Entered into the database on Sunday, March 05th, 2006 @ 16:42:51 MST
Half the calls to a telephone hotline set up by the government to fight
the Iraqi resistance are insults, Iraq’s Interior Minister Bayan Jabr
Solagh complained on Saturday. Speaking at a news conference, he also bemoaned the fact the emergency line
was often out of order. State television daily broadcasts ads urging citizens to dial ”130”
and report suspicious activities. “I’m not at all pleased with this service when out of 15 lines,
eight are down. We’ve tried to repair them, but I still don’t know
if they are working,” he said. “Police officers answering the phones also say that half the calls are
from people who want to insult them,” he added. Television spots have depicted Iraqis from all walks of life phoning the hotline
to report a kidnapping in progress, the discovery of an arms cache or the placing
by Iraqi resistance fighters of a roadside bomb. 