Iran hanged two people today convicted of smuggling drugs in a southeastern province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, official media reported.

The two were put to death in Zahedan prison in the volatile border province of Sistan-Baluchestan, which is notorious for clashes between security forces and drug traffickers, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"These two people were convicted of buying, delivering and keeping 59 kg of drugs .... and the sentence was carried out this morning," IRNA said.

Iran's border regions are a major smuggling route for drugs and other contraband. More than 3,300 Iranian security personnel have died in the region fighting drug traffickers since Iran's 1979 revolution.

Murder, adultery, rape, armed robbery, apostasy and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, practised since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

The number of executions in Iran, many in public, has increased since July, when police started a crackdown on "immoral behaviour".

NCRI- More than 100 Shiite sheikhs and personalities from across Iraq condemned Iranian regime's meddling in Iraq and expressed their support for the main Iranian opposition group, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)

In a meeting in Ashraf City, North East of Baghdad, on the occasion of Shiite feast of Ghadir, speakers from Southern Iraqi provinces of Missan, Dhiqar, Najaf, Karbal and Muthanna asserted that the Iraqi people and PMOI were faced with a common enemy in Iraq, the mullahs’ regime ruling Iran and its agents in Iraq.

The Iraqi Shiite personalities stressed that people in Iran and Iraq would not achieve unity, security and stability unless there is a democratic change in Iran.

On November 22, 2007, a petition signed by 300,000 Iraqi Shiites condemned the Iranian regime's campaign against the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) and declared their support for the organization. The statement declared that the Iranian regime is fomenting violence in Iraq.

The statement which was widely covered by the media had been signed by Iraqi Shiite Muslims in the Iraqi southern provinces and there were 14 clergymen, 600 Sheikhs, 1,250 jurists, 2,200 physician, engineers, university professors and 25,000 women among the signatories.

In June 2006, some 5.2 million Iraqis including 121 political parties and social groups, 700,000 women, 14,000 lawyers and jurists, 19,000 physicians, 35,000 engineers, 320 clerics, 540 professors, 2,000 tribal sheikhs and 300 local officials signed a petition condemning Iranian regime's meddling in their country. The declaration also lent support to People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) whose presence in Iraq had acted as a major obstacle to mullahs' fundamentalist ambitions in Iraq.

HNN

Two weeks ago, the Turkish Air Force launched fifty jets, most of them Lockheed-Martin F-16s, toward targets in the Kandil Mountains of northern Iraq. In the following hours, according to bianet.org, some $20 million was spent for fuel, bombs, and missiles, twelve villages were damaged, and five PKK Kurdish guerrillas were killed along with two civilians. Doing the math, we see that ten F-16s were needed to kill one guerrilla, giving us a cost of $4 million per guerrilla.

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By CHERYL DIAZ MEYER
The Dallas Morning News

Feeling hopeless about life, some women in Iraqi Kurdistan set themselves on fire, then suffer through survival

Video Iraqi Kurdish women face suicide crisis

ERBIL, Iraq – Iman Eaziden Bakr raised her chin, her eyes glistening in the dim light.

"I thought, 'This is my death,' " she said. "I felt like a chicken being roasted. I will never forget the torture of my skin. It was so painful, as if my insides were being exposed."

Her tea had long gone cold as she recounted Jan. 14, the day she poured kerosene on her body and set herself on fire.

Despite the economic boom in Iraqi Kurdistan, Ms. Bakr and her family are among the majority of Kurds who live in poverty. Eight people live together in one room.

"I started feeling hopeless about life, and I couldn't bear their fighting anymore," she said. "So I sacrificed myself for my family. But it was useless."

When she returned home from the hospital, it was worse.

As new social and economic pressures collide with old traditions in the newly prosperous region of northern Iraq, Kurdish women still exert little control over their lives, health experts say. They struggle to describe a mental malaise that women and girls experience in the patriarchal culture, where women see little hope for their future and find themselves driven to kill themselves at unprecedented levels.

Since 2003, an average of one female sets herself on fire each day in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Khasro Omar, head nurse of the Emergency Management Centre in Erbil. The center is the premier hospital for burn patients in the area.

Ms. Bakr, 17, said she was diagnosed with depression. But her mother refused to buy the prescribed medicine, fearful that people would think their family was crazy.

"Anyone could see that I was not normal," she said. "I heard voices telling me to kill myself, but my mother thought I was just being melodramatic."

Most of the women and girls say they immolated themselves because of unresolved problems with their families. Some had issues in their marriages, while others alleged they were burned by accident as they worked in the kitchen, their long dresses a danger near the flames.

