By Bobby Rajabi

Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

FALLUJAH, Iraq – On March 4 doctors in the Iraqi city of Fallujah reported an usually high level of birth defects.  This has led to some individuals blaming the US and the weapons used by their forces while fighting opposition forces. Fallujah witnessed a great amount of violence in 2004 when US forces carried a major offensive against insurgents who had taken hold in the city. The US military responded to the doctors by saying that they were unaware of any official reports being released.

Samira al-Ani of the Fallujah General Hospital explained that while no data had been documented, “(he) can tell you that year by year the number is increasing.” The BBC announced that it had received reports regarding city officials who were warning women against having children because of the increasing problems with birth defects.

The level of heart defects six years after the city experience major combat is a cause of great concern among medical professionals in Fallujah. Doctors in the city reported that the level of heart defects among newborn babies is thirteen times higher than in Europe. Some doctors in the city have reported seeing heart defect cases as many as two to three times a day. Most of the defects seen by these doctors were reportedly cardiac defects.

Other birth defects are on the rise besides those related to the heart .A correspondent for BBC reportedly saw children throughout the city who were suffering from either brain damage or paralysis. Addtionally, the correspondent reported seeing a photograph of baby who warn with three heads. An Iraqi researcher, Malik Hamdan, told the BBC that she had “seen footage of babies born with an eye in the middle of the forehead, the nose on the forehead.”

Doctors and parents in Fallujah believe that the problem with their newborns are caused by the highly sophisticated weapons used by US forces in the city six years ago. During the assault on Fallujah during the height of the insurgency, US forces used white phosphorus munitions and allegedly used depleted uranium shells. US military forces said that while public health is a great concern, they were unaware of the number of birth defects in Fallujah.

For more information, please see:

BBC – Fallujah Doctors Report rise in Birth Defects – 4 March 2010

Telegraph – Birth Defects in Fallujah Children ‘On The Rise’ Since US Invasion – 4 March 2010

UPI – Report: Birth Defects Soar in Fallujah – 4 March 2010

By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East Desk

SA’NA, Yemen – Up to 19 people are believed to have died following the collapse of three buildings in Taiz, Yemen’s second-largest city. The buildings collapsed following an explosion in a dynamite warehouse under one of them.

At least nine bodies were pulled from the rubble on Tuesday and rescue workers were looking for 10 more believed buried and feared dead. Fifteen people were also reported injured and taken to hospitals.
Initial findings gave no indication the explosion was anything other than an accident, an official said. The explosives were stored in the basement of a four-storey building that was reduced to rubble in the residential al-Masbah area of Taiz
The officials say the basement was used by an arms dealer to store dynamite and other explosives. They say the blast was so strong the building, which had six apartments, totally crumbled. “The explosion tore apart three buildings,” Mohammad Saeed, a witness said by phone. “Many people are still under the wreckage.”

The officials say rescue operations are still continuing and that 15 people were injured in the blast. Two nearby buildings were damaged and have been evacuated.

In the past two years a secessionist movement has grown in the south, demanding that the two countries separate again. An al-Qaeda offshoot has also established a base in the country. The government in Sa’na has recently signed a peace deal with a third rebel group in the north of the country, called the Houthis.

In the past week, the government has turned its attention to the southern secessionist movement and cracked down on demonstrations and arrested supporters.

For More Information, Please See:

Al-Jazeera – Deaths in Yemen Building Collapse – 2 March 2010

AP – Officials: 8 Killed in Building Collapse in Yemen – 2 March 2010

BBC News – Yemen Explosion Causes Building Collapse Killing 10 – 2 March 2010

By Brandon Kaufman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates– Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim said on Monday that people traveling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who are suspected of having Israeli citizenship will not be allowed to enter the country regardless of what passport they hold.

Tamim said the country will “deny entry to anyone suspected of having Israeli citizenship.”  Previously, police allowed Israelis who hold dual citizenship to enter the UAE using their other passport, but Tamim’s comments suggested that the police would now deny entry to anyone who has Israeli citizenship.

According to Tamim, the police will have to develop skills to identify a person to be Israeli by physical features and the way he or she speaks.

The ban comes after the killing of a senior Hamas operative in Dubai.  Dubai police have said they are virtually certain that the Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, was behind the assassination.  Al-Mabhouh, a senior commander of Hamas’ military wing, was found dead in his hotel room on January 20.  Tamim said authorities have identified close to thirty suspects that they believe were part of the hit squad that traveled to Dubai on fake identities to carry out the assassination.

Tamim claimed that the Mossad was insulting Dubai.   He told reporters that “the Mossad shouldn’t come to us.  We haven’t done anything to Israel.”

Despite the claim of responsibility, Israel is still refusing to confirm or deny that it was behind the assassination despite the fact that the identities on many of the passports used by the named suspects are of Israeli citizens who hold dual nationality.  All of the Israelis in question have denied Mossad links, instead claiming that their identities were stolen.

An Israeli diplomatic source said that Dubai’s decision to ban Israelis is a serious blow to long-standing efforts at building up strong relations with countries in the Gulf region.

