seething ranks of poor, young Sunni men. Scores of the tribesmen of one local sheik, Yousef al-Hilan, joined Qaeda. They bombed cars; guarded checkpoints where they shot and killed passing Shiite motorists; and controlled entire villages.

Now, Sheik Hilan estimated, about half of their families had been killed or displaced by reprisal attacks.

“We had many families whose sons joined Al Qaeda,” said Sheik Hilan, who lost four sons to tit-for-tat slayings. “All of the pain lands on them. People want their revenge. They’ll storm the house and kill everyone there. They just want to be satisfied.”

A Diyala provincial council member said revenge killings accounted for about 5 percent of all murders over the past two years.

The killings and attacks reflect deeply rooted tribal cultures that permit — even demand — a harsh accounting, in which blood is paid with blood. Kareem Mohammed Abu Hatem said his home, car and small oil and gasoline store in the village of Bohruz were burned down as payback for his stepson’s work with Al Qaeda. The culprits were never caught, making it impossible to verify his account.

Shortly after the 2003 invasion, Arab men with long beards, foreign accents and a veneer of righteous anger arrived at Ahmed Mustafa’s village in Diyala and urged its young men to fight the American occupier. Mr. Mustafa’s oldest son, Waleed, was enraptured, and left home with the militants.

As the bodies of beheaded Iraqis began appearing in the streets, Mr. Mustafa said he urged his son to stop fighting. Then, Mr. Mustafa said, he received a letter that warned, “We will cut your tongue and kill you.” In 2007, his 17-year-old son was killed while leaving the family farm. The next year, his other son was shot to death while shopping with his mother.

Fearful for his life, Mr. Mustafa and his wife moved to a village where few people know him. “I am an innocent man,” he said.

Still, he worries that he will die next.

For the Awad family in Kirkuk, the story of their two oldest sons unspooled like Cain and Abel in the age of Al Qaeda.

Durain Adnan contributed reporting from Iraq.

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At Least 18 Killed in Clashes at Iraqi Detention Center

An attempted mutiny by inmates turned into a gun battle inside a high security prison in Baghdad on Sunday, leaving at least 18 people dead, including six guards and Interior Ministry officers, news agencies reported.

There was no immediate indication that the prison revolt was a response to the killing of Osama bin Laden last week, although one of the inmates reported killed on Sunday was a senior commander of a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia.

Maj. Gen Qassim al-Moussawi, a spokesman for security forces in Baghdad, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the fighting began when a prisoner grabbed a weapon from a guard and began shooting guards and ministry officers. Other prisoners then seized weapons and joined the fight, the general said.

The battle lasted more than three hours, agencies reported, but prison officials said no inmates had escaped.

Eight police officers and six detainees were wounded, The Associated Press reported.

About two dozen prisoners were being moved inside the prison when the revolt started, according to a source quoted by The A.P., and it was not clear that the detainees were shackled or in restraints at the time.

General Moussawi identified the dead insurgent commander as Huthaifa al-Batawi, known as the Emir of Baghdad. He has been described by Iraqi authorities as the organizer of an attack on a Baghdad church on Oct. 31 that killed nearly 60 people, including two priests.

The massacre at Our Lady of Salvation, a Syrian Catholic church, was the worst attack on Iraqi Christians since the American-led invasion in 2003. Gunmen wearing explosive vests stormed the church during a Sunday Mass and took more than 100 worshipers hostage.

The attackers identified themselves as members of the Islamic State of Iraq, a Qaeda-linked terrorist group. And General Moussawi said on Sunday that Mr. Batawi had been “in charge of planning the church attack.”

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Local Iraqi Leaders Blame Al Qaeda for Attack

The attack underscored the continued struggles of Iraqi security forces to curb violence throughout the country. Although there are far fewer attacks than at the height of the sectarian war in 2007, there are still bombings and assassinations on a daily basis.

Around 7 a.m., the bomber drove a car packed with explosives up to a check point outside the training center in downtown Hilla, detonating the explosives while a bus drove by, according to the security official.

At the time, there was a shift change at the training center, which increased the number of officers in the area, the official said.

“The central government is responsible for this explosion,” said the local official, Kathum Majed Toma, who is the head of Babil’s provincial council. “We requested many times for them to provide us with sonar devices to detect explosives and for them to hire more security forces so we can secure our province but they did not reply.”

