IRAQ Recent developments

The latest developments in Iraq:
Iraq's prime minister set in motion the biggest security crackdown in Baghdad since the U.S.-led invasion, with 75,000 Iraqi and U.S. troops to deploy across the strife-prone capital starting today. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also announced plans for an extended curfew and a weapons ban, saying he would show "no mercy" to terrorists six days after al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad. The government did not say how long the crackdown would last.
Al-Zarqawi's successor, identified by the nom de guerre Abu Hamza al-Muhajer, vowed to defeat "crusaders and Shiites" in Iraq and said "holy warriors" in the country were stronger than ever, according to a Web statement posted Tuesday -- the first from the new leader.
Explosions struck oil-rich Kirkuk, killing at least 16 people. Kirkuk police Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qader said the attacks in the city 180 miles north of Baghdad were believed to be "a reaction to avenge the killing of al-Zarqawi." The attacks in Kirkuk began at 7:45 a.m. when a parked car containing a bomb exploded near a police patrol in the city center, killing 10 people, including two policemen, Brig. Gen. Sarhat Qadir said. Nine people were wounded. Some 30 minutes later, guards fired on a suspected suicide car bomber trying to pass through a checkpoint at the Kirkuk police directorate. The car exploded, killing five people, including two policemen, and wounding six, Qadir said.
The presence of U.S. troops in Iraq is a greater threat to Mideast stability than the government in Iran, according to a poll of European and Muslim countries.
People in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Russia rated America's continuing involvement in Iraq a worse problem than Iran and its nuclear ambitions, according to polling by the Pew Research Center for the People & amp; the Press. Views of U.S. troops in Iraq were even more negative in countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey and Pakistan. America's image rebounded in some countries last year after the U.S. offered aid to tsunami victims, but those gains have disappeared, the Pew poll found.
The judge trying Saddam Hussein for alleged atrocities during his rule cut off defense witnesses Tuesday and ordered final arguments in the case, despite objections by the former Iraqi leader's attorneys that they should be allowed to call more people to the stand. "You've presented 62 witnesses. If that's not enough to present your case, then 100 won't work," said Chief Judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman, waving off the defense's arguments. "I've finished hearing witnesses." The end of defense testimony prepared the way for prosecutors to offer closing arguments on Monday. Abdel-Rahman scheduled closing statements for the defense on July 10.
A music video posted to the Internet, telling a tale about a U.S. Marine killing members of an Iraqi family, is being condemned by an Islamic group and investigated by the Marine Corps. The four-minute video, called "Hadji Girl," appears to be sung by a Marine in front of a cheering audience. The lyrics talk about the Marine gunning down members of an Iraqi woman's family after they confront him with automatic weapons. Lt. Col. Scott Fazekas, a spokesman for the Marines, said Tuesday that the Marines were aware of a video posted on the Internet that "purports to show a Marine singing an insensitive song about Iraqis." Fazekas said officials don't know the identity of the singer or whether he is in the military. The song was "inappropriate and contrary to the high standards expected of all Marines," Fazekas said. He said Marine officers are looking into the matter.
Source: Combined dispatches