Baghdad (NINA)-The Newspapers issued on Saturday , February 23 focused on the decision of the Cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr of prolonging the freezing of the Mahdi Army's military operations for an extra six months, the Turkish penetration into Iraqi northern lands and foiling an attack against the two shrines in Samarra.

JAM freezing
Al-Distour Newspaper said that the command of the US Military in Iraq welcomed the decision of the Cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr that entails halting the activities of the Mahdi Army -Jaysh Al-Mahdi- for a further six months and considered it as an important contribution to the improvement of the security situation in Iraq.

Turkish penetration
Al-Sabah Newspaper said that events were accelerated last Friday between Baghdad, Erbil and Ankara under the slogan " Peaceful solutions; NO to violation of sovereignty." However, all these efforts did not stop the continuous Turkish penetration across the Iraqi borders alongside with artillery and warplanes shelling against a number of Kurdistani villages.
The paper added that Talabani and Al-Maliki rushed to put an end to the negative developments by diplomatic means so they individually telephoned the Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and discussed the peaceful solutions. The office of the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani announced last Friday that Talabani was invited by his Turkish counterpart to visit Ankara.
Al-Sabah cited that the Turkish Military confirmed last Thursday evening that it started an operation in Kurdistan region and that ten senior Turkish Generals oversee the major military operation against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) elements and confirmed that the Turkish forces will withdraw "as soon as the mission is accomplished."

Al-Mada Newspaper said that the United Nations called upon Ankara to respect the international borders.

Foiled Attack
Al-Itihad Newspaper said that the Fourth Division of the Iraqi Army foiled last Friday an attack that was targeting the two Askari shrines in Samarra. The paper said the Army force raided Raga district east of Samarra last Friday, killed five gunmen and seized three combat helicopters of the former Iraqi Army's leftovers, that were set for flight to strike the Samarra shrines./End/