MB: Air percuma bukti S'gor urus air dengan baik

Program pemberian air percuma yang membolehkan rakyat menikmati 20 meter padu pertama secara percuma setiap bulan adalah bukti keupayaan pengurusan Kerajaan Negeri dan kesungguhan untuk memastikan industri air di Malaysia diuruskan dengan menjadikan kebajikan rakyat menjadi keutamaan, kata Menteri Besar,  Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

"Secara purata, keluarga yang mendiami rumah bertanah di Selangor menikmati penjimatan RM1,200 setahun sejak program ini diperkenalkan pada Jun 2008.

"Manakala keluarga yang tinggal di rumah bertingkat  pula menikmati penjimatan secara purata  hampir RM900 setahun dalam tempoh itu," katanya dalam satu kenyataan hari ini.

Kerajaan negeri, tambahnya, telah membekukan cadangan untuk menaikkan tarif air oleh Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (SYABAS) sebanyak dua kali iaitu untuk 2009 dan 2012.

"Kerajaan Selangor telah membelanjakan RM550 juta setakat ini untuk Program Pemberian Air Percuma. Namun begitu, kerajaan negeri masih berupaya meningkatkan rezab negeri kepada RM2.1 billion pada 2012 berbanding hanya RM400 juta pada 2008," kata menteri besar.

Ini, tegas Abdul Khalid, adalah hasil dasar kewangan mesra rakyat yang mematuhi prinsip-prinsip integriti dan tadbir urus yang baik.

"Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat Negeri Selangor membuat banyak usaha untuk memastikan rakyat berhak untuk berkongsi keuntungan, aset dan sumber negeri," tambahnya.

 Pahang ada? Harap LYNAS yang membunuh je ada.. kahkahkah
Apa 2 in 1?

1. WANG TUNAI
2. SIMPANAN

INILAH YG TERBAIK

Pengimport setuju harga kereta diturunkan

Persatuan Pengimport dan Peniaga Kenderaan Melayu Malaysia (Pekema) bersetuju harga kereta diturunkan dengan cara pemotongan duti eksais dan cukai import terhadap kereta.

Presidennya, Datuk Zainuddin Abdul Rahman berkata dengan cara itu, kereta bukan sahaja akan mampu dimiliki orang ramai tetapi pada masa sama ia juga akan merancakkan industri penjualan kereta tempatan.

"Biasanya apabila hampir dengan Hari Raya, secara purata pusat jualan kereta mampu menjual kira-kira 70 ke 80 buah kereta, sekarang hendak jual 20 buah pun susah," katanya.

Beliau berkata demikian sewaktu memberi maklum balas kepada rancangan Pakatan Rakyat untuk menurunkan harga kereta dengan menghapuskan duti eksais dan cukai import.

Zainuddin bagaimanapun mengakui penghapusan duti eksais dan cukai import ke atas kereta akan menyebabkan negara kehilangan sedikit sumber pendapatan daripada cukai.

Namun katanya, negara masih mampu memperolehi sumber pendapatan yang jauh lebih tinggi daripada sumber ekonomi selain daripada cukai ke atas kereta.

"Kalau hapuskan cukai ke atas kereta, apalah sangat kesan kepada pendapatan negara sebanyak satu atau dua bilion itu," katanya.

Pada masa sama, beliau turut menyuarakan kebimbangannya terhadap industri kereta tempatan yang mungkin terjejas akibat penghapusan cukai tersebut.

Menurutnya, penghapusan cukai dan duti itu akan hanya memberi kelebihan kepada kereta-kereta import, dan bukannya kereta keluaran tempatan.

"Kalau kerajaan (sendiri) hendak hapuskan, saya menyokong penuh tetapi yang jadi masalah kereta tempatan.

"Contohnya daripada segi bahan mentah, kita masih jauh ketinggalan, orang dah pakai robot kita masih pakai tenaga manusia," katanya.

Pengarah strategi PKR Rafizi Ramli berkata Pakatan Rakyat antara lainnya akan mengkaji pengurusan permit import kenderaan (AP) bagi membiaya penghapusan duti eksais kereta yang dirancangkannya.

Selain itu, Pakatan juga akan mengkaji kaedah untuk menguruskan belanjawan negara dengan lebih berhemah bagi menampung semula pendapatan yang hilang akibat penghapusan cukai tersebut.

