BBC Monitoring Iraq Briefing 1600 gmt 13 May 04.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

The following is a round-up of the latest reports relating to Iraq and reaction to developments there in the surrounding region, available to BBC Monitoring as of 1600 gmt. This service is filed twice a day at 0400 gmt and 1600 gmt.

In this edition

DEFENCE/SECURITY

PRISONER ABUSE SCANDAL

ITALY/IRAQ PRISONER ABUSE

HOSTAGES

POLITICS

REGIONAL

INTERNATIONAL

MULTINATIONAL FORCES

RECONSTRUCTION/FINANCE

IRAQI PRESS

REGIONAL PRESS

Iranian press

Turkish Islamist press

REGIONAL BROADCAST MEDIA

DEFENCE/SECURITY

Some 20 Al-Sadr fighters killed in Al-Najaf - aide: A spokesman for Muqtada al-Sadr in Al-Najaf has said the Al-Mahdi Army has lost some 20 fighters with scores of others wounded in clashes with US forces in al-Najaf, the Iraqi Shi'i group's Iran-based radio station Voice of the Mujahidin reported on 13 May. Shaykh Qays al-Khaz'al also said over 20 enemy vehicles had been destroyed and an Apache helicopter downed. (Voice of the Mujahidin, 0600 gmt 13 May 04)

Al-Sadr orders more fighting as he "runs out of patience": An aide to Shi'i cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Al-Najaf has said Al-Sadr had issued orders to his supporters "to expand fighting against the occupation forces", the Iraqi newspaper Al-Mu'tamar, affiliated with the Ahmad al-Chalabi-led Iraqi National Congress, reported on 12 May. It quoted Qays Al-Khaz'ali as saying Al-Sadr's "patience has run out" due to "the escalation of US operations and their crossing the red lines in (the Shi'i cities of) Al-Najaf and Karbala". (BBC Monitoring research 12 May 04)

Controversial SCIRI cleric blames US for "tension" in Iraq's Al-Najaf, calls off demo: Sadr-al-Din al-Qubbanchi, an official of the the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) in Al-Najaf, has blamed US forces for "tension" in the city, Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya TV reported on 13 May. He also called on the residents of the city to postpone their demonstration scheduled for 14. Al-Qubbanchi had earlier called for the demonstration to demand an end to armed protests in al-Najaf. (Al-Arabiya TV, 1242 gmt 13 May 04)

Al-Sadr office says seven militants, 13 US troops killed in Karbala: The office of Muqtada al-Sadr has said seven of its supporters had been killed in Karbala while 13 Americans were killed there, Qatari Al-Jazeera satellite TV reported on 13 May. Al-Sadr's office said 12 of his supporters were wounded and 26 vehicles destroyed but US forces had confirmed the figures. Large numbers of Al-Mahdi Army supporters were now deployed around the two Shi'ite shrines of the Imams Al-Husayn and Al-Abbas in the centre of the city, a TV correspondent in the city said. (Al-Jazeera TV, 0512 gmt 13 May 04)

Mortars fall near Iraqi Oil Ministry, ICRC, three hurt - Al-Arabiya TV: Three mortar shells have fallen near the Iraqi Oil Ministry and the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Baghdad, slightly injuring three people, Dubai-based news channel Al-Arabiya TV reported on 13 May. The shells fell 400 m. away from the ICRC headquarters which was evacuated in August after being targeted by a booby-tapped car. (Al-Arabiya TV, 1006 gmt 13 May 04)

Casualties reported in Baghdad rocket attack: An unspecified number of people were wounded on 13 May when an area of central Baghdad came under rocket attack, Qatari Al-Jazeera satellite TV reported. The Al-Karradah area is populated by a middle-class Shi'i majority where the offices of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and its armed wing, the Badr Brigade are situated. A number of shops were damaged in the area. (Al-Jazeera TV, 0526 gmt 13 May 04)

US servicemen killed in Baghdad: A US soldier was killed in Baghdad on 12 May and another was wounded when an improvised explosive device struck a convoy in Baghdad that day, AFP news agency reported, quoting the US-led coalition on 13. (AFP 1121 gmt 13 May 04)

Philippine government revises number of dead in mortar attack: Philippine Foreign Ministry Under-secretary Jose Brillantes has clarified that only one Filipino civilian contractor had been killed in a mortar attack on a US base in Iraq instead of four as stated earlier, AFP reported. Of the four Filipino workers wounded, one was seriously wounded while three were slightly injured, Brillantes said. (AFP 0426 gmt 13 May 04)

PRISONER ABUSE SCANDAL

Rumsfeld praises US troops in Iraq, visits "torture" jail: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told US troops in Baghdad on 13 May they were doing a wonderful job, BBC World Service reported. Speaking to hundreds of US soldiers at the Abu Ghurayb prison outside Baghdad where much of the publicised abuse of Iraqi detainees by American soldiers took place, he said that in years to come they would look back at their service in Iraq and say it was worth it. He also said the abuses had been a body blow for the US mission in Iraq but those responsible would be brought to justice and there would be no coverup. Rumsfeld was accompanied on his unannounced visit to Baghdad by US armed forces chief Gen Richard Myers and government lawyers. On the flight from Washington, Rumsfeld said he would prefer all photographs of mistreatment to be published, but the lawyers had advised that doing so could violate the Geneva Convention. (BBC WS, 1459 gmt, 13 May 04)

Chirac "horrified" at torture of Iraqis, beheading: French President Jacques Chirac said on 13 May that both he and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder were "horrified and dismayed" by the pictures showing Iraqi prisoners being abused and the decapitation of a US civilian. He was speaking on the occasion of the third Franco-German council of ministers, in remarks broadcast by French La Chaine Info TV. "Regarding the abuses of which a number of Iraqis have been the victims, we have condemned them because we thought those days were over and that international obligations were now acknowledged by all and applied by all, but we have also noted that our American friends have condemned these actions and launched procedures to punish them. We can only approve them on that point," Chirac said. (French La Chaine Info TV, 1127 gmt, 13 May 04)

Schroeder says no sympathy for torture, but respect for US handling of scandal: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on 13 May "there can be no sympathy" for the torture revealed in Iraq but at the same time praised the US handling of these revelations. "I would like to say that it also speaks for the strength of US democracy how people immediately began to clarify the issue," he said in remarks broadcast by German Phoenix TV. Speaking at a at a joint news conference in Paris with French President Jacques Chirac, he also condemned the beheading of US civilian Nick Berg by Muslim extremists. (Phoenix TV, 1143 gmt 13 May 04)

Spanish soldiers knew of no torture at Iraq prison - minister: Spain's Defence Minister Jose Bono has said neither the chief of staff nor the mission chief in Camp Bucca prison near Umm Qasr has any news about the report published today by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo that the torture in Iraq began in a camp under Spanish medical supervision. Speaking in an interview with Spain's Radio Cadena SER, the minister said the chief of staff, who contacted the prison …