Iraq: Joint committees formed to receive Ashraf Camp detainees from Multinational Forces to close the file
Baghdad Al-Iraqiyah Television in Arabic reports in its 1700 gmt newscast on 5 February on the preliminary results of the provincial council elections. The channel also reports on a meeting between the finance minister and the Japanese ambassador in Baghdad, a meeting between the defence minister and the UN representative in Iraq, a meeting of the committee in charge of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization’s presence in Iraq, and other political developments.
– "Finance Minister Engineer Baqir Jabr al-Zubaydi has hailed the Japanese Government’s support through giving Iraq a $3.5-billion loan, which will contribute to the entry of Japanese companies to Iraq to implement important projects in the fields of power, water, roads, and other reconstruction projects. This came during Al-Zubaydi’s meeting with Japanese Ambassador to Iraq Shoji Ogawa."
– "Defence Minister Abd-al-Qadir Muhammad Jasim received Ambassador Staffan de Mistura, representative of the UN secretary general, today. The two sides discussed the success achieved by the Iraqi security forces in securing the provincial council elections. The two sides also discussed the means of providing protection for the UN mission in Iraq after the withdrawal of the US troops."
– "The committee in charge of ending the presence of the terrorist Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization [MKO] in Iraq has held a periodic meeting under National Security Adviser Dr Muwaffaq al-Rubay’i and in the presence of the minister of human rights and the US ambassador to Iraq. Al-Rubay’i stressed the need to expel this organization from Iraq. He noted that the government’s decision to close the Ashraf Camp and expel those living in it is irreversible. He stressed the need for the international community’s cooperation with Iraq to resolve this issue through renewing asylum permits to the organization’s members who were issued such permits in the past by European and other countries. He called on these countries to study the possibility of giving asylum permits to other members of the organization."
– "Human Rights Minister Wijdan Salim has said that the file of detainees in Iraq will be closed within the next six months. She said that joint committees have been formed to receive the detainees from the Multinational Force to close this file."
– "The security forces in the Ninawa Governorate have released 151 detainees who were not convicted of involvement in terrorist actions in Iraq."
Al-Iraqiyah TV, Baghdad, in Arabic, 6 February 2009
Translated by: BBC Monitoring Middle East