"Kita sedang melihat bagaimana AP diuruskan. Kita semua tahu bahawa AP merupakan sumber kekayaan bagi kroni.

"Kita akan melihat bagaimana sumber pendapatan ini akan menyeimbangkang pendapatan yang hilang daripada duti eksais," katanya dalam sidang media di ibu pejabat PKR di Petaling Jaya hari ini.

Tanpa memberikan butiran terperinci, Rafizi berkata pengumuman lanjut mengenai perkara itu akan dibuat oleh Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pada minggu depan.
Rancangan untuk menjadikan pengurangan harga kereta sebagai sebahagian daripada manifesto pilihan raya itu menerima pelbagai reaksi, antaranya daripada golongan yang mahu Pakatan Rakyat menumpukan usaha memperbaiki pengangkutan awam dan bukannya menghapuskan cukai kereta.Mengulas saranan itu, Rafizi berkata usaha untuk mengurangkan keberhutangan rakyat akibat pembelian kereta boleh dilakukan dengan lebih segera.
Perkara itu juga lebih utama berbanding usaha menaiktaraf pengangkutan awam yang memakan belanja besar dan tempoh yang panjang, katanya.
"Terdapat tempoh matang (di antara pelaksanaan dan hasil) sebelum kita dapat memperbaiki pengangkutan awam.

"Ia bukan sahaja soal pengangkutan awam, tetapi ia juga keberhutangan dan ekonomi rakyat.

"Apabila Pakatan memerintah akan ada usaha bersepadu juga untuk memperbaiki pengangkutan awam," katanya.

Pengarah strategi PKR Rafizi Ramli berkata kereta buatan nasional akan tetap lebih murah berbanding kereta import sekiranya cadangan Pakatan Rakyat untuk menghapuskan duti eksais dilaksanakan.
Menurut Pengarah Strategi PKR, Rafizi Ramli, duti eksais adalah cukai menyeluruh yang dikenakan ke atas sekumpulan barangan tanpa mengira ia dihasilkan di dalam atau di luar negeri - seperti yang dikenakan ke atas produk arak.Oleh itu, penurunan harga kesemua kereta sama ada model tempatan atau kereta import akan berkadar terus dengan jumlah cukai yang dihapuskan, jelasnya.
"Jika Proton dah ada kelebihan harga (murah) berbanding kereta Honda, kelebihan harga itu tetap akan ada di sana.

"Maka, harga Proton dan Perodua masih kekal rendah di pasaran," kata Rafizi pada sidang media di ibu pejabat PKR tengah hari tadi.
Rafizi turut mengulas pandangan yang disuarakan ketua Pemuda Umno Khairy Jamaluddin bahawa rancangan tersebut akan mengancam pengeluar kereta nasional Proton.

Katanya, pandangan seperti itu menunjukkan bahawa pemimpin Umno tidak dapat membezakan di antara cukai eksais dan cukai import kereta.

"Mereka tertukar antara duti eksais dan duti import.

"Mereka juga tidak perasan, pada tahun 2005 cukai import (dikurang dan) diganti dengan duti eksais," kata Rafizi.

Menurutnya lagi, penghapusan duti eksais itu akan menyebabkan harga kereta tempatan turun kepada RM30,000 sahaja.

"Saya nak tunjuk betapa tidak adilnya cukai sekarang yang mencukai golongan miskin yang beli Proton dan Perodua.

"Kami percaya rakyat beli kereta bukan untuk bermewah-mewah.

"Ini mengukuhkan pendirian PKR, rombakan cukai ini penting untuk tambah pendapatan boleh guna dan kurangkan bebanan (hutang) rakyat," kata Rafizi.

Memahami minyak dan politik dunia

Hishamuddin Rais
3:04PM Jul 25 2012

Apa sahaja tulisan yang cuba menghuraikan apa yang sedang berlaku di Timur Tengah – tanpa  memahami ekonomi dan kepentingan kaum pemodal – maka analisa itu akan kantoi. Hasilnya bukan satu analisa yang kukuh yang boleh membawa pencerahan tetapi cakaran perasaan ‘kesukuan mazhab’  yang  amat cetek dan kurang ilmiah.

Analisa politik tanpa  ekonomi akan menghasilkan analisa yang tidak mendalam yang hanya berupaya membincangkan  nama watak, nama tempat dan apa yang  telah atau sedang berlaku. Politik  Timur Tengah tanpa diikat rapat  dengan bahan bakar petrol bukan satu analisa politik yang  tuntas.

