CNN International: Iraq "Won't Hesitate" to Impose Martial Law

Posted in GD, but probably should be in LBN --


Iraq 'won't hesitate' to impose martial law

Minister comments after latest attack; coalition examines implications

Friday, June 18, 2004 Posted: 1738 GMT (0138 HKT)


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Less than two weeks before the U.S. coalition is set to transfer sovereignty to Iraq, the country's interim interior minister would not rule out the declaration of martial law if insurgent attacks on Iraqis continue.

Falah al-Nakib was speaking at a news conference just after 35 people were killed in a car bombing on Thursday in Baghdad....

***

The U.S.-led coalition is examining the legal implications of martial law in Iraq after sovereignty is restored on June 30, a senior coalition official told CNN Friday.

Martial law is defined as temporary rule by the military over the civilian population when civil authority has broken down. It was unclear how this would work in Iraq....


http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/06/18/iraq.main/index.html

And maybe more. This whole line is absurd. "Rule by the military over the civilian population..." Can somebody point me to a recent time when Iraq was not DE FACTO under the condition of martial law?