The explosion knocked over several blast walls and damaged the front rooms of the training center, as well as several homes.

The attack was the deadliest in Iraq since terrorists here promised to increase violence in response to Osama bin Laden’s death in the early hours Monday.

"This was a breach of our security by Al Qaeda," said Haider Zanbor, the head of the province’s security committee. "We were expecting that Babil would be the target of revenge for the killing of bin Laden. We will increase the security procedure to prevent this from happening again."

Members of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, a Sunni group, have conducted dozens of attacks in the city in recent years, including several targeted at police and security officials. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

At a press conference in Baghdad on Wednesday, one of the country’s top law enforcement officials, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, said that “there are still some cells able to work in Iraq and able to implement a terrorist act.”

However, Mr. Atta, who is the spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command, which controls the police and army, stressed that Iraqi security forces are prepared to maintain security after American forces withdraw all by the end of the year.

Yasir Ghazi and Duraid Adnan contributed reporting from Baghdad. An employee of The New York Times contributed reporting from Hilla.

 

Suicide Bomber Kills 8 at Iraqi Market

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber on Saturday attacked a group of Iraqi soldiers at an entrance of a large market in the northern city of Mosul, killing 5 soldiers and 3 other people and wounding 19, according to an Iraqi security official.

Women and children were among the wounded, the official said.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to jeopardize his access to important information.

Around 6:30 p.m., the bomber attacked the group of soldiers as the market was closing and shoppers were leaving, the official said.

The soldiers typically stand at the market’s entrances as a safety precaution. The market, which sells food and clothing, is one of the largest in Mosul.

Just a few months ago, a merchant at the market was killed by a gunman. There have been several other attacks on the market in recent years.

There was other violence in Iraq on Saturday.

In Baghdad, gunmen dressed in military uniforms stormed the house of an employee of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, killing the employee and his daughter. One of the gunmen was killed by the employee’s neighbors.

Also in Baghdad, gunmen stormed the home of a local judge, killing the judge and one of his bodyguards. The gunmen then blew up the judge’s house. An army colonel was also assassinated in Baghdad.

In Najaf, a homemade bomb was detonated near an American convoy, although no deaths were reported.

Violence has decreased significantly in Iraq over the past few years, although there has been a spike of violence — particularly assassinations — in recent weeks. It’s unclear what has caused the increase.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Parliament voted to pay $400 million to Americans who said they were tortured by Saddam Hussein’s regime during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Many of the victims were working in oil fields in Kuwait at the time.

The payments are part of settlement with the victims that Iraqi and American officials negotiated last year.

Iraqi officials said that by paying the victims, the Iraqi government would be prevented from similar suits in the future, which could cost the government significantly more money.

“If Iraq did not pay this settlement it would face major problems,” said Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, adding that the country’s profits from oil and other sectors would have been exposed to lawsuits if the government did not reach the agreement with the victims.

 

Suicide Bomber Kills 8 at Iraqi Market

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber on Saturday attacked a group of Iraqi soldiers at an entrance of a large market in the northern city of Mosul, killing 5 soldiers and 3 other people and wounding 19, according to an Iraqi security official.

Women and children were among the wounded, the official said.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he did not want to jeopardize his access to important information.

Around 6:30 p.m., the bomber attacked the group of soldiers as the market was closing and shoppers were leaving, the official said.

The soldiers typically stand at the market’s entrances as a safety precaution. The market, which sells food and clothing, is one of the largest in Mosul.

Just a few months ago, a merchant at the market was killed by a gunman. There have been several other attacks on the market in recent years.

There was other violence in Iraq on Saturday.

In Baghdad, gunmen dressed in military uniforms stormed the house of an employee of the Ministry of Industry and Minerals, killing the employee and his daughter. One of the gunmen was killed by the employee’s neighbors.

Also in Baghdad, gunmen stormed the home of a local judge, killing the judge and one of his bodyguards. The gunmen then blew up the judge’s house. An army colonel was also assassinated in Baghdad.

In Najaf, a homemade bomb was detonated near an American convoy, although no deaths were reported.

Violence has decreased significantly in Iraq over the past few years, although there has been a spike of violence — particularly assassinations — in recent weeks. It’s unclear what has caused the increase.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Parliament voted to pay $400 million to Americans who said they were tortured by Saddam Hussein’s regime during the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Many of the victims were working in oil fields in Kuwait at the time.

