Bodies continue to pile up in Baghdad's streets as Maliki prepares for a regional conference on Iraq, writes Nermeen El-Mufti According to Iraqi authorities, 1,646 civilians died in violence in February, down from 1,992 in January. Although Iraqi and US officials say that the level of violence has abated since Operation Imposing Law went into effect, 59 Iraqi civilians still die in violence every day, most of them in Baghdad. A few days ago a prominent Iraqi journalist was assassinated in front of his house in west Baghdad. The managing editor of Al-Mashreq newspaper, Mohan Al-Taher, was Shia and married to a Sunni. Al-Taher was known for his anti-sectarian views. A car bomb exploded in Al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad, killing 24 people and wounding 40. Meanwhile, over 1,000 US- backed Iraqi troops entered Al-Sadr City in east Baghdad, stronghold of Al-Mahdi Army that is blamed for many acts of sectarian violence. According to Iraqi authorities, the troop deployment went peacefully. US forces say that an agreement was reached with the municipal authorities of Al-Sadr City to establish a US-run security centre in the neighbourhood. The bodies of 14 policemen, who were abducted on Al-Khales Road north of Baghdad last Thursday, have been found. A group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq claimed responsibility for the killings in a statement posted on the Internet. The group, believed to have links with Al-Qaeda, said the killings were revenge for the rape of a Sunni woman, Sabrin Al-Bayyati. Earlier the Islamic Party issued a statement saying that the woman in question was a Shia named Zeinab and that Sabrin was a pseudonym. Meanwhile, an international campaign is underway to stop the execution of three Iraqi women accused of "terror". Those involved in the campaign say the women, accused of supporting or being part of the Iraqi resistance, should be treated as prisoners of war or released. The Iraqi government, they say, is an extension of the occupation and cannot level criminal charges of sedition so long as the occupation exists and annuls national jurisdiction. This week, two women from Baghdad and Tel Afar appeared on television, saying policemen raped them. One of the women said that five policemen arrested and raped her and told her that she was accused of helping terrorists. The prime minister ordered an investigation into the case, but the investigation committee, which announced its findings only hours after the woman in question made her television appearance, said that medical examiners ruled out rape. Three arrest warrants had been earlier issued for the woman, Iraqi authorities said. The woman's family denied that she was medically examined. In Tel Afar, another woman, a 40-year-old mother of 11, appeared on the Turkoman television station to say that policemen had raped her, filmed the rape, and threatened to put the film on the Internet unless she worked for them as an informer. Recently, police have been searching homes in Tel Afar, where 500,000 Turkomans live, in search for terrorists. Turkoman parties, including the Turkoman Front, have issued statements denouncing police brutality. Mohamed Al-Deini, a parliamentarian for the National Dialogue Front, says that he has proof that 60 women were raped by Iraqi security services. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, about 60 rape cases were recorded within three months last year, in addition to 800 cases of sexual molestation. In one case, a university student said that policemen raped her and threatened to kill her brother if she reported the incident. As the security plan continues in Iraq, efforts for national reconciliation have picked up. Last Sunday, former Iraqi officers were invited to a conference, the fourth of its kind. About 600 officers of the disbanded Iraqi army showed up for the event. According to Rashid Al-Nasiri, the conference organiser, the event was a step towards reconciliation. Hundreds of thousands of former officers now expect to be either reinstated in the army or receive pensions. Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki is expected to reshuffle his cabinet ahead of the Baghdad Conference, due to be held 10 March. Syria, Iran, Egypt, and representatives of the Arab League and the UN Security Council will attend the conference. Iraqis are optimistic, but Jenan Ali, a specialist in Iraqi affairs, said the conference may focus more on the tensions between the US and Iran than on Iraq's problems. According to one Iraqi source, some of the ministers representing the Al-Sadr group are expected to leave the cabinet. The ministers of health and education -- both affiliated with Al-Sadr -- may have left the country following the arrest of Deputy Health Minister Hakem Al-Zamli. Al-Zamli was accused of financing death squads. Meanwhile, the Iraqi List of Iyad Allawi threatened to withdraw from the political process unless the current government abandons its sectarian bias, stamps out corruption, and works for national unity. Allawi visited north Iraq last week with the US ambassador. Some say that this was a sign that the US is supporting Allawi's bid to form a new political coalition. Political analyst Raad Al-Hodeithi said that the US is ready to do anything to shore up its precarious standing in Iraq. US forces have been shelling the town of Al-Taji, 10 kilometres northwest of Baghdad, in an attempt to kill or arrest gunmen who downed two US helicopters in the vicinity last month. According to the latest count, 3,170 US soldiers have died in Iraq since March 2003.
