drums beat louder every day: 'Iraq Says It Has Proof Of Iranian Meddling'

[spanone]

BAGHDAD, May 4 -- The Iraqi government said Sunday that it has "concrete evidence" Iran is fomenting violence in Iraq and that a high-level panel had been formed to document the proof.

The statement came as Iraqi officials find themselves trapped between the United States and Iran, which have each accused the other of wreaking havoc in Iraq. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is in a particularly delicate situation because he is close to American and Iranian officials.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh called reporters late Sunday night to clarify remarks he made at a news conference earlier in the day, when he appeared to say that there was no hard evidence that Iran was allowing weapons to come into Iraq. Dabbagh said his comments had been misinterpreted.

"There is an interference and evidence that they have interfered in Iraqi affairs," Dabbagh said in an interview arranged by a U.S. official. When asked how he would characterize the proof that Iranian weapons are flowing into Iraq, he said: "It is a concrete evidence."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/04/AR2008050401738_pf.html


U.S. Military Says Evidence Iran Training Iraq Militants

The U.S. military said Monday that interrogations of Iraqi prisoners has uncovered evidence that Iran and Hezbollah have provided paramilitary training to Shiite miltiamen at a camp near Tehran.

Col. Don Bacon said some of the Shiite militants that American troops have fought daily battles against in eastern Baghdad, have received training in Iran.

"These Iraqis go to Iran ... they are the ones who are providing this training," Bacon said at a news conference in Baghdad. "Also, Lebanese Hezbollah are providing this training. There are multiple type courses that they get, ranging from how to fire rockets ... (to) how to conduct sniper operations."

A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry said Monday that the country would not participate in a fourth round of negotiations with American and Iraqi officials in Baghdad to discuss Iran's alleged support for Iraq's Shiite insurgents.

http://www.npr.org/newsinbrief/index.html

Hezbollah Trains Iraqis in Iran, Officials Say

BAGHDAD — Militants from the Lebanese group Hezbollah have been training Iraqi militia fighters at a camp near Tehran, according to American interrogation reports that the United States has supplied to the Iraqi government.

An American official said the account of Hezbollah’s role was provided by four Shiite militia members who were captured in Iraq late last year and questioned separately.

The United States has long charged that the Iranians were training Iraqi militia fighters in Iran, which Iran has consistently denied, and there have been previous reports about Hezbollah operatives in Iraq.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/05/world/middleeast/05iran.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&ref=world&pagewanted=print

[Ilsa]

1. Is Dabbagh related to "Curveball"? nt

[Submariner]

2. Conflicting stories

This states the opposite. I got this from Huffpost.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/35794.html

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3. Iraq sends mixed message on Iran, weapons

May 5, 2008

BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's spokesman backed away Sunday from Iraqi officials' accusations of Iranian interference, saying that a committee had been formed to determine whether there is merit to U.S. charges that its eastern neighbor is arming and training Shiite Muslim militants here.

But hours later, spokesman Ali Dabbagh told journalists that his comments at a news conference had been misinterpreted. In a telephone call with Reuters news agency, he said proof existed and the committee's job was to compile the evidence to submit to Iran.

The conflicting statements, after meetings with Iranian officials in Tehran, reflect the difficult position in which Maliki finds himself as he attempts to juggle relations with two powerful allies who are intense rivals.

"We have no choice but to have good relations with the neighboring countries," Dabbagh said. "We do not want to be pushed into a conflict with a country like Iran."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iraq5-2008may05,0,1939908,print.story

[whistle]

4. "Yellowcake memos"