Nouri al-Maliki

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US Kills 30 in Baghdad
US Kills 30 in Baghdad

US Kills 30 in Baghdad

Women and children may counted among the dead

(Newser) - The US killed 30 militants and detained another dozen in an overnight air strike on a military stronghold in a Shiite district of Baghdad. Witnesses counted women and children among the slain, though the US claims all 30 were insurgents linked to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

More Cabinet Defections Imperil Iraqi Regime

Political chaos rises as more cabinet-members

(Newser) - Four more Iraqi cabinet ministers said today they're boycotting meetings, bringing the total to a whopping 17 and leaving PM Nouri al-Maliki with a tenuous majority in the 37-member body. In the latest round of infighting, the newest defectors, all allies of the country's first postwar PM, charge that Maliki...

Key Sunni Bloc Deserts Maliki
Key Sunni Bloc Deserts Maliki

Key Sunni Bloc Deserts Maliki

Defection deepens political crisis as suicide bombs kill 70

(Newser) - The Sunni Accordance Front defected from Iraq's government today, accusing PM Nuri al-Maliki of being uncooperative, Reuters reports, on a day when suicide bombs killed more than 70 in Baghdad. "This is probably the most serious political crisis we have faced since the passage of the constitution,'' a...

Iraqi Parliament Takes a Break
Iraqi Parliament Takes a Break

Iraqi Parliament Takes a Break

Little movement on key legislation as body adjourns through August

(Newser) - Saying PM Nouri al-Maliki's government had given it little to work with, Iraq's parliament began a 5-week recess today, Reuters reports. The chamber normally begins its summer break in July, but with crucial legislation pending, members delayed. Squabbling between political factions then stalled laws seen as vital to mending the...

Corruption Shadows Iraq Rebuilding
Corruption Shadows
Iraq Rebuilding

Corruption Shadows Iraq Rebuilding

US investigates dozens of fraud cases as pricey projects disintegrate

(Newser) - US auditors monitoring the rebuilding process in Iraq are battling forces they compare to "a second insurgency"—corruption and economic mismanagement. The Iraqi government is refusing to handle reconstruction projects worth billions of dollars, and US officials are now investigating more than 50 fraud cases, the BBC reports.

Saudi King Backs Iraq's Sunni Rebels

Ally undermining Bush strategy and fledgling government

(Newser) - Saudi Arabia is working at cross purposes with the Bush administration in Iraq by backing Sunni tribes engaged in sectarian violence there, the New York Times reports. King Abdullah has funded the Sunnis and is allowing insurgents to enter the country, US officials charge. Of up to 80 foreign fighters...

Bush Gets Personal with Iraqi PM
Bush Gets Personal
with Iraqi PM

Bush Gets Personal with Iraqi PM

Leaders' virtual meetings produce few concrete results

(Newser) - Across thousands of miles, President Bush remains a close adviser to Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki. At least every 2 weeks, the politicians confer over a satellite uplink, usually for more than an hour of discussion about the civil war, Iraq's future, and even their shared religious devotion. "They talk...

Iraq in Free Fall, CIA Boss Warned
Iraq in Free Fall, CIA Boss Warned

Iraq in Free Fall, CIA Boss Warned

'Irreversible' problems for government bared in secret meeting

(Newser) - The CIA director painted a grim picture of a deteriorating situation in Iraq sharply at odds with President Bush's sunny view in a closed-door session of the Iraq Study Group last November, Bob Woodward reports in the Washington Post. "The government is unable to govern," Michael Hayden flatly...

Iraqis Urged to Take Up Arms
Iraqis Urged to Take Up Arms

Iraqis Urged to Take Up Arms

Weekend of widespread bloodshed prompts both Shiite and Sunni leaders to despair of security situation

(Newser) - After a weekend of horrific violence that claimed more than 220 lives in Iraq, both Shiite and Sunni leaders called on civilians to arm themselves. "People have a right to expect protection for their lives," said Iraq's Sunni vice president. Given the failure of security forces, he said,...

Key Iraqi Oil Bill Stalls
Key Iraqi Oil
Bill Stalls

Key Iraqi Oil Bill Stalls

Sunni, Shia and Kurds still at odds; White House benchmark not being met

(Newser) - Bitter infighting among Iraq's ethnic and religious groups is holding up crucial legislation on Iraqi oil regulation and distribution, the AP reports. Despite heavy pressure from Washington to pass the bill, debate scheduled to start yesterday was delayed. Sunnis object to the bill because they fear most oil wealth will...

