US military acknowledges "mistake" in arresting Iraq Sunni leader News
US military acknowledges "mistake" in arresting Iraq Sunni leader

[JURIST] US military officials have acknowledged that the arrest Monday of Sunni leader Mohsen Abdel Hamid [JURIST report], head of the Iraqi Islamic Party [official website], was a mistake, and that US forces had confused Hamid with someone else. According to Hamid, American soldiers attacked his Baghdad home, seized him, his three sons and four guards and blindfolded them before transporting them by helicopter to another location for a day-long interrogation. Hamid has urged Sunni Muslims [Wikipedia backgrounder], who lost power with the removal of Saddam Hussein, to cooperate with Iraq's Shiite [Wikipedia backgrounder] community, which now dominates the government, and condemned a surge in sectarian killings. US forces released Hamid after Iraqi government officials, including Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari [Wikipedia profile], criticized the action. As a Shiite Muslim, Jafari has been negotiating with Sunni leaders to avoid violence between the two sects and has vowed to "demand clear accounting" for Hamid's arrest, stating "No civilian should be arrested without just cause." Read the MNF-Iraq press statement on Hamid's release. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.