For many of these women, ordinary problems seem magnified. That was the case for 19-year-old Qumri Kaifi.

"I was washing the floor, and my sister kept walking over it, making me upset," she said. After months of strife between her and her new stepmother, this was the final straw. She went into the kitchen and set herself on fire with her 10-year-old sister watching.

Those who survive suffer estrangement from their families and society. Married women who cannot work because of their injuries are often divorced by their husbands. No organizations in the region have long-term programs to help these women.

In the far end of the Erbil ward lies Aveen Bayz, 13, her brow furrowed in pain and her eyes dark and woeful. She resembles a mummy, almost completely covered in gauze to protect her burns, which cover 70 percent of her skin.

Ms. Bayz said she immolated herself because her younger sister was jealous of her and harassed her for not doing the house chores correctly. She has survived eight days after immolating herself. Even the staff won't venture to guess if she will live or die.

Nearby, her anguished mother wipes away tears.

"I would do anything for my daughter, if only she'd stay alive," said Sameera Mohammad. "I wish to hear her voice every morning."

Nine months have passed since Ms. Bakr's attempt to kill herself. She still emanates the acrid smell of burned skin, and her scars itch as they crack open and heal.

"I do feel that they love me," Ms. Bakr said of her family. "But even if I wasn't making good choices – why didn't they stop me? I don't understand their love."

She still sees little promise for the future.

"I gradually feel myself becoming hopeless again," she said. "So, I probably will one day succeed in killing myself."

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has ordered the government to pay one million dinars (830 dollars) to every Kurdish family displaced by Turkish bombings, his office said on Sunday.

"The prime minister has ordered the formation of a committee that will visit these families and pay each of them a million dinars," a statement said, adding that the aid will be given in coordination with the Iraqi Red Crescent.

It did not say how many families have been displaced by the Turkish bombings in northern Iraq's Kurdish region.

In the past few weeks, Turkish warplanes have regularly bombed areas inside Iraq along the border with Turkey in an attempt to flush out rebels from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who have their bases in the region.

The PKK uses the mountainous terrain of northern Iraq to launch attacks against Turkey.

The rebel group has fought for a self-rule in southeastern Turkey since 1984 but in recent times Ankara has intensified strikes against its groups inside Iraq.

By Sherko Raouf

SANKASAR, Iraq (Reuters) - Since Turkish warplanes turned her village home into a heap of rubble last week, mother of eight Aziya Rasheed says she has lost all hope for the future.

Air strikes on mountain villages around the town of Sankasar in northern Iraq on December 16 destroyed much of Rasheed's modest home as the family slept, injuring her 16-year-old daughter so severely that she had to have her leg amputated above the knee.

"We lost everything, even my daughter's leg. Isn't this terrorism from Turkey?" she said angrily.

"I have no hope of going back to my demolished home, all my livestock are dead and the future of my children is uncertain. How are they going to study here when I'm living in a small room like this?"

The family will have to survive the rest of the bitter winter in a small mud-brick room belonging to relatives in Sankasar, about 160 km (100 miles) north of the city of Sulaimaniya.

The fate of Iraqi civilians caught up in the fight between Turkish forces and Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas could effect the delicate balance of security in northern Iraq.

Turkey has massed up to 100,000 troops on the Iraqi border and waged a campaign of low-level cross-border strikes on PKK militants for several months, accusing PKK fighters based in Iraq of carrying out deadly attacks in Turkey.

The campaign intensified this month, with air and artillery strikes and small-scale cross-border raids by ground forces.

U.S. and Iraqi authorities describe the PKK as terrorists and say they support Turkey's right to strike back. But they have also expressed concern that civilian casualties could destabilize northern Iraq. Washington has had to tread a delicate path between the interests of its two close allies.

WHERE WERE PKK FIGHTERS?

Turkish forces say they killed more than 150 PKK fighters in the December 16 air strike, their biggest yet.

The mayor of Sankasar, Abdullah Ibrahim, said there were no PKK fighters in the area and the strikes had forced 370 Iraqi Kurdish families to flee their homes in surrounding villages.

"The constant presence of Turkish planes over the villages has deterred everyone from returning because they fear another attack," he said.

Reuters was unable to verify whether PKK fighters were in the area or how much damage was caused to PKK targets.

Iraq protested after the December 16 strike that at least one civilian, a woman, had been killed. The Turkish military denied any civilian targets were hit.

