Iraq said on Thursday it has created a special task force to investigate the theft of valuable ancient Judaic manuscripts that later turned up in Israel. The rare books, confiscated during the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, were rescued from US bombing at the start of the 2003 war and then sent to the United States for restoration but later wound up in Israel instead.

Among some 300 precious works are a commentary on the Book of Job published in 1487 and a volume of biblical prophecies published in Venice in 1617, according to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. Iraq once hosted a thriving 2,600 year-old Jewish community that numbered some 130,000 people at the time Israel was created in 1948. Iraq has also provided Interpol with a list of the tens of thousands of priceless antiquities stolen from Iraq in the chaos that followed the US-led invasion more than five years ago

U.S. Commander in Iraq General David Petraeus, Lt. General James Dubik, outgoing commander of Iraq's Multi-National Security Transition Command, and NATO Training Mission and incoming commander Lt.General Frank Helmick precided over a change in command ceremony in Baghdad on Thursday. The generals enjoyed music and speeches during the cermony. Cake and punch were served afterwards. Gen. David Petraeus will swear in about 1,200 U.S. Soldiers who are re-enlisting in a mass ceremony at al Faw Palace at Camp Victory on the outskirts of Baghdad tomorrow.

Meanwhile, violence continued throughout Iraq. In Baghdad, a bomb exploded in the abandoned home of parliamentarian Shatha al-Moussawi wounding 4 people including one woman in a neighbouring house. U.S. forces killed two militants and captured 10 other suspected militants in various operations targeting al Qaeda in central and north-western areas of Baghdad on Wednesday and Thursday. In Tikrit, a roadside bomb wounded five guards when it struck the convoy of Tikrit police chief Hamid al-Namis. A home-made bomb killed four people when it exploded in a cafe just east of Hilla. Iraqi police found the bodies of two civilians dumped in the Tigris River near Suwayra. In Mosul, gunmen killed an off-duty policeman. Two militants were killed in a gunfight with police. Gunmen shot dead a civilian inside a computer games arcade. A truck bomb killed one person and wounded 25 others in a small town near Mosul yesterday. Eight people were killed in and around Baqouba.

Oil rose as much as $2.28 to $145.85 per barrel - an all-time high - before easing back slightly to trade at $144.40 at mid-day. posted 03 July, 2008

Iraq's efforts on 15 of 18 benchmarks are "satisfactory" — almost twice of what it determined to be the case a year ago, the White House claims in a new assessment to Congress. The May 2008 report card, obtained by the Associated Press, determines that only two of the benchmarks — enacting and implementing laws to disarm militias and distribute oil revenues — are unsatisfactory. They have passed, for example, legislation that grants amnesty for some prisoners and allows former members of Saddam Hussein's political party to recover lost jobs or pensions. However, Rep. Mike McIntyre, who requested the administration's updated assessment, scoffed at the May report He said it uses falses standards to determine whether progress on a goal is "satisfactory" versus whether the benchmark has been met. He estimates that only a few of the 18 benchmarks have been fully achieved.

On July 2, 2003. Bush said: '''There are some who feel like -- that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. 'My answer is, bring 'em on. We've got the force necessary to deal with the security situation.''' Since that time there have been more than 30,000 U.S. dead and injured and as many as 1 million or more Iraq casualties. In 2006, Bush admitted that this "kind of tough talk, you know, that sent the wrong message to people....I learned some lessons about expressing myself maybe in a little more sophisticated manner, you know.... I think in certain parts of the world it was misinterpreted."

Iraq is expecting visits soon from Jordan's King Abdullah and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, easing its regional diplomatic isolation, the foreign minister said on Wednesday. Abdullah will the first Arab head of state to visit Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Jordan and the United Arab Emirates have each named an ambassador to Iraq. The UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain have all pledged to reopen their embassies and appoint ambassadors. Iran has a fully functioning embassy in Iraq. posted 02 July, 2008

Troop deaths up in June, violence continues into July; Political breakthroughs

U.S. troop deaths in Iraq rose to 29 in June from 19 in May, following a spike in the number of U.S. deaths to 52 in April. The number of US and NATO soldiers killed in Afghanistan actually exceeded those killed in Iraq this month, and yet war supporters continue to claim that the situation is improving. “The progress is undeniable," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch this week. "By the time we (3rd Infantry Division) left, Baghdad was experiencing fewer attacks than the majority of the country. We clearly secured the population and we did defeat sectarian violence.” However, the violence of ongoing occupation and war continued into July.

A series of attacks Tuesday in Iraq's eastern Diyala province killed seven people ad wounded eleven others. Militants killed three family members and wounded a fourth Tuesday with a bomb in Buhrez, four miles south of Baqouba. Three mortar shells landed in the same area, killing one person and injuring a second. Insurgents also used a suicide car bomb to target a police checkpoint in Mandali, 30 miles east of Baqouba, killing three policemen and wounding a fourth, said the police report. The violence continued in Abbara, 10 miles south of Baqouba, where militants struck an awakening council with a roadside bomb as the group was mourning the loss of a fellow member. The blast wounded eight people, including a policemen.

In Baghdad, a car bomb targeting a U.S. convoy missed its target, wounding five civilians and causing extensive damage to nearby shops as a sandstorm blanketed the capital. Five bodies were found in different districts of Baghdad on Monday.

Elsewhere in Iraq, a truck bomb wounded 28 people in a small town near al-Qayarra near the northern city of Mosul. Police say three houses collapsed in the bombing, and seven others were damaged. A bodyguard of the mayor of the town of Sulaiman Pek was killed by a bomb attached to his car. The Iraqi army killed two militants and arrested 30 others in operations during the last 24 hours in different areas in Iraq, the Defence Ministry said.

Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc - the Accordance Front - is close to rejoining the Shi'ite-led government, officials said on Tuesday, a move that would amount to a long-awaited political breakthrough. The Front pulled out of Maliki's cabinet last August, demanding the release of mainly Sunni Arab detainees and calling for a greater say in security matters. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Nouri al-Maliki would submit the names of Front ministers put forward and their proposed ministries before a parliamentary vote. "There has been agreement with the Accordance Front that their share will be six ministerial posts, except the post of the Planning Ministry, which will be decided later," he said.

The United States has agreed to scrap immunity for foreign security guards in Iraq, allowing them to be prosecuted under national laws, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Tuesday. "The immunity for private security guards has been removed. The US has agreed on it," Zebari told AFP after briefing Iraqi MPs on the controversial US-Iraq security pact which is being negotiated. posted 01 July, 2008

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