Saya perhatikan masih ada lagi yang gagal memahami konflik antara  Amerika dengan Syria. Masih ada lagi yang mengira mayat di Syria sebagai tanda kezaliman Presiden Bashar.  Yang menjadi lawak sedih ialah apabila tukang kira ini juga – mungkin kerana mangsa guruh – telah tidak pula mengira mayat-mayat yang terus bergelempangan di Pakistan akibat serangan drone. Drones ini ialah   kapal terbang  pengembom tanpa pemandu milik kuasa imperialis Amerika.

Ramai yang masih berpendapat bahawa apa yang sedang berlaku di Syria ialah pertembungan antara mazhab Shia dengan Sunni. Pandangan ini salah. Pandangan inilah yang  sedang dijual oleh media antarabangsa. Inilah juga ‘cerita’ yang dipungut oleh Pak Lebai dan Pak Khatib ketika mereka cuba memberi  ‘kuliah pencerahan’. Kuliah perncerahan berbentuk ini samalah saperti  Rosmah Mansor memberi kuliah tentang  berjimat cermat – sesat lagi menyesatkan.

Sekali lagi di sini saya nyatakan bahawa apa yang sedang berlaku di Timur Tengah khususnya di Syria adalah hasil perancangan kaum pemodal antrabangsa bersama NATO.  Rancangan untuk mengubah lanskap politik Timur Tengah telah lama di rancang.

Seymour Hesh pada 5 March 2007 dalam majalah New Yoker telah membocorkan dengan panjang  lebar strateji Amerika  yang baru untuk menundukkan rejim-rejim yang dilihat gagal untuk menjadi barua setia saperti Saudi Arabia.

Jantan Yahudi yang bernama Seymour Hesh ini pada tahun 1969 telah memeranjatkan dunia dengan laporan My Lai. Ini adalah berita  jenayah perang  Presiden Richard Nixon di Vietnam. Orang kampung di My Lai telah dibunuh beramai-ramai  oleh soldadu Amerika dalam usaha sia-sia untuk mengalahkan Gerakan Pembebasan Vietnam.

Wartawan ini juga telah bertanggungjawab membocorkan  berita tentang apa yang sedang dilakukan oleh soldadu Amerika terhadap para tahanan di Abu Ghraib Iraq pada tahun 2004. Laporan Abu Gharaib  ini telah mensahihkan sekali lagi bahawa kempen ‘demokrasi dan hak asasi’ yang dibawa oleh Amerika   ke  Timur Tengah hanyalah tipu helah untuk menakluk telaga minyak di Iraq 

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mempersoalkan perjanjian pembekalan minyak untuk pesawat Airbus A380 antara Malaysia Airlines System Bhd (MAS) dan Petron Malaysia (Petron), yang dikaitkannya dengan anggota keluarga Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Katanya, ekoran perjanjian itu syarikat penerbangan negara MAS tidak dibenarkan membeli minyak selain daripada Petron (dahulunya dikenali sebagai Esso Malaysia Bhd) selama enam bulan.

"Saudara, apa punya dasar ekonomi ini. Najib, ini apa? Kamu perdana menteri atau ketua kampung.

"(Najib) ini perdana menteri, dengan Mahathir (dia) takut, dengan PERKASA dia takut, dengan (Barrack) Obama dia takut, balik rumah takut," katanya sambil diiringi ketawa dan sorakan hadirin dalam ceramah di Selayang dekat ibu negara malam tadi.

"Sebab itu, ketelanjuran sudah teruk. Wang kita, kena ingat. MAS ini syarikat penerbangan negara, mana boleh bagi kepada satu syarikat (sahaja)," katanya.

Petron dan MAS menandatangani perjanjian khas pada 29 Jun bagi membekalkan dan membeli bahan api Airbus A380 syarikat penerbangan negara selama enam bulan, bermula 1 Julai lalu.

Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif MAS Group Ahmad Jauhari Yahya dilapor berkata syarikat penerbangan itu gembira mendapat rakan yang sama komited kepada keperluan mesra alam Airbus A380.

Bagi meraikan hubungan baru itu, Petron menyediakan bahan api percuma bagi penerbangan sulung pesawat A380 MAS, penerbangan MH2 dari Kuala Lumpur ke London pada malam Ahad sebelum ini.