The Iraqi government said on Sunday it would pay 1 million dinars (about $700) to each family displaced by the strikes.

Mohammed Hasan, a 40-year-old father of six whose house was destroyed by Turkish bombing, says he is afraid to return to his village because Turkish planes still fly overhead.

"The bombing began in the middle of the night, I quickly got everyone out of the house and soon after, I looked back at my house and saw it burning," he said, breathing deeply.

"It was destined for us Kurds to face all these tragedies. First Saddam Hussein kept us on the run and now Turkey and Iran take it in turns to bomb us," he added.

Aid from charities and donations from businessmen in Sulaimaniya have provided most needy families with basic food like rice, sugar and tea, and blankets were distributed to help them survive the cold weeks ahead.

Shlier Khudhur, a 30-year-old woman now living with her brother, sobs as she recalls the night she lost her home.

"I was wounded when the house fell on top of us during the air strikes. We have lost everything we ever owned," she said.

"I wish I had died rather than live through this."

(Writing by Mussab Al-Khairalla; editing by Tim Pearce)

Early today 30/12/07 Turkish warplanes violated Iraqi air border through Kurdistan region and to make a reconnaissance over the supposedly PKK bases in the Qandil mountains.

The planes did not bombard any parts of Qandil, but it was the fist flying over the Kurdish areas after the last bombardments four days ago.

The new air assaults came after the Turkish national security council decided Friday to continue attacks on PKK in north of Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki flied to London Saturday evening for medical treatment after a sudden exhaustion he felt in his heart, Iraqi sources said Saturday.

A statement his office issued Sunday said al Maliki felt excessive exhaustion because of the long hours he spend working , but he still was healthy and had nothing dangerous.

Al Iraqiya television also showed prime minister walking by himself towards the plane took him off to London, and looked quite healthy.

The statement also said Physicians had recommended Maliki to take some medical tests before, but he ignored it due to Adha Eid, and now he had found opportunity to take the tests.
Sources said he would take many recommended tests, including heart scan test, but did not confirm how long the tests would take.

The sources added that after the tests he would return to Baghdad.

By MICHAEL KAMBER
The New York Times

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq — The tiny Filipino woman’s hands trembled. She was in hiding, fearing capture at any moment.

She and a friend had come to Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish north as guest workers six months earlier. Now they worried they would be forcibly returned to Erbil, where they had been locked in a house for a month and made to work for free, they said, after their passports, cellphones and plane tickets were taken away.

The two had escaped by begging their captor to let them attend church, then making contact with other Filipino workers, who spirited them away.

Thousands of foreign workers have come to the Kurdish districts in the last three years, a huge turnaround for a place that had hardly any before, making it one of the fastest-growing Middle Eastern destinations for the world’s impoverished. They come from Ethiopia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh and Somalia, supporting an economic boom here that is transforming Kurdish society.

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Turkish warplanes will continue attacking PKK bases northern Iraq if it was necessary, Turkish national security council said Friday.

In a session lasted 5 hours, Turkish national security council which include Senior civil and military officials, agreed that the “successful” military operations on PKK would continue if it was needed.

The council also welcomed the outcomes of the operations carried out in northern Iraq so far, where no civilian areas got damages.

Meantime, Turkish government claimed it would hand 10 spying planes from Israel next week.

Analysts expect that Turkish government will use those planes to figure out the hide outs of PKK bases northern Iraq, in order to stage new attacks on the Kurdish region any time it wanted.

A staff of Israel air defence industries operates the unmanned planes used in the Turkish attacks on PKK bases northern Iraq, Turkish daily news said.

10 days ago, Turkish Star television had reported over the usage of Harwn unmanned crafts, which are Israeli made.

The Turkish website reported from the Israeli Media sources as saying, the Kurdish people in Iraq did not accepted such Israel cooperation with Turkey as normal.

Israeli Haarts newspaper reported from the Turkish forces saying, General Commander Yashar Buyukanit was watching the unmanned planes reconnaissance on PKK bases northern Iraq.

Israel is also expected to by Turkey 10 other planes in the coming weeks to use them against the Kurdish party.

Iran Focus

Tehran, Iran, Dec. 29 – Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld a death sentence for a 17-year-old schoolboy over the murder of his younger friend.

The teenager identified only by his first name Ali was originally sentenced to execution by a court in Tehran on 23 July 2007, the government-owned news agency Fars reported on Saturday.

He had been found guilty of convincing his eight-year-old friend Ahmad to have sex with him, and later murdering him in December 2005. Ali purportedly decided to kill Ahmad out of fear upon discovering that Ahmad had started to bleed. The report said that Ali had confessed to strangling Ahmad.