The payments are part of settlement with the victims that Iraqi and American officials negotiated last year.

Iraqi officials said that by paying the victims, the Iraqi government would be prevented from similar suits in the future, which could cost the government significantly more money.

“If Iraq did not pay this settlement it would face major problems,” said Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, adding that the country’s profits from oil and other sectors would have been exposed to lawsuits if the government did not reach the agreement with the victims.

 

Reopening of Blackwater Case Confuses Iraqi Victims

“Why did the case stop and now it’s coming back?” Mr. Sadoon asked Saturday, recalling the shooting in Nisour Square. The contractors, who worked as guards for Blackwater Worldwide, are accused of firing wildly from their convoy. They said they had been responding to gunfire from insurgents.

Mr. Sadoon sustained two bullet wounds in the shooting and was hit with 60 pieces of shrapnel, many which are still in his body.

“To be honest, I think the case will be dismissed again,” he said.

Mr. Sadoon’s confusion and pessimism about the case were echoed by many other victims who did not understand the decision on Friday to resurrect the charges that were thrown out in December 2009.

Their feelings underscored a larger sentiment throughout Iraq that the American and Iraqi governments rarely respond to grievances of the Iraqi people.

“We had high hopes with the previous case,” Mr. Sadoon said. “The case got to a point where we thought it could succeed, but then everything failed and we gave up on the case.”

As Mr. Sadoon spoke, cars bustled through the square, which is surrounded by a traffic circle that connects many of Baghdad’s main streets. Police officers blew whistles to direct drivers, who honked their horns loudly as they tried to make their way through the city’s unrelenting traffic.

“They can open the case, but I think in the end there will be political pressure to close it again,” Mr. Sadoon said. “We have learned our lesson from what happened before with the case.”

The Nisour Square shootings enraged Iraqis, setting off anti-American sentiment that eventually led the Iraqi government to subject all foreign contractors to the country’s laws.

In 2008, the United States Justice Department indicted the guards on manslaughter charges based on sworn statements the guards had given to the State Department under the promise of immunity.

One guard, who pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the others, said the guards had opened fire with automatic rifles and grenade launchers and that there had been no threat to the convoy.

But in 2009, a federal judge in Washington threw the case out, saying that the Justice Department’s use of the statements the guards gave in exchange for immunity compromised their right to a fair trial.

The dismissal once again enraged Iraqis, who believed that the United States had allowed the contractors to operate above the law. In a visit to Iraq, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. responded by saying that “a dismissal is not an acquittal,” and the Obama administration appealed the decision.

Not surprisingly, all of the legal back and forth has left many victims confused.

When news that the case had been reopened broke on Friday, there were no bulletins on television. Many victims first learned of the ruling from reporters, who called them for comment.

Local newspapers, meanwhile, had no articles on the ruling until Sunday, and did not give them much prominence.

Iraqi politicians, including Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, had harshly criticized the dismissal of the charges in 2009 but in this instance said little.

“There are no reactions so far because the issue is still confusing to many Iraqis,” said Ali al-Moussawi, a top adviser to Mr. Maliki. “We are waiting to have something clear in this regard.”

However, Mr. Moussawi said the government had confidence in the American judicial system. “We welcome this decision and consider it evidence of the fairness in U.S. judiciary,” he said.

He added, “It’s the Iraqi government point of view that opening the case again will give the victims who died some justice.”

Sami Hawas, 46, was driving with his mother and son in 2007 when they were stopped by the police at Nisour Square, which was under construction after it had been bombed earlier that year.

The police, Mr. Hawas said, had stopped him because an American convoy was passing through.

Several Blackwater sport utility vehicles traveling on the wrong side of the road came toward his car and began firing, Mr. Hawas said.

“I got shot all over my body,” he said, including several wounds to his back and right leg. “I didn’t know where the bullets were coming from.”

Mr. Hawas, a taxi driver, said he could no longer drive without pain from his injuries. “We don’t understand what is going on,” he said, referring to the case.

He added: “I guess nothing will be changed because this is not the first case in which innocent people have been killed. And people’s lives are priceless. No one can compensate for those losses.”

Yasir Ghazi, Omar Al-Jawoshy and Duraid Adnan contributed reporting.