MAS menerima pesawat A380 pertama di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa KL pada Jumaat.

Pada 5 Jun, MAS juga menikmati bekalan bahan api daripada Petron apabila ia membawa kakitangan dan tetamu untuk mencuba penerbangan A380, termasuk Dr Mahathir.

Sementara itu, Anwar juga mengumumkan akan melaksanakan pendidikan percuma dan penghapusan pinjaman Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN), sebaik sahaja gabungan diumumkan membentuk kerajan jika menang dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang.

Desperate to stay in NZ

By Jonathan Milne

5:30 AM Sunday Jul 22, 2012

For most blokes, romance can be shown with half a dozen red roses. But one young man tried half a dozen different routes and fake passports to get into New Zealand to see the woman he loved.
Immigration NZ has revealed more than 20 instances of fake Malaysian passports being used to try to get into New Zealand this year, or to transit through to South America.
One 27-year-old had been living in Auckland on a partnership work visa, because his girlfriend lived here. But after they broke up, he was refused a new visa and in May this year he was forced to leave.
Last month, he tried to fly here from Kuala Lumpur but New Zealand border officials told the airline not to let him board.
He then applied for a new visa at Singapore but was declined for the same reason.
The man illegally obtained a new Malaysian passport under a different name and entered Singapore to avoid suspicion. He boarded a flight from Singapore to Auckland. Despite the name change, he was refused entry and sent back to Singapore.
He tried to enter New Zealand once more on the same passport, flying from Sydney to Queenstown, but again, immigration officials refused to let him board.
This month he obtained another Malaysian passport with a different name and date of birth. He caught a flight from Melbourne to Christchurch but was stopped at Christchurch airport, and returned to Melbourne.
"He says he's in love with her," said Karen Urwin, Immigration NZ's border operations manager. "I don't like to stand in the way of Cupid's bow, but he needs to accept that the relationship is over and he's not legally entitled to be in New Zealand."
International airlines are responsible for the cost of flying home passengers entering New Zealand without correct documentation, and Immigration NZ was able to lay charges against airlines who break the rules.
Since the start of last year Singapore Airlines and Jetstar have been charged and convicted for allowing passengers to board against Immigration NZ direction. Each airline was fined $6500.
Five more airlines are awaiting prosecution, but from this month a law change allows the agency to take immediate action against the airline.
Urwin said passengers boarded flights inappropriately for different reasons.
"In some countries it's error, in some countries it's corruption," she said. "If you're a people-smuggler, you pay a check-in agent to get you on the airplane."

Kurangkan harga kereta jadi manifesto Pakatan

Ahmad Fadli KC

1:30PM Jul 24 2012

 

 

Pakatan Rakyat akan menjadikan pengurangan harga kereta yang dianggap barangan keperluan sebagai sebahagian daripada manifesto pilihan raya umum akan datang.

Pengarah Strategi PKR, Rafizi Ramli berkata laporan Kajiselidik Pendapatan dan Kemudahan Isi Rumah 2009 yang baru dikeluarkan Jabatan Perangkaan menunjukkan hampir 72 peratus isi rumah menggunakan kereta sedangkan 53 peratus isi rumah Malaysia berpendapatan di bawah RM3,000 sebulan.

Peratusan yang tinggi itu katanya, berpunca daripada kegagalan Dasar Automatif Negara yang digubal BN pada tahun 2006.

Pada masa sama katanya, hutang kereta persendirian meningkat sebanyak RM16 bilion atau 14 peratus dalam masa 18 bulan sejak November 2010.

Ini membuktikan ia adalah isu pilihan raya yang perlu diberikan
perhatian oleh parti-parti yang bertanding, kata Rafizi.

"Keadaan ini membayangkan bahawa hutang kereta yang disebabkan harga kereta yang tinggi adalah satu beban utama pada rakyat," katanya.
Menurut Rafizi, harga kereta kini tinggi kerana rakyat membayar duti eksais, cukai import dan cukai jualan apabila membeli kereta.

Harga tinggi kerana cukai, duti eksais
Pengenalan duti eksais - sekurang-kurangnya 60 peratus daripada harga kereta - pada masa itu dilakukan untuk mengimbangi cukai import yang dikurangkan kerana Asian Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), katanya.

