Iraqi minister on "success" of Karbala visit; arrest of "Arab nationals"

Within its 0900 gmt newscast on 17 August, Al-Iraqiyah Television reports on Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi's letter of condolence sent to PNA President Mahmud Abbas on the death of the Palestinian poet, Mahmud Darwish; statements by the Iraqi government spokesman on the Iraqi-Syrian agreement on customs cooperation; statements by the Iraqi interior minister on the "success" of the Al-Sha'baniyah visit, and the arrest of "wanted" people in Karbala.

- "Iraqi Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi sent a letter of condolence to Mahmud Abbas, president of the state of Palestine, on the death of the Palestinian poet, Mahmud Darwish. The vice president stressed that the legacy of Mahmud Darwish will remain alive in the nation's conscience, adding that this is sufficient to immortalise him."

- "Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh announced the details behind and causes of the Iraqi Prime Ministry's decisions regarding the Iraqi-Syrian agreement in the field of customs cooperation. In a statement, a copy of which was obtained by Al-Iraqiyah, Al-Dabbagh said that among the issues that led to the agreement is that it aims at intensifying efforts to prevent any violations of the customs laws and ban the illicit transfer of sedatives, substances that influence the mental state of people, and the substances used for manufacturing them. This can be done by the customs administration authorities in both countries."

- "The Iraqi interior minister announced the success of the Al-Sha'baniyah visit to Karbala without the occurrence of any incident. In press statements made during his visit to the holy Al-Husayniyah Shrine, accompanied by the Karbala police chief and the accompanying delegation, Jawad al-Bulani said that the success of the security mission during the Al-Sha'baniyah visit this year is due to the harmonized work, in which the police directorates of Baghdad, Al-Diwaniyah, Al-Najaf, and Al-Muthanna, in addition to Karbala, participated. He pointed out that emergency regiments and special regiments of the Interior Ministry also participated in this security operation, which he termed an operation on the highest level."

- "Major General Ra'id Shakir Jawdat, Karbala Operations commander, announced the arrest of a number of wanted people by the security agencies. He added that some of the wanted people are Arab nationals who were trying to infiltrate the city. The Karbala Operations commander added that the arrest operation was carried out at one of Karbala's entrances, pointing out that the police detachments were able to identify the arrested people during the search operations. He did not reveal their number, stressing that the process of interrogation is still going on. Jawdat stressed the success of the Al-Sha'baniyah visit to Karbala without any security impediment inside the city, stressing that the Karbala security agency has worked hard since the beginning of August to control the land in all of the governorate's areas, to ensure the smooth entry of visitors."