Ali faces imminent execution, following the Supreme Court’s confirmation of the death sentence.

Under Iranian law, girls above the age of nine and boys above the age of fifteen are considered as adults and could be executed for capital offences.

The Daily Telegraph

By Russell Hotten, Industry Editor

Royal Dutch Shell has again delayed a decision on whether to press ahead with controversial investments in Iran, as Europe's largest oil and gas company weighs up the increasing costs of the project and political opposition in the United States.

The Anglo-Dutch giant will not now decide on a $10bn (£4.9bn) project to exploit part of Iran's vast South Pars gas field for at least a year. Shell risks seeing rivals also knocking on Teheran's door being given first refusal on some of the many lucrative contracts instead.

Teheran has requested that companies interested in South Pars and other energy projects submit plans by June, although some analysts believe the deadline may be extended.

In January, Shell and Spain's Repsol signed a preliminary deal with Teheran jointly to develop two phases of South Pars. At the time, Shell said it might be a year away from knowing whether to proceed, a timescale that Shell chief executive Jeroen van de Veer repeated six months later.

Now, company insiders say Shell is "still 12 months away from a decision". Drawing up a final investment plan, when labour and equipment costs in the industry are soaring, was proving more difficult than expected, said a source.

Shell also risks upsetting Washington, where the Bush administration is putting pressure on companies not to do business with Iran because of its nuclear programme. Pushing back the decision until the end of 2008 has the advantage of it being after the US elections in November, when a new president might tone down the rhetoric against Teheran.

But analysts said it would be wrong to think that Iran's June deadline was not a firm commitment. On December 9, Gholam Hossein Nozari, Iran's oil minister, warned companies that they risked missing out on contracts.

"If other companies that like to invest in oil and gas hesitate, they will lose opportunities," he said.

The comment followed the signing of a $2bn contract between Iran and Sinopec of China to develop the Yadavaran oil field. Russia's Gazprom is understood to be holding talks with Teheran about investing in South Pars and is unlikely to be influenced by any complaints from Washington.

Iran has the world's second largest reserves of gas and oil, but needs outside investment and technology to tamp them. South Pars is thought to be the world's biggest gas field.

A spokesman for Shell said a final decision was still "some way away, perhaps a year", because issues such as construction costs and the falling dollar were impacting on costing the project. He said any political considerations would be taken into account.

Reporters Without Borders is extremely worried about the health of journalist and human rights activist Emadoldin Baghi, who was rushed to hospital after suffering a double heart attack in Tehran’s Evin prison on 26 December and was returned to a general wing of the prison yesterday evening. He has been held in Evin for the past 74 days.

“The conditions in which Baghi is being held are unacceptable,” the press freedom organisation said. “He has been in solitary confinement ever since he was first taken to Evin, as if imprisonment was not already enough punishment. As his state of health has worsened steadily during the past two months, it is inconceivable that he should be expected to convalesce in prison.”

Baghi was rushed to Tehran’s Khamar Bani Hachem after his double heart attack. His lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht, and his family were finally able to visit him yesterday after spending 24 hours without any news of him. When he was taken back to Evin, he was put in a new cell in section 350 of the prison.

Nikbakht told Reporters Without Borders that the deterioration in Baghi’s health was mainly due to the appalling conditions in the prison and to the harassment to which he has been subjected during interrogation sessions. “Emadoldin Baghi will not survive another heart attack,” he said.

An active campaigner against Iran’s death penalty, Baghi was awarded the French government’s human rights prize in 2005. He was sentenced in 2000 to three years in prison for “violating to national security.”

Meanwhile, Ejlal Ghavami, a reporter for the weekly Payam-e Mardom-e Kurdestan who has been held in the prison of Sanandaj since 9 July, was finally given 10 days leave from the prison on 26 December for treatment to an eye infection that has worsened since his arrest.

Iran’s Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are both on the Reporters Without Borders list of “press freedom predators.” Twelve journalists are currently detained in Iran.

Turkish operation on kurdish PKK make younger kurdish boys and girls to  join PKK.

turkish dont have problem only with PKK perhaps they have problem with 40M kurdish.

the united state help turkish government to genoside kurdish in northen iraq or any where.

United state give green light to turkish government to genoside kurdish in kurdistan and VOA News everydays say we bring democracy to middle east but we dont know what they mean about democracy.

if PKK is terrorism must say 18M kurdish terrorism in northern kurdistan(turkish kurdistan).