Rafizi mendakwa tindakan itu dibuat setelah kerajaan antara lainnya menerima nasihat daripada syarikat perunding Ethos Consultancy yang didakwa mempunyai kaitan dengan Ketua Pemuda Umno, Khairy Jamaluddin.

"Beliau (Khairy) perlu kongsi dengan kita apakah pertimbangan pada masa itu yang membuatkan kerajaan perkenalkan duti eksais," katanya.

Duti eksais ke atas kereta juga kata Rafizi, ibarat mencukai rakyat atas pembelian barang keperluan seperti makanan, air dan elektrik.

"Anda (kerajaan) tidak sepatutnya menghukum rakyat dengan kutip cukai atas barang keperluan.

"Kalau ada ruang fiskal (belanjawan) yang perlu ditutup, kerajaan perlu cari mekanisma lain," katanya.

Justeru katanya, Pakatan akan melihat kemungkinan menghapuskan duti eksais secara berperingkat untuk mengurangkan harga kereta.

ADUN Pantai Jerejak, Sim Tze Tzin dalam sidang media sama berkata pimpinan muda PKR akan membuat jelajah keliling negara untuk berdialog dan menerangkan perkara itu kepada orang ramai bermula 5 Ogos ini.

"Kita cadangkan dialog peringkat kebangsaan.

"Kita mahu dengar (cadangan) daripada rakyat dan kumpulan berkepentingan seperti Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA), berkenaan perkara ini," katanya.

Japan nuclear plants 'still not safe'

JAPAN NUCLEAR!!!

A government-appointed inquiry has delivered a damning assessment of Japanese nuclear regulators and the operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, raising further fears that despite new rules, the country's nuclear sector still does not meet safety requirements.
The 450-page report by a 10-member panel of independent experts was released on Monday, and comes as anti-nuclear activists continue a vociferous campaign against the restarting of two nuclear reactors in the country.
The government is currently readying a new energy policy, due next month.
The panel suggested that post-Fukushima safety steps taken at nuclear power plants across the country have not been enough to cope with a complex catastrophe, a combination of human error and natural causes, such as the one that struck the country after an earthquake and tsunami last year.
"We understand that immediate safety measures are being further detailed and will materialise in the future. But we strongly urge the people concerned to make continued efforts to take really effective steps," said the panel, chaired by University of Tokyo engineering professor Yotaro Hatamura.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, and regulators failed to plan for a massive natural disaster, the panel said, blaming them for being lulled by the same "safety myth" blasted by a parliament-appointed team of experts earlier this month.
"Both the government and companies should establish a new philosophy of disaster prevention that requires safety and disaster measures against any massive accident and disaster... regardless of event probability," the report said.
The inquiry did not go as far as accusing regulators and TEPCO of "collusion", as a parliamentary panel had done earlier this month.
Reactors restarting
The decision to restart two reactors operated by the Kansa Electric Power Company has energised Japans' anti-nuclear movement, with more than 100,000 people taking to the streets in Tokyo a week ago.
All 50 of Japan's nuclear reactors were shut down for safety checks after the Fukushima disaster. Critics say that the two restarted reactors do not meet the government's new safety criteria, announced this April.
The panel has called on the government to take immediate action on certain issues, such as ensuring off-site nuclear accident management centres are protected against the kind of massive radiation leaks that rendered the one at Fukushima unusable.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant, located 240km north of Tokyo, was hit on March 11 last year by an earthquake and tsunami that knocked out power and cooling systems.
Three of its six reactors went into meltdown, and about 150,000 people were forced to flee the area as radioactive material leaked into the surroundings.
The panel said that there was no proof that the earthquake was a key factor in the disaster, but added that a certain degree of impact could not be ruled out.
TEPCO's own investigation put the blame for the accident solely on the tsunami.
The panel, however, called on TEPCO to review data that had been presented to it, saying that it believed that it contained errors. It said that further investigations should be carried out.
The report also blamed the country's nuclear regulators for not paying sufficient attention to improvements in nuclear safety standards, as recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
It said that the Japanese Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency had been promoting nuclear energy without being open about the inherent risks.
It said that a culture of complacency about nuclear safety and poor crisis management had led to the nuclear disaster.
The panel's investigation concludes the last of a series of probes into the worst atomic accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Spate of deadly attacks across Iraq

...WATCH NOW!!!...

