Residents unleash anger at security forces in Iraq*

[jswordy]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050119/IRAQCAMPAIGN19/TPInternational/Americas

BAQOUBA, IRAQ -- Yesterday's meeting in this violence-prone Sunni triangle city was meant to give suspected insurgents one last chance to change their ways before Jan. 30. Instead, it turned into a forum for residents to vent their rage against the interim government, coalition troops and the very Iraqi security forces meant to protect them on election day.

"They listed my name as a terrorist and said I should be arrested," said Sheikh Walid Regail Ali, 50, a tribal elder who took the microphone and began yelling at Governor Abdulla Rashid al-Jubori, seated at the front of a conference hall.

"This is false. Is it right that somebody is trying to tarnish my name and reputation?"

While U.S. officials and leaders of the interim Iraqi government say much of the country is quiet and prepared for the vote, a suicide car bomber launched an attack close to the Australian embassy in central Baghdad today, killing at least one Iraqi and wounding seven.

Shortly afterward, a second suicide car bomber targeted a police headquarters building in the capital, causing several casualties, police said.

The latest attacks make it clear that tension between Iraqis and security forces remain high -- even at Mr. Jubori's "Peace Day" conference in Baqouba, the capital of the province of Diyala.

*NOTE: Moved for use by U.S. newspapers today, through Newhouse News Service.

[el_gato]

1. reminds me of The Battle of Algiers

or whatever the name of that movie was