Nouri al-Maliki

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Gates Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq
Gates Makes
Surprise Visit to Iraq
Jul 28, 2009 3:17 AM CDT

Gates Makes Surprise Visit to Iraq

(Newser) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has landed in Iraq for a surprise visit, the AP reports. He'll meet with troops stationed at a command post in southern Iraq who are largely serving as advisers. He's also expected to see Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and visit the restive Kurdish region....

Iraq Pullout on Target: Obama, Maliki

Obama plays down Iraqi limits on US forces as 'differences in strategy'

(Newser) - President Obama met with Nouri al-Maliki today and vowed to keep to his timetable that has all US forces out of Iraq by 2011, the Washington Post reports. The Iraqi prime minister said that his country’s security forces are now “highly capable” of handling the threat posed by...

Biden Has Tricky Balancing Act on Iraq Visit

(Newser) - High-level officials of Joe Biden's caliber usually stay in places like Iraq for a few hours, max. Biden, however, is now gearing up for the second day of his surprise visit. No wonder: In his new role as a sort of unofficial envoy to the nation, Biden has no small...

Parade, Jubilation Follow US Pullout of Iraqi Cities

Maliki warns media not to question his forces' abilities

(Newser) - Iraq held its first full military parade since the fall of Saddam today—now known as Sovereignty Day—to celebrate the official withdrawal of US troops from cities and towns. The proceedings took place inside the Green Zone and were screened on television, but several media outlets, including the New ...

Iraqis Celebrate 'Sovereignty Day' as US Pulls Back

Maliki declares June 30 'National Sovereignty Day'

(Newser) - Iraqi forces have assumed formal control of security in Baghdad and other cities after US combat troops withdrew from urban areas. A countdown clock broadcast on Iraqi TV ticked to zero as the midnight deadline passed for combat troops to pull back. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has declared a public...

Iraq's Upbeat Mood Angers US Officials

(Newser) - Baghdad's festive mood this weekend has left some Washington officials and military leaders simmering, the Guardian reports. While Iraqis prepare to celebrate US troops' withdrawal from city streets tomorrow, American officials say that local forces have gone untrained, forcing US troops to sustain casualties. Worse, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said...

Maliki Not Above Arresting Rivals as Iraq Election Looms

(Newser) - PM Nouri al-Maliki looks a lot like a strongman these days, using every lever at his disposal to influence Iraq’s January elections, the Washington Post reports. His men have arrested or threatened political rivals in Diyala province and Basra; last month they even arrested a councilman from the Iraqi...

Suicide Bomb Kills 50 in Iraq
 Suicide Bomb Kills 50 in Iraq 
updated
Jun 20, 2009 10:35 AM CDT

Suicide Bomb Kills 50 in Iraq

Blast at Shia mosque occurs hours after PM's warning

(Newser) - At least 50 people were killed in Iraq today when a truck bomb detonated near a crowd of worshipers leaving a Shiite mosque near Kirkuk, Reuters reports. The bombing occurred only hours after Nouri al-Maliki warned the country that terrorist violence may increase as the planned June 30 withdrawal of...

Iraq PM Influenced Obama Torture Photo Decision

(Newser) - “Heavy pressure” from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki helped convince President Obama to oppose the release of Abu Ghraib torture photos sought by the ACLU, McClatchy reports. “Baghdad will burn,” Maliki reportedly told military officials. The administration cited objections from generals as the reason for the change...

Iraqi Hospitals Crumble as Drugs Vanish

(Newser) - Filthy, bug-infested Iraqi hospitals still lack basic equipment and supplies that could save thousands of lives, McClatchy reports. With sectarian violence down, doctors and aid groups are blaming government corruption for the nation's health woes. "The government has money," said a fourth-year resident at a Baghdad hospital....

Iraq, Economy Stalling, May Be Broke by Next Year

Drop in oil price has gutted nation's income

(Newser) - Some people thought Iraq wouldn't be affected by the worldwide economic downturn, says an Iraqi economist. "Those people were stupid." At the very least, they were wrong: Sales of consumer goods are in the basement, along with real estate, and the unemployment rate hovers around 25%. Surpluses from...

Iraq PM Vows to Prosecute US Troops After Fatal Raid

First time Iraq has threatened prosecution against American soldiers

(Newser) - Iraq’s prime minister is threatening the country’s first prosecution of US troops after two Iraqis were killed yesterday morning in a US raid, the Washington Post reports. Nouri al-Maliki said the raid violated a security agreement that bans unilateral American action; the US says Iraq’s military had...

Iraq Spurns Baathists Despite US Prodding

(Newser) - Despite entreaties from Washington, Iraq’s majority-Shiite government is hardening its stance against the outlawed Sunni-dominated Baath party, the New York Times reports. Blamed by some for recent bombings of Shiites, Baathists are “filled with hate from head to toe," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said this week, after...

Iraqi Lawmakers End Standoff, Pick Speaker

Sunni engineer vows to work with Shiites, expedite reforms

(Newser) - Iraq ended months of political paralysis today by selecting Ayad al-Samarai as its new parliamentary speaker, the BBC reports. An even-tempered Sunni engineer, al-Samarai failed to win a big enough majority for 4 months because of fears he sought to oust Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Los Angeles Times...

Obama Makes Surprise Detour to Iraq
 Obama Makes 
 Surprise Detour to Iraq 
UPDATED
Apr 7, 2009 11:05 AM CDT

Obama Makes Surprise Detour to Iraq

(Newser) - President Obama made an unannounced stop today in Baghdad, where he told some 600 US troops at Camp Victory that it's time for Iraqis to "take responsibility for their country" after America's commitment of six years and thousands of lives. "You have given Iraq the opportunity to stand...

Iraq Victory Vindicates Bush
 Iraq Victory Vindicates Bush 
OPINION
Mar 25, 2009 11:15 AM CDT

Iraq Victory Vindicates Bush

(Newser) - They called it Bush’s folly, a lost cause, even the worst foreign policy mistake in US history. “Even now, there are those who cannot bring themselves to utter the words ‘victory’ and ‘Iraq’ in the same sentence,” writes Jeff Jacoby of the Boston Globe. “...

Maliki Charts Post-Sectarian Politics in Iraq
Maliