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An Iraqi court on Sunday adjourned for two weeks the trial of a Briton and a German man accused of trying to smuggle antiquities after a defence lawyer called for more investigations.

James Fitton, 66, a retired British geologist, and Volker Waldmann, 60, a Berlin psychologist, have been in custody since they were arrested on March 20 at Baghdad airport as they wound up their holiday.

According to statements from customs officers and witnesses, Fitton's baggage contained 10 stone fragments, pieces of pottery or ceramics. Waldmann allegedly had two pieces, but denied they were his.

The two men did not know each other before they travelled to Iraq on an organised tour, and both say they had no intention of breaking the law.

The trial was adjourned until June 6 to allow time for further investigations, at the request of Waldmann's defence lawyer, Furat Kuba.

During initial investigations, "certain important aspects were not examined", Kuba said, citing the report of an expert committee that said the fragments found with the men were antiquities.

"We don't have any more details: what site do these pieces come from? What era, what civilisation do they date back to?" Kuba asked, adding there were also outstanding questions relating to the site where the fragments were collected.

"Is it fenced and protected?" Kuba asked. "Are there signs indicating that these are ancient pieces that it is forbidden to collect?"

Kuba said he wanted the tour guide or an Iraqi official who had been present at the site to give evidence in court as to whether the tourists had received instructions prohibiting them from picking up fragments.

Their trial comes with the war-ravaged country, whose tourism infrastructure is almost non-existent, timidly opening to visitors.

Iraq has also been trying to recover antiquities that were looted over a period of decades from the country whose civilisation dates back thousands of years.

The judge told the accused they were charged under a 2002 law which provides for sentences up to the death penalty for those guilty of "intentionally taking or trying to take out of Iraq an antiquity".

Fitton, at the start of the trial, when asked why he tried to take the artefacts out of Iraq, cited his "hobby", saying he was interested in "geology and ancient history and archeology," and was not aware that taking the fragments was illegal.

Waldmann has denied the pieces allegedly found in his luggage were his, but they belonged to Fitton.

Read more:
Iraq trial of Briton and German for antiquity theft adjourned - Al-Monitor

National elections took place well over seven months ago and multiple deadlines for the formation of a government have been missed, Special Representative Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert told the Security Council.

She pointed out that while political leaders subscribe to the notion of dialogue, the necessary willingness to compromise is painfully absent.

Noting that notorious aspects of Iraqs political life are repeating themselves in a seemingly incessant loop of zero-sum politics, Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert who also heads the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) said that Iraqis continue to wait for a political class that will roll up its sleeves to make headway on the countrys long list of outstanding domestic priorities.

These include adequate service delivery to all citizens and an end to pervasive corruption, factionalism and pillaging of State institutions.

The UNAMI chief also emphasized the importance of diversifying the economy and implementing desperately needed reforms.

Moreover, she said that predictable governance rather than constant crisis management is needed, stressing that accountability must be a key feature of the State.

While asserting the States authority, Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert flagged that it is vital to rein in non-State armed actors.

The neglect of the populations most basic needs has gone on for far too long, she underscored.

Turning to the Sinjar agreement, signed in October 2020 by the federal Government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan regional government in Erbil, she described it as being seen by many as a glimmer of hope: a very first but important step in the right direction.

While the agreement could lead to a new chapter for Sinjar, it first needs stable governance and security structures, she pointed out.

Despite having called for a speedy implementation, the UN official said that clearly, the opposite is true.

To date, there is no agreement on the selection of a new independent mayor, and funds for a new local security force remain blocked, possibly due to interference into unclear recruitment procedures.

Clashes have erupted again in recent weeks, forcing Sinjari families to again pack their belongings and find their way back to Kurdistan to seek shelter, she noted.

Ms. Hennis-Plasschaert underlined that the safety and security of Sinjari families should be always front and centre, as they deserve peace under the authority of the State.

The UNAMI chief concluded by again underlining the importance of overcoming the political stalemate.

Significant domestic vulnerabilities are being compounded by the ongoing effects of the pandemic and global geopolitical tensions, she said.

A sincere, collective and urgent will to resolve political differences must now prevail it must prevail for the country to move forward and to meet the needs of its citizens.

Click here to watch the meeting in its entirety.

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UN envoy urges Iraq's political class to 'roll up its sleeves', for the people - UN News

Baghdad May 22-25 2022

Baghdad, Iraq, 22 May 2022 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), hosted the Risk Assessment Workshop, as part of the United States Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) funded project, Improving Delivery of Animal Health Services and Disease Surveillance in Iraq. The workshop aimed at strengthening the capacity of the veterinary services to identify hazards, manage, communicate and monitor risks.

Twenty six specialists from the veterinary services in Baghdad, Erbil, Duhok, Nineveh, Anbar, Wasit, Muthanna and Basra participated to the training. The opening session was attended by the FAO Representative in Iraq, the Technical Undersecretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture as well as the Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Iraq.

The FAO Representative, Dr. Salah Al-Hajj Hassan stressed the organization's commitment to adopting modern concepts and values in the "One Health" approach to confront health threats to animals, humans, plants and the environment. By developing knowledge and foresight on emerging threats to health and their consequences, as well as on resilience to disease and health improvement, the adoption of this holistic approach will help achieving sustainable agricultural production and global health and will enable coordinated efforts from Government, FAO- and WHO to overcome the serious challenge, he said.

The Technical Undersecretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Mithaq Abdul-Hussein, in his speech focused on the concept of one health, the recent spread of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever in Iraq and the way to deal with it, as well as climatic changes and their impact on the emergence of animal diseases.