Abdulla ocalan is a timid leader in tureky because when the us,israiel and turkish arrested him he said in first interview all my family is turkish and no kurdish he is not successful leader for PKK and 18M kurdish in turkey.

abdulla ocalan is a foolish leader for PKK and kurdish leader in iraq best slave for united state in iraqi kurdistan.

from 21/10/2007 turkish govrenment said more then 300 pkk killed in northen iraq and its falsely news because if its correct why turkish not stop PKK in 23 years (1984).

the fascist govrenment turkey want again genoside on kurdish like armenian in 1915 and we must  support PKK to send turkish army to hell verey soon.

partizani war verey important and all we know  PKK win war and the turkish govrenment must give autonomy to kurdish in tureky.

For the third time in a row, the Kurdish-Georgian Zalimkhan Motsoyov was elected as a member of the Russian Duma (parliament) to the consolidated list of Russia party in the recent elections, which were held in Russia and the United Russia Party (Putin's Party) won majority of seats.

Motsoyov, a Georgian Kurd, was born in 1959 in the town of Tiblis. He graduated from Volgograd University-Architecture Department. He has a factory for the manufacture of pipes to transport crude oil and gas, which is one of the great factories in the Ural region of Russia.

It is noteworthy that Motsoyov elected in the previous two sessions of the Russian elections (1999, 2003) as an independent member of the State Duma, and then he joined Putin’s party (United Russia Party).

On this occasion, the representative of Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Moscow, Shorsh Khalid congratulated him and wished him all success.

In a meeting, PUK representative asked Zalimkhan to play great roles in strengthening the relations between Russia and Kurdistan Region.

For his part, Motsoyov announced his readiness to work on the development of relations between Russia and Kurdistan Region. He pointed out that he would visit Kurdistan region soon.

His Excellency President Jalal Talabani received Iranian Ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Kazemi Qumi on Friday, at his residence in the city of Sulaimani.
At the meeting, President Talabani discussed with Iranian Ambassador the ways to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries.

At a press conference, held after the meeting, President Talabani said, “As you know we have strong relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, and today we focused on the theme of the bilateral relations between the Islamic Republic and the Republic of Iraq and the implementation of previous agreements, especially those related to the Shatt al-Arab, border issues and the Iranian-American relations.”

On certain statements relating to the Algeries Convention, His Excellency said, “These statements were not copied accurately, I made it clear. Because we opposed the dictatorship, we opposed this convention as a convention between torturers Shah of Iran and Saddam Hussein. But the situation changed when Iran was liberated and the Islamic Republic of Iran, friendly to our people, came and Iraq liberated from dictatorship and the Republic of Iraq, friendly to Iran, came.

He also added, “Situations have changed now, in my view and according to the international laws and norms, this Convention is permanent and applicable. If there are comments between the two sides, they should be discussed between the two countries friendly, and one side cannot abolish it unilaterally.”

President Talabani explained, “I am not a supporters of the abolition of the Convention, but I am an advocate for strengthening relations between the Islamic Republic and the Republic of Iraq and I believe that we have many common interests. Iraq and the Islamic Republic should think of a long-term strategic Convention includes all the issues mentioned in the previous agreements.”

On his efforts to release the Iranian detainees to the American forces said President Talabani, “We will continue our efforts to release those arrested and we have received some promises. We hope that these promises come true and the Iranian detainees be released.”

On reactions of the Iraqi parties to signing of the memorandum of understanding between the two Kurdish parties and the Iraqi Islamic Party, President Talabani stressed the importance of this memo, saying, “The draft of the memorandum of understanding was circulated for almost a year. We wanted to establish relations with the Iraqi Islamic Party in order to prove that our glorious historic relation with the Shiite parties is not hostile to the Sunnis in Iraq.”

He also pointed out, “We and our allies in the Shiite parties are not advocates of isolating the Sunnis, but we wanted to attract supporters from the Sunni Arabs. When the quadripartite agreement was signed, we tried to convince the Iraqi Islamic Party to be the fifth party to join the Quartet Convention.”

President Talabani stressed that he trusts Mr. Nuri al-Maliki, a man he considered appropriate for prime minister at this stage, saying: If I have any remarks, suggestions and ideas, I discuss them amicably with my brother and friend Mr. Nouri Al-Maliki before I announce them.”

President Talabani related the failure of the implementation of Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution to several objective reasons, stressing that: Mr. al-Maliki announced that he always supported the implementation of Article 140 according to the Constitution.