Iraq

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Iraq Confirms New Government
Iraq Confirms
New Government
Dec 21, 2010 8:57 AM CST

Iraq Confirms New Government

Women protest heavily male nominations

(Newser) - Iraqi legislators ended 9 months of political deadlock today, unanimously approving a new government under incumbent prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, the AP reports. A March parliamentary election had left the country’s political future unclear; today, lawmakers chose 29 ministers to form a government, with acting ministers making up rest...

What to Do With a Koran Written in Saddam's Blood?

'Blood Koran' kept in high-security vault

(Newser) - Nearly eight years after Saddam Hussein’s fall from power, Iraqi officials are still grappling with relics of his rule. Debate is raging over the fate of a Koran written in 27 liters of Saddam’s own blood, drawn by a nurse and lettered by a calligrapher over a two-year...

UN Finally Lifts Saddam-Era Sanctions Against Iraq

Control of oil revenue returned to government

(Newser) - The United Nations has finally lifted sanctions to prevent Saddam Hussein's regime from gaining weapons of mass destruction—4 years after his execution. The Security Council voted unanimously to lift sanctions on weapons and civilian nuclear power and return control of Iraq's oil and gas revenue to its government, AP...

Iraqi Refugees Who Returned Now Leaving Again

Country is still far from stable

(Newser) - Nearly 100,000 refugees have returned to Iraq since 2008, but many are leaving again—and for some, this may be the last time. “I was near a female suicide bomber a couple months ago. Then I was in my brother’s truck when insurgents opened fire on a...

Iraq's President Deserves Praise for Sparing This Man
Iraq's President Deserves Praise for Sparing This Man
Christopher Hitchens
Nov 22, 2010 1:58 PM CST

Iraq's President Deserves Praise for Sparing This Man

Jalal Talabani wouldn't support death penalty for Tariq Aziz

(Newser) - Iraqi president Jalal Talabani did something incredibly brave last week: He announced that he would not sign the death warrant for Tariq Aziz, who is, in Christopher Hitchens’ opinion, “one of Iraq’s worst enemies.” In a column for Slate , Hitchens reveals some little-known “appalling facts” about...

New Trials Set for US Hikers in Iran

Courtroom showdown set for February 6

(Newser) - The two young American hikers charged with entering Iran illegally will go on trial in February, officials have announced. Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, both 28, were supposed to go on trial early this month with companion Sarah Shourd, but authorities decided instead to free Shourd because of health concerns....

Iraqi President Refuses to Execute Saddam Cohort

He won't sign order for Tariq Aziz

(Newser) - Although Tariq Aziz has been convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by Iraq's supreme court, the president of the country says he won't sign the order. Interestingly, Aziz is also on trial for attacks on the Kurds, and President Jalal Talabani is a member of the ethnic...

Sunni Bloc Walks Out on Iraqi Parliament

Coalition deal in jeopardy

(Newser) - Iraq’s political compromise didn’t last long. Ayad Allawi’s predominantly Sunni Iraqiya party walked out of a parliament session intended to unite it in a coalition government with Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law party yesterday, the New York Times reports, after it failed to force votes on...

Iraq Breaks Political Deadlock
 Iraq Breaks Political Deadlock 
Nov 11, 2010 6:39 AM CST

Iraq Breaks Political Deadlock

Maliki will return as PM under tentative deal

(Newser) - Eight months after the country went to the polls, Iraqi politicians have reached a tentative deal to form a government. The Sunni-backed Iraqiya alliance has agreed to support a unity government headed by Nouri al-Maliki, who will return for a second term as prime minister, the New York Times reports....

Series of Blasts Kill 76 in Baghdad

180 wounded; France grants asylum to Christians

(Newser) - At least 13 separate attacks pounded Baghdad's Shiite neighborhoods today, killing 76 and wounding nearly 200, the AP reports. The assault was highly organized, with mortar attacks coordinated with bomb-rigged cars and roadside mines. Coming just two days after a hostage crisis at a Catholic church that left 58 dead,...

