An apparent family dispute that resulted in Iraqi security forces killing 20 family members on Thursday has laid bare failings in the country's complex array of forces, despite billions of dollars being spent on training, reforming and equipping them.
The massacre in the small town of Jbala, south of Baghdad, was the culmination of a long-running dispute between Rahim Kadhim Al Ghrairi and his brother-in-law Shihab Al Shimmari, a colonel in the Interior Ministry’s anti-drugs department, a relative and a security official involved in the investigation, told The National.
Al Ghrairi allegedly refused requests from his brother-in-law to let his wife visit her family in Baghdad, leading to many quarrels, Sheikh Akram Nasr Al Ghrairi, the area’s senior tribal leader, told The National.
In a bid to pressure him, Mr Al Shimmari filed false accusations against Al Ghrairi, accusing him of being a drug dealer and harbouring two terrorists in his house, Al Ghrairi and the security official said.
On Thursday afternoon, a force was dispatched from Baghdad to arrest him without informing the provincial judicial and security authorities in Babil province, Governor Hassan Mandeel told reporters on Friday. Babil is located about 100 kilometres south of Baghdad.
“At the beginning, the Humvees pulled over away from his house and some security forces in civilian clothing including the colonel walked to his house and asked Rahim to come with them,” the sheikh said.
“He refused and asked them to leave, sparking a quarrel which led him to fire a few shots into the air to warn them,” he continued.
Security forces responded by opening fire and calling for reinforcements from the well-trained SWAT team in Babil province, said the security official, who is affiliated with the National Security Department which is in charge of the investigation.
The exchange of fire lasted for about four hours and security forces fired heavy weapons, including the SPG-9, a type of portable artillery piece, he said.
During the clashes, Al Ghrairi called his uncle who urged him to flee, but it was too late as his house was surrounded, the sheikh added.
Al Ghrairi, his wife, four sons, two daughters, daughter-in-law and grandchildren, including a 7-day-old baby, were killed.
Shortly after the raid, the Iraqi Security Media Cell put out a statement saying the troops chased two wanted men at Al Ghrairi’s house and that the exchange of fire wounded two security personnel.
They accused him of shooting his family before killing himself.
“The man is known in the area as a poor and peaceful farmer and had nothing to do with drugs or terrorism,” the sheikh said.
“This tells all us how cheap is the Iraqi blood, the recklessness among the security forces and the fragility of these forces when they issue and implement such orders,” he said.
“This incident is an opportunity to review the performance of the security forces in order to retain the trust between the citizen and the security apparatus,” he added.
Police chief dismissed
On Friday, Iraqi Interior Minister Othman Al Ghanimi dismissed the provincial police chief and ministry spokesman Saad Maan denounced the incident as a "crime on all levels".
The officer in charge of the force dispatched to arrest Al Ghrairi has been arrested, along with several security personnel who took part in the raid, the security official said.
Al Ghrairi’s brother-in-law is still at large, he added.
The incident sent shock waves across Iraq and beyond. The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor expressed “complete shock” and called for an independent investigation.
“The contradiction that prevailed in the official narrative of the incident and attempting to present it as a security treatment of a terrorist cell indicates an intention to justify or cover up the disproportionate use of force,” the group said in a statement on Sunday.
“The security authorities that provided misleading leaks about the motives and details of the crime in an attempt to reduce it or cover up what happened should also be investigated,” it said.
Authorities "should take urgent measures to ensure that law enforcement forces and agencies are not used for the personal interests of some influential parties or individuals, away from the principles of law in arrest and execution”, it added.
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Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
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What is blockchain?
Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.
The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.
Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.
However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.
Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.
Mubadala World Tennis Championship 2018 schedule
Thursday December 27
Men's quarter-finals
Kevin Anderson v Hyeon Chung 4pm
Dominic Thiem v Karen Khachanov 6pm
Women's exhibition
Serena Williams v Venus Williams 8pm
Friday December 28
5th place play-off 3pm
Men's semi-finals
Rafael Nadal v Anderson/Chung 5pm
Novak Djokovic v Thiem/Khachanov 7pm
Saturday December 29
3rd place play-off 5pm
Men's final 7pm
RESULTS
Cagliari 5-2 Fiorentina
Udinese 0-0 SPAL
Sampdoria 0-0 Atalanta
Lazio 4-2 Lecce
Parma 2-0 Roma
Juventus 1-0 AC Milan
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Dubai World Cup nominations
UAE: Thunder Snow/Saeed bin Suroor (trainer), North America/Satish Seemar, Drafted/Doug Watson, New Trails/Ahmad bin Harmash, Capezzano, Gronkowski, Axelrod, all trained by Salem bin Ghadayer
USA: Seeking The Soul/Dallas Stewart, Imperial Hunt/Luis Carvajal Jr, Audible/Todd Pletcher, Roy H/Peter Miller, Yoshida/William Mott, Promises Fulfilled/Dale Romans, Gunnevera/Antonio Sano, XY Jet/Jorge Navarro, Pavel/Doug O’Neill, Switzerland/Steve Asmussen.
Japan: Matera Sky/Hideyuki Mori, KT Brace/Haruki Sugiyama. Bahrain: Nine Below Zero/Fawzi Nass. Ireland: Tato Key/David Marnane. Hong Kong: Fight Hero/Me Tsui. South Korea: Dolkong/Simon Foster.
Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Timeline
1947
Ferrari’s road-car company is formed and its first badged car, the 125 S, rolls off the assembly line
1962
250 GTO is unveiled
1969
Fiat becomes a Ferrari shareholder, acquiring 50 per cent of the company
1972
The Fiorano circuit, Ferrari’s racetrack for development and testing, opens
1976
First automatic Ferrari, the 400 Automatic, is made
1987
F40 launched
1988
Enzo Ferrari dies; Fiat expands its stake in the company to 90 per cent
2002
The Enzo model is announced
2010
Ferrari World opens in Abu Dhabi
2011
First four-wheel drive Ferrari, the FF, is unveiled
2013
LaFerrari, the first Ferrari hybrid, arrives
2014
Fiat Chrysler announces the split of Ferrari from the parent company
2015
Ferrari launches on Wall Street
2017
812 Superfast unveiled; Ferrari celebrates its 70th anniversary
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
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