A series of gun and bomb attacks has racked Iraq for the second straight day, with unidentified gunmen targeting a military base and car bombs exploding in Baghdad, Kirkuk and elsewhere.
More than 100 people are reported to have been killed and 180 injured in at least 19 separate explosions and attacks on Monday morning, officials said.
At least 15 Iraqi soldiers were killed and four others injured after gunmen attacked a military base in Salah Din province, an army official told Al Jazeera.
The attack took place early on Monday morning, while the soldiers were still asleep, in a base east of Dhuluiyah township, about 90km north of Baghdad. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
A car bomb in the city of Taji, north of Baghdad, targeted a residential compound. Initial reports suggested that more than 18 people had been killed, and dozens wounded. That attack involved a secondary explosion, which targeted rescue personnel who had rushed to the scene.
In the northern oil town of Kirkuk, police were targeted by four synchronised car bombs, killing five people, including three civilians. Nineteen people were injured in those blasts.
Baghdad bombings
In Baghdad, car bombs targeted an interior ministry office that issues ID cards to residents of the city's mainly Shia Sadr City neighbourhood. At least 16 people were killed in that attack.
"It was a thunderous explosion," said Mohammed Munim, 35, who was working at the office.
"The only thing I remember was the smoke and fire, which was everywhere," he added from his bed in the emergency room at Sadr City hospital.
In Baghdad's eastern Husseiniyah neighbourhood, police sources told Al Jazeera that a parked car bomb killed at least three people and injured another 31 on Monday.
In the city of Touz Khurmato, 140km north of Baghdad, a car bomb targeted a local market, killing at least one person and wounding three others. A separate explosion in that city killed one person and wounded 35 others.
In the eastern town of Muqdadiyah, near Baquba, two civilians were killed and 13 injured after a motorcycle bomb went off on a main street.
South of the capital, in Mahmoudiya, a series of three bombs targeted civilians. Initial reports from police said that the death toll in that attack was at least 10, with as many as 38 wounded.
Meanwhile, two members of a tribal coalition aimed at maintaining security were killed by unidentified gunmen in central Samarra city, 120km north of Baghdad.
In Dujail, 75km north of the capital, a bomb went off near a Shia mosque, killing a woman and injuring four others.
In the town of Ba'aaj, near Mosul, two policemen were killed when a suicide bomber targeted a police station, while in a separate explosion west of Mosul, a car bomb killed three army soldiers and wounded six civilians.
In Dewaniyah province, 180km south of Baghdad, an improvised explosive device attack hit a vegetable market, killing three people and injuring at least 20 others.
In central Balad township, about 80km north of Baghdad, a parked car exploded outside the home of a local political leader, Al Radhee Mohammed. That blast did not result in any casualties. A second car explosion, apparently targeting labourers, also went off in Balad on Monday morning, but there was no immediate confirmation of casualties.
Police say they had identified a third bomb in the same area and had the situation under control.
'Military and Shia targeted'
Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from Erbil, said that initial figures were difficult to verify.
"The death tolls are varying wildly [but] they appear to be attacks, as has been the pattern, on military targets as well as Shia communities."
Monday's attacks are the worst since June 13, when a series of explosions killed 84 people. The fresh wave of killings comes just a day after a spate of bombings across the country killed at least 20 people and wounded 88 others.
"It is certainly a sign that despite all gains made against al-Qaeda in Iraq ... they are still out there," reported Al Jazeera's Arraf, adding that the group had recently warned that it was commencing "a new stage" in its campaign.
The Islamic State of Iraq, a group closely aligned with al-Qaeda in Iraq, warned in an audio message posted on jihadist forums that it would begin targeting judges and prosecutors as it renewed its campaign to free members who are currently being held in prison.
"We are starting a new stage," said the voice on the message, purportedly that of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who has been leader of the Islamic State of Iraq since May 2010.
"The first priority in this is releasing Muslim prisoners everywhere, and chasing and eliminating judges and investigators and their guards."
It was not possible to verify whether the voice was that of Baghdadi. Al-Qaeda in Iraq is regarded by Iraqi officials as significantly weaker than at the peak of its strength in 2006 and 2007, but it is still capable of launching spectacular mass-casualty attacks.
Al Jazeera's Arraf said that the attacks have "sparked fears that security forces will not be able to handle what appears to many people to be a resurgence of al-Qaeda" in the absence of US troops, who pulled out of the country at the end of last year.