Nouri al-Maliki

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Security Guards Will Be Charged
Security Guards Will Be Charged

Security Guards Will Be Charged

US gunmen could be charged within the week

(Newser) - Iraqi officials will file criminal charges against the employees of Blackwater, the private security firm involved in the shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians last Sunday, CNN reports. How such charges would be levied and trials held remain to be seen, as the US government has claimed that the Iraqis have...

US Reinstates Blackwater in Iraq
US Reinstates Blackwater in Iraq

US Reinstates Blackwater in Iraq

Despite government opposition, State Department returns company to streets

(Newser) - American convoys began emerging from the Green Zone again today, protected by Blackwater USA  guards, just four days after an Iraqi ban on the private security firm halted all such travel. Iraqis remain outraged over the deaths of 11 civilians in a Blackwater shooting incident Sunday, but a Maliki aide...

Blackwater Shooters Were Not Provoked, Iraq Says

Hired guards guilty in massacre: Baghdad

(Newser) - A man who failed to stop for a traffic policeman and a screaming woman with a baby in her arms were shot dead as they crossed a busy Baghdad intersection guarded by private US security guards, according to a harrowing Iraqi account of the incident Sunday that left eight civilians...

US Bars Travel for Officials After Iraqi Shootings

Iraqi officials blast killings by private security operation

(Newser) - Tensions are so high in the aftermath of the shooting deaths of 11 Iraqis by a private American security operation that the US has barred civilian officials from road travel outside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone for their own safety. The Iraqis were killed when contractors with security outfit Blackwater opened...

Blackwater Ban Puts US Military in a Bind

With a rep for brutality, the security firm has enjoyed 'carte blanche'

(Newser) - The Iraqi crackdown on Blackwater, the private security firm implicated in Sunday’s killing of 8 civilians in Baghdad, draws attention to the lack of control the US military exerts over the 20,000 contractors who work for them in the country.  Blackwater guards are the most feared of...

Iraq Considers Expelling Security Firms

Blackwater incident sparks outrage at Western contractors

(Newser) - Private security firms have never been popular in Iraq, but after Blackwater USA’s fatal shooting of civilians Sunday, national rage may be strong enough to drive them from the country. The Iraqi government announced today that it would review the status of all private security companies, and explore rescinding...

Sadr Group Leaves Iraq's Ruling Alliance

Popular anti-American cleric says government ignores his demands

(Newser) - A key faction pulled out of Iraq’s ruling Shia alliance today, leaving Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with only half of parliament’s seats. Anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr says he withdrew because his bloc’s demands were being ignored. He wants a timetable for US troop withdrawal and opposes former...

Agreement on Key Iraq Oil Law Hits the Skids

Sectarian schism again undermines top political objective

(Newser) - Agreements forged in February over a law regulating the distribution of revenue from Iraq's oil fields are dissolving, the New York Times reports. Hussain al-Shahristani, oil minister for the Shiite-controlled federal government, held meetings yesterday to try to save the compromise, but the northern Kurdish areas have already made deals...

Obama: Bring Troops Home by End of '08

Senator supports pullout of one or two brigades each month

(Newser) - Iraq troop withdrawals should be completed by the end of next year, Barack Obama says in a speech obtained by Reuters that was to be delivered in Iowa tonight. “We have to begin to end this war now,” the Democratic presidential candidate demands; his plan calls for one...

Bush Drops In on Iraq
Bush Drops
In on Iraq

Bush Drops In on Iraq

Prez makes surprise trip to Baghdad, will meet with Maliki, generals

(Newser) - President Bush landed today in Anbar Province, just west of Baghdad, for a surprise trip in advance of the September 15 status briefing on Iraq. Bush will meet with President Nouri al-Maliki, local officials and US generals including David Petraeus, CNN reports. The president was on his way to a...

Iraqi Police Force Should Be 'Scrapped'

Infighting, corruption force recommendation that US 'start over'

(Newser) - Corruption and sectarian biases are so deeply entrenched in the Iraqi police ranks that the force's structure must be “scrapped,” an independent panel will report to Congress next week. The recommendation stems from an examination of the 26,000-member police force that concludes “we should start over,...

Iraqis 'Fail to Meet Benchmarks'
Iraqis 'Fail to Meet Benchmarks'

Iraqis 'Fail to Meet Benchmarks'

Congressional auditors say most key goals unfulfilled

(Newser) - The Iraqi government has failed to meet most of the key political and military goals—the so called benchmarks—designed to measure the success of the US troop surge, congressional auditors say. An investigation by the Government Accountability Office has concluded that 13 of the 18 benchmarks remain unmet as...

Iran is Ready to Fill Power Vacuum in Iraq

Ahmadinejad chides US, dismisses threat of action against Iran

(Newser) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech today that Iran is ready to fill a coming power vacuum in Iraq. "The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly," said the leader, who earlier this month assured Nouri al-Maliki that Iran would be happy to help stabilize Iraq...

French Prez Warns of 'Bombing Iran' Over Nukes

Sarko calls for more sanctions

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy took a bead on Iran in his first major foreign policy speech yesterday, suggesting that if Iran's nuclear weapons program wasn't halted, bombing could be the only alternative. He called Iran's atomic ambitions "without doubt the most serious crisis that weighs today on the international...

US Hails Iraq Breakthrough
US Hails Iraq Breakthrough

US Hails Iraq Breakthrough

Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders announce deal on key issues

(Newser) - In what is being hailed as a breakthrough in Iraq, Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders yesterday  announced that they have reached a consensus on key political issues, Reuters reports. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the other leaders claimed to have forged an agreement on releasing some detainees, easing curbs on...

Pols Slug It Out Over Iraq
Pols Slug It Out Over Iraq

Pols Slug It Out Over Iraq

Senators, candidates use Sunday shows as firing range to lob verbal bombs at Maliki

(Newser) - Verbal bombs flew over the fate of US troops in Iraq this morning, heating up the debate as Congress awaits next month's troop surge report. John Warner, on “Meet the Press,” warned President Bush to “put teeth in these comments that we are not there forever” while...

GOP Senator: Start Bringing Troops Home

Warner raps Iraq PM, calls for limited pullout by Christmas

(Newser) - In a significant break from his previous support for the White House's Iraq policy, John Warner said today wants to see some US troops home by Christmas. The influential ex-chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee has opposed Democratic attempts to force withdrawal, CNN reports, but now says a partial...

Intelligence Community Doubts Iraqi Leadership

Big insurgent offensive may be in the works

(Newser) - A National Intelligence Estimate released today reveals that the US intelligence community doubts Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki has the ability to lead the country effectively, CNN reports. Coming one day after President Bush defended Maliki in a speech, the report by US intelligence agencies also expresses worry over a possible...

Maliki Must Go: Senator
Maliki Must
Go: Senator

Maliki Must Go: Senator

Iraq needs 'more unifying' leader, says head of Armed Services Committee

(Newser) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must go, says Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin, who yesterday called on the nation's parliament to replace him with a "more unifying" leader if Maliki can't quickly forge political peace among rival factions. Maliki's current talks with Iraqi leaders is the "...

Maliki Calls Summit to Heal Iraqi Cabinet

PM threatens to replace Sunnis with "alternative" ministers

(Newser) - Iraq’s PM says he will try to salvage his disintegrating government by holding an emergency summit of cabinet members over the next couple of days. The BBC reports that Nouri al-Maliki is even warning Sunnis that he could refill his government with “alternative” ministers if they refuse to...

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