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	CIAO Focus, March 2004: Iraq
	Map of Iraq The United Nations has returned to Iraq. Electricity in Baghdad has made it back to pre-invasion levels. But while some recent reports suggest that a few indicators of wellbeing are on the rise, suicide bombings and attacks targeted against civilians are also on the upswing. Analysts suggest that the increase in bombings is part of a concerted effort to foment sectarian violence, in particular to pit Sunnis against the majority Shiite population. The Iraqi Governing Council, working with reports from the U.S., has described the latest round of coordinated attacks to be the work of al-Qaeda. Over 170 Shiites were killed in one day of bombings. Meanwhile, after several days of negotiations, the twenty five members of the Iraq's Governing Council announced that they had reached consensus on a constitutional accord. Huge obstacles remain, however, including most notably what security forces will remain in Iraq, and what the Iraqi police and military will resemble after the transfer of power at the end of June. This month CIAO focuses on the domestic situation in Iraq. From CIAO's database: The UN Security Council and Iraq WMD in Iraq: Evidence and Implications The Standoff with Iraqi Shiites over Direct Elections Turkey at the Crossroads on Iraq: A Test Case for US-Turkey Relations The Double-Edged Crisis: OPEC and the Outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War Outside Links*: Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons http://www.opcw.nl/ UNDP Needs Assessment Report http://www.iq.undp.org/UN-WB-IraqNeeds.pdf (PDF) US AID http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/ Memorandum on concerns related to legislation introduced by the Coalition Provisional Authority Amnesty International http://web.amnesty.org/aidoc/aidoc_pdf.nsf/Index/MDE141762003ENGLISH/$File/MDE1417603.pdf (PDF) Water resources in Iraq, UNESCO http://www.unesco.org/water/wwap/news/iraq.shtml International Crisis Group Report on Building a New Security Structure in Iraq http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?id=2433&l=1 * Outside links are not maintained. For broken outside links, CIAO recommends the Way Back Machine [http://www.archive.org/].