British civil servant David Keogh has been sentenced to six months after being found guilty of breaching the Official Secrets Act for leaking a classified memo about a meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George W. Bush in which the US president reportedly called for the bombing of AlJazeera TV's headquarters in Doha, Qatar. The Daily Mirror newspaper reported that the memo showed Blair arguing against Bush's suggestion, adding that its sources disagreed on whether it was serious. Blair said he had no information about any proposed US action against AlJazeera, and the White House called the claims "outlandish and inconceivable." The document, marked "Secret-Personal," was intended to be restricted to senior officials. The memo's contents are considered so sensitive that much of the trial was heard behind closed doors. (AP, Daily Mail, May 11)

One of the seven US marines facing charges related to the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha has admitted to lying about the deaths of five of them. Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz said he saw squad leader Sgt. Frank Wuterich shoot dead five men while they had their hands up to surrender. Cruz, granted immunity from prosecution, also admitted to urinating on one of the dead bodies and pumping bullets into all five of them after a squad member was killed in a roadside bombing. Wuterich, who reprotedly told Sela Cruz to blame the Iraqi army for the atrocity, is facing multiple murder charges. Cruz was testifying in a preliminary hearing on charges against Cpt. Randy Stone, accused of failing in his duty to investigate and report the 24 deaths. (AlJazeera, May 10)

From US Labor Against the War (USLAW), May 9:

Leading Iraqi Labor Leaders to Tour U.S.
First woman union leader, head of oil workers union to visit 12 cities
June 4-29, 2007
Atlanta, Berkeley, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Washington, DC

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two leaders of Iraq's labor movement, Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein, President of the Electrical Utility Workers Union, and Faleh Abood Umara, General Secretary of the Federation of Oil Unions, will tour a dozen U.S. cities between June 4 and June 29, 2007. During their visit, they will address members of Congress, labor audiences and the general public about the impact the U.S. occupation has had on the labor movement and daily lives of working people in Iraq. They will speak about reconstruction and will explain why the labor movement is opposed to the proposed hydrocarbon law favored by the Bush administration and oil corporations which would put foreign oil corporations in effective control of 2/3 of Iraq's undeveloped oil reserves. They will also describe the likely consequences if the occupation continues, what might occur if it abruptly ends and prospects for a stable, democratic, non-sectarian future for Iraq.

A US helicopter opened fire on an elementary school in Diyala province May 8, killing seven students and wounding three, according to Iraqi security sources and local residents. Iraqi sources said the helicopter was fired on from the ground and hit the school when it returned fire. Spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said the military was investigating the reports.

Another bloody entry in Ansar al-Islam's bid to extend the "insurgent" terror campaign to Iraq's (relatively) stable Kurdish autonomous zone. The need to mollify these thugs may explain the increasing conservative Islamist tilt of the supposedly secular Kurdish regional authorities of late. From AlJazeera, May 9:

Major General Rick Lynch, who commands US forces south of Baghdad, told reporters May 7 recent history indicates that it takes an average of nine years to put down internal insurgencies, and there is "no instantaneous solution" in Iraq. "You can't just build a government overnight," said Gen. Lynch. "I can't see significant advances in that sphere in the same timeframe. Bringing stability to Iraq could take years."

In a new video posted on the Internet by al Qaeda's propaganda arm, as-Sahab, the organization's number-two man Ayman al Zawahiri mocks the bill passed by Congress setting a timetable for the pullout of US troops in Iraq. "This bill will deprive us of the opportunity to destroy the American forces which we have caught in a historic trap," Zawahiri says. "We ask Allah that they only get out of it after losing 200,000 to 300,000 killed, in order that we give the spillers of blood in Washington and Europe an unforgettable lesson." (ABC, May 5)

From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC) and US Labor Against the War (USLAW):

Joint Report to the IFC and USLAW
on the 2007 Manila International Peace Conference, April 27-29
The 2007 International Peace conference was held in Manila from April 27-29. It was hosted by the Japanese National Assembly for Peace and Democracy (ZENKO) and Parents and Children Against War and Violence in the Philippines (MALAPAD KA). Over 100 delegates from 5 countries: the Philippines, Iraq, Japan, the U.S., and Indonesia attended; the largest delegation was from Japan.