Iraq Church Attack Leaves Dozens Dead

More than taken 100 hostage in Baghdad yesterday

(Newser) - Dozens are dead and more than 50 wounded after militants took nearly 100 hostage in a Catholic church in Baghdad yesterday, prompting Iraqi anti-terrorist forces to storm the building. Officials say most of the injuries and deaths occurred after the kidnappers set off two suicide vests, the New York Times...

Saddam Crony Tariq Aziz Will Hang

Death sentence for Iraq's elderly former foreign minister

(Newser) - Saddam Hussein's foreign minister Tariq Aziz was sentenced to death by hanging today for persecuting members of Shiite religious parties under the former regime. Iraq's high criminal court spokesman Mohammed Abdul Sahib did not say when the 74-year-old would be put to death. The death sentence was for a conviction...

WikiLeaks: 15K Unreported Civilian Deaths in Iraq
 15K Civilian Deaths 
 Unreported in Iraq 
wikileaks files
Oct 23, 2010 10:33 AM CDT

15K Civilian Deaths Unreported in Iraq

Military logs show US did keep track

(Newser) - More from the analysis of WikiLeaks’ huge file dump: US military logs reveal 15,000 previously unrecorded civilian deaths in Iraq. As reported yesterday , the Iraq war logs show that, despite denying it did so, the US did keep records of Iraqi fatalities. Those fatalities totaled 109,032 between 2004...

Iran Captured Hikers in Iraq
 Iran Captured Hikers in Iraq 
wikileaks files
Oct 23, 2010 7:02 AM CDT

Iran Captured Hikers in Iraq

WikiLeaks releases field report from chaotic day of their arrest

(Newser) - Among the many revelations of WikiLeaks' latest file dump: Three American hikers accused of illegally crossing into Iran were actually seized on the Iraqi side of the border. According to the New York Times , WikiLeaks released a classified July 31 field report describing the "chaotic day." It states...

Yet Another Blackwater Case Collapses

Issues with evidence, immunity make prosecution tough

(Newser) - Legal cases against Blackwater employees accused of committing murder and other violent crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan have been collapsing one by one, the New York Times reports. This week, the Justice Department dropped a case against an armorer accused of killing a guard to an Iraqi official; the move...

In Secret Talks, Iran Forged Deal for Pro-Tehran Iraq

It brokered the coalition between Nouri Al-Maliki, Muqtada al-Sadr

(Newser) - Iran was behind the recently struck deal between Nouri al-Maliki and Muqtada al-Sadr, and the result could be an Iraqi government friendly to Tehran and distanced from the West, the Guardian reports. According to the paper's sources, Syria, Hezbollah, and top Shia religious leaders were involved with a secret campaign...

Clinton Aide Wanted Iraq to Shoot Down US Plane

... so we'd be justified going to war in '97

(Newser) - Gen. Hugh Shelton's new memoir contains this odd nugget, notes Justin Elliott at Salon : In 1997, one of Bill Clinton's Cabinet members suggested that Shelton order a US plane to fly low over Baghdad so Saddam would shoot it down and, ta da, give America instant justification for war. "...

Iraq's Oil Reserves Bigger Than Previously Thought

Country claims it has 24% more crude in new estimate

(Newser) - Iraq is home to 24% more oil than it had previously estimated, the country announced today. In Iraq's first revision to its stated oil reserves since 2003, the oil ministry claims to have 143.1 billion barrels of known and recoverable oil, up from the previous level of 115 billion...

Troop Death Benefits: We Pay, Prudential Profits

American legion calls for 'overhaul' of system

(Newser) - Prudential is making a profit on death benefits owed to military families—and it's doing so using government funds. When a service member dies, the feds send the full amount of the life insurance policy, usually $400,000, to Prudential. If survivors opt to receive a lump-sum payment, which 95%...

Surprise: Iraq Makes Progress on Government

Maliki likely to get new term, with help from anti-US cleric

(Newser) - A coalition of Shiite groups supported giving Nouri al-Maliki another term as prime minister, the Washington Post reports. The rare sign of progress came as the country achieved the dubious record of the longest time between an election and the formation of an actual government. Much uncertainty remains, however, and...

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