Iraqi PM in Trouble With Fellow Shiites

Top officials threaten to jump ship over continuing violence

(Newser) - Disillusionment with PM Nouri al-Maliki is growing within the Iraqi government.  Vice President Abdul Mahdi resigned last week--he was persuaded to stay, at least  temporarily--and others may follow, the Washington Post reports. Discontent stems from Mailiki's apparent inability to curb violence, boost the economy and build power-sharing with the...

Iraq Misses Mark on US Demands
Iraq Misses Mark on US Demands

Iraq Misses Mark on US Demands

Sectarian political deadlock stymies progress on mandated milestones

(Newser) - The Iraqi government has flubbed virtually all of the legal benchmarks proscribed by the US occupation. Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish blocs in Iraq's legislature have so far failed to agree on watershed issues like distributing oil wealth, debaathification, and curbing sectarian violence; now scorekeepers are saying no major legislation will...

US Joins Sunni Militants to Smash Qaeda

Officer on alliance: 'We have made a deal with the devil'

(Newser) - American soldiers in Baghdad's violent Amiriyah district of have formed an unlikely alliance in an effort to root out al-Qaeda In Iraq. US troops are giving guns, and even the power of arrest, to a Sunni paramilitary group—and a week into the partnership, they’ve helped kill or capture...

Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq
Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq

Blair Makes Last Visit to Iraq

PM pays goodbye call amid mortar attack, radio assault from Jimmy Carter

(Newser) - Tony Blair dropped in on Iraq's prime minister today, to assure him the Britain would continue to support the struggling Iraqi government even after he leaves office next month. Blair used the surpise visit to reiterate his confidence that there are "real signs of change and progress" in Iraq,...

Cheney Drops In On Baghdad
Cheney Drops In On Baghdad

Cheney Drops In On Baghdad

VP meets with brass, government, as attacks spread to Kurdistan

(Newser) - Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Baghdad this morning, hours after the White House alerted 35,000 more troops of impending deployment to the fractious capital. Cheney met with top general David Petraeus and top envoy Ryan Crocker, and is expected to consult with PM Maliki and...

Iraqi PM Begs for Debt Forgiveness
Iraqi PM Begs
for Debt Forgiveness

Iraqi PM Begs for Debt Forgiveness

US, Iran, Syria to cross paths at Egypt summit

(Newser) - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is begging other nations to write off Iraq's debt, saying the country needs reconstruction funds. He spoke today at a regional summit that will feature the first high-level talks between the U.S. and Syria since 2005; prospects of Secretary of State Rice sitting down with...

Cabal Pushes Shiite Agenda
Cabal Pushes Shiite Agenda

Cabal Pushes Shiite Agenda

Group working out of Iraqi PM's office is accused of protecting militias

(Newser) - A shadowy group within the Iraqi prime minister’s office is secretly pushing a Shiite agenda and exacerbating sectarianism, CNN reports. The 24-member Office of the Commander in Chief has power over other ministries, which Iraqis say it is using to protect  militias and blacklist commanders not willing to turn...

Bush Doubts Surge Success
Bush Doubts Surge Success

Bush Doubts Surge Success

Privately, Bush seeks to lower expectations on the surge—and the prime minister

(Newser) - The Bush administration is quietly rijiggering its internal expectations for Iraq, senior administration officials have told the New York Times. In spite of a publicly optimistic stance, Bush is already preparing for the possible failure of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's regime and readying to maintain a troop surge well into...

Iraqi PM Calls Off Wall
Iraqi PM Calls Off Wall

Iraqi PM Calls Off Wall

Prime Minister al-Maliki ordered a stop to a wall between a Sunni and Shiite neighborhood

(Newser) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki halted construction of a wall between a Sunni neighborhood and surrounding Shiite areas in Baghdad yesterday, after outraged protests by both Sunnis and Shiites. Al-Maliki said he did not want Iraqis to be reminded of "other walls"—a reference to the barrier being...

Baghdad Blasts Claim Nearly 200 LIives

On bloodiest day since surge, Maliki promises transfer of power by 2008

(Newser) - Nearly 200 people were killed, and more than 200 injured, by five apparently coordinated explosions that rocked Baghdad yesterday. It was the deadliest day since the U.S. troop surge in the besieged capital, and a chilling backdrop to an announcement by PM al-Maliki that Iraqis will be completely in...

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