WHO Representative, Dr. Ahmed Zouiten, underlined the importance and the role of the veterinarian services in Iraq in addressing CCHF and all other transmissible zoonotic diseases; he added the valuable contribution of FAO work to strengthen and update information among specialists and supervisors of animal health services in Iraq and underlined the importance of intensifying coordination and joint action to control such diseases, as well as flagging the need for closer coordination in the efforts for controlling human and animal diseases .

During the workshop, Dr. Ghazi Yahya, representative of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) in the Middle East, discussed the WTO SPS Agreement, with emphasis on the OIE Roles, in ensuring the safe trade of animals and animals products while Dr. Yamen Hegazy, FAO Regional expert, provided an introduction to Risk Analysis. Dr. Shaheen Bayoumi, FAO-EUFMD expert in cooperation with Dr. Rehab Elbassal, FAO Regional expert led the session on Animal Health Hazards Identification for the Trade of Animals and Animal Products.

The four days workshop is timely needed and will enable veterinary services to scale up capacities and train Iraqi vets in the field.

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Improving delivery of animal health services and disease surveillance in Iraq (Training workshop on Risk Analysis)[EN/AR] - Iraq - ReliefWeb

I voted for Margaret Beckett as Labour party leader in 1994, and given the same choice I would do so again today. No great radical, she nevertheless had roots in the party and the labour movement that Tony Blair never had.

However, she is quite wrong to claim, in her interview with Zoe Williams (Margaret Beckett on Blair, the Iraq war and half a century in politics, 17 May), that everybody in the world believed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. Williams rightly corrects her on this, citing the examples of Robin Cook and Clare Short. But there were stronger and earlier voices against the war on Iraq.

At the Labour party conference in 2002, the former US weapons inspector Scott Ritter stated that most of Saddams weapons, and his capacity for producing them, had been destroyed. A letter from the late Mundher Al-Adhami (Other lives, 2 May), co-signed by 99 other Iraqi exiles, totally opposed to both Saddam and to the threatened war, was published by the Guardian on 5 September 2002. Hans von Sponeck, a former humanitarian aid coordinator for Iraq, wrote in your columns on 22 July 2002 that the US Department of Defence and the CIA know perfectly well that todays Iraq poses no threat to anyone in the region, let alone in the United States. And I myself followed that up by suggesting an independent team of inspectors raised by the peace movement and civil society.

So, Margaret, please do not try to whitewash the tragedy the crime that was perpetrated on Iraq in 2003, and all the subsequent horrors. Frank JacksonFormer co-chair, World Disarmament Campaign; Harlow Labour party

Have an opinion on anything youve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

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Margaret Beckett is still wrong about the Iraq war and WMD claims - The Guardian

Pat Ellis' 2015 Dodge Hellcat

After purchasing this 2015 Dodge Hellcat, owner Pat Ellis is interested in learning more about a tribute under the hood.

The Herald-Times

I've worked at this newspaperwith Pat Ellis for a long time, more than 15 years probably. And during that time, the man has owned a lot of cars. I'm pretty sure all of them have been red, my not-so-favorite vehicle color.

There was the 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible, more orange than red, that I wrote a column about years ago. Then he had a 1984 Pontiac Fiero, followed by a 2008 Pontiac Solstice GXP Turbo.

Others followed: a 2004 Chevrolet Corvette ("I never liked Corvettes, but it was such a good deal," Ellis said), a 2016 Ford Mustang GT convertible with a Whipple supercharger ("a race car you could drive on the road but probably shouldn't") and a 400-horsepower 2014 Z51 Corvette convertible.

Last week's My Favorite Ride: How have Corvettes evolved? 'Car show' offers two examples to compare

The last 'Vette was not a smooth riding automobile, and it was difficult to climb in and out of after Ellis suffered a leg injury last year. One day in November, while looking online at cars for sale in the area, he saw a 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat parked at Community Chrysler in Bloomington.

"It really caught my attention," Ellis said. He drove down to take a look, and fell for the classic muscle car style, the six-speed manual transmission stick shift and the 707-horsepower engine.It's as powerful as a Lamborghini Aventador.

Edmunds reported in 2015 that the new Challenger "boasts a rare mix of talents, combining the power and attitude of a muscle car with the refinement of a luxury coupe."

Goodbye 2014 Corvette.

When you look under that Hellcat hood, it's not the supercharged V8 engine that catches your attention. It's the air-brushed All-American tribute honoring the late John W. Engeman you see first.

According to news and military reports, Engeman was a chief warrant officer in the U.S. Army when he died in May 2006 at the age of 45. Stationed out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he was killed inBaghdad during the Iraq War when a improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee.

He was awarded the Legion of Merit award, a Bronze Star and a PurpleHeart for his service.

Ellis, the car's third owner, hopes to learn more about Engeman and his connection to the car, which was manufactured nearly a decade after his death. An Owen County man had the car before Ellis, buthe apparently wasn't the one who added the patriotic embellishments.

More My Favorite Ride: A timely 2,200-mile father-son road trip in an old Ford truck

It would have been the car's first owner who had the tribute painted on the inside of the hood and a vinyl wrap applied inside the trunk lid.

Ellis said ofthe 30 or more cars he's owned, this is his favorite. Fast and flashy and right up his alley. The Hellcat has two key fobs that control the engine output: the black one sets the engine at 500 horsepower, and with the red one, it's up to 700.

"It's not just a cool car," Ellis said. "There's more to it. It's like a shrine."

He said the story he got was that the first owner had served in the Army with Engeman and had customized the car as a tribute to his friend.

My Favorite Ride gets published and read far and wide. Maybe I'll hear back from someone who knows the full story.

Have a story to tell about a car or truck? Contact reporterLaura Lane at llane@heraldt.com, 812-331-4362 or 812-318-5967.

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Dodge Challenger Hellcat conceals tribute to officer killed in Iraq - The Herald-Times