Iraq expresses dissatisfaction at the US over its commando raid in Syria; US forces transfer security of Wasit province to Iraq; Bush hopeful of a SOFA deal with Iraq
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    • Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh criticised the US over an unconfirmed helicopter strike inside Syrian territory. Al-Dabbagh also called on Damascus to prevent groups from using Syrian territory for “training and sending terrorists for attacks on Iraq and its people.” Syria on its part urged the UN Security Council to hold the US responsible for the attack, which reportedly killed eight civilians. The Syrian cabinet called the attack “barbaric” and ordered a US school and cultural centre in Damascus to be closed down. US officials maintained that the operation killed a key figure involved in the smuggling of militants into Iraq, the Iraqi Abu Ghadiyah, a former lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The charge was however denied by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem1.

    Iraq meanwhile took security control of the central Shia province of Wasit from the US military on October 29, making it the 13th of the country's 18 provinces to be returned to Baghdad. The transfer came within a week of the return of nearby Babil province to the Iraqis. Rubaie also announced that Baghdad would take control of the northern oil-rich but ethnically volatile region of Kirkuk and Salaheddin, which is the home province of executed dictator Saddam Hussein. Apart from these two, the other three provinces that remain under US military control are Baghdad, Nineveh and Diyala. Wasit has a 200-kilometre border with Iran and the US military has regularly accused Iranian groups of smuggling in weapons into this province for attacks against its troops2.

    US President George Bush also stated that he was confident that a deal regarding the future of US troops in Iraq will be approved despite amendments which Baghdad has requested. After talks with the president of Iraq's Kurdish region Masood Barzani, Bush noted that officials were analysing the proposed changes to the agreement. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh on his part stated that the proposed changes would ban US forces in Iraq from attacking any neighbouring countries. This was three days after a raid on Syria that Damascus charged had killed eight civilians. On October 28, the Iraqi cabinet authorised Prime Minister Maliki to re-open talks with the US on the pact, which would allow US forces to stay in Iraq after their UN mandate expires on 31 December 2008. Reports earlier noted that the draft granted Iraqi judicial authorities limited ability to prosecute US troops and contractors for major crimes. The Iraqis have also raised concerns about the provisional date of 2009 set for US withdrawals from Iraqi towns and cities, and the date of 2011 for withdrawing from Iraq as a whole3.

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