For more information, please see:

Irish Times- Dubai Places Ban on Israelis after Hamas Killing– 2 March 2010

Sydney Morning Herald- Dubai Bans Israelis on Any Passport From Entry– 2 March 2010

Voice of America- Dubai Police Ban Suspected Israelis from UAE– 1 March 2010

By Bobby Rajabi
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

VIENNA, Austria – On March 1 the new chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’s atomic watchdog, accused Iran of failing to cooperate with the the UN’s investigation into their nuclear activity. Yukiya Amano explained the Islamic Republic’s lack of cooperation during the opening address of an IAEA board of governors meeting. The comments come a day after Iran’s Supreme Leader attacked the agency’s independence.Amano told the board of governors that the IAEA “continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran, but (they) cannot confirm that all nuclear activities because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation.” The IAEA chief explained that “necessary cooperation” includes implementation of the resolutions that the IAEA’s board of governors and the UN Security Council have put forth.

Additionally, the Amano’s comments also meant that the IAEA expects to be able to conduct snap inspections and have Iran notify the agency of any plans to build nuclear plants in advance. The IAEA also expects “clarification of issues related to possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.  Amano has expressed concern that the Islamic Republic maybe working on a nuclear warhead and confirmed that the county has started enriching uranium to higher levels.

Amano’s criticism of Iran comes a day after the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused the IAEA of being influenced by the United States and lacking independence. Khamenei told Iranian diplomats that “the IAEA should not bow to pressure from America and some other countries because such unilateral actions will harm the reputation of the IAEA and the United Nations.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister rejected the IAEA chief’s claims about the country’s nuclear program. Manouchehr Mottak told journalists that the country has “full co-operated with the agency.” Mottak also insisted that the “this co-operation will continue.” The increased pressure from the IAEA suggests possible new sanctions against Iran. Diplomats suggest that Iran’s refusal to sign up to a nuclear deal has frustrated other countries in the UN.

For more information, please see:

AFP – IAEA Chief Accuses Iran of Non-Cooperation – 1 March 2010

BBC – Iran ‘Not Co-Operating’ Says New IAEA Chief – 1 March 2010

Los Angeles Times – Iran Relations With IAEA Turn Contentions – 1 March 2010

Wall Street Journal – New Momentum for Iran Sanctions – 1 March 2010

By Nykoel Dinardo
Senior Desk Officer, Middle East

Geneva, Switzerland – The United Nations (UN) responded to Libya’s Moammer Gadhafi on Friday, February 26, stating that his call for jihad against Switzerland is “truly absurd.”  Colonel Gadhafi announced the day before that the nation of Libya was in a holy war with Switzerland, after the European country passed a law banning minarets, a tower from which the call to prayer is announced from a mosque.  

Although there are only four minarets in all of Switzerland, the minaret-banning law was passed by the Swiss government in December of 2009.  It has been the subject of

controversy since it was brought before the Swiss Parliament.  The Swiss People’s Party (SPP) proposed the law, claiming that minarets were a sign of Islamisation and publicized the law using posters depicting minarets as missiles, which were considered by many to be inflamatory.  Although the Swiss federal government encouraged the people not to vote for the law, stating that it could violate the concepts of freedom of religion and human rights, the law passed by 57.5 percent.  Since its passage, a claim has been brought before the European Court of Human Rights, and there has been increased fear of retaliation by extremists.   

Gadhafi’s jihad is the latest response to the law.  Gadhafi announced the jihad in a speech on February 25, claiming that Switzerland is an “obscene, infidel state.”  He went on, saying that “those who destroy God’s mosques deserve to be attacked through jihad, and if Switzerland was on [Libya’s] borders, [they] would fight it.”  Gadhafi made this announcement on a holiday marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.

A Swiss sociologist, who has written extensively on Gadhafi, has argued that Gadhafi’s claims should be taken seriously – stating that his choice to announce the jihad on the holiday was intended to incite extremists.   Despite these claims, Swiss lawmaker Oskar Freysinger told the Associated Press that “[he] can imagine this won’t be taken very seriously.”  Switzerland has issued no security alerts or taken any actions of heightened vigilence.  Furthermore, there has been speculation that Gadhafi’s jihad is a personal attack.  Gadhafi is known to hold a grudge against Switzerland since July 2008, when his son Hannibal Ghadafi and his son’s wife were arrested by the Swiss on charges on assaulting their maid.

The UN headquarters in Geneva responded to the announcement by condemning Ghadafi’s actions.  Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the UN Chief in Geneva, explained that “such declarations on the part of a head of state are inadmissible in international relations.” 

For more information, please see:

 TIME – Gaddafi vs. Switzerland: The Leader’s Son on What’s Behind the Feud – 27 February 2010

Swiss Info – Swiss Thank Europe for Solidarity in Libya Row – 27 February 2010

Associated Press – Swiss Face “Holy War” with Gadhafi’s Libya – 26 February 2010

BBC – UN Deplores Gaddafi Call for Anti-Swiss ‘Jihad’ – 26 February 2010

The New York Times – Switzerland Unruffled by Qaddafi’s Call for ‘Jihad’ in Wake of Its Ban on New Minarets – 26 February 2010

BBC – Swiss Minaret Appeal Goes to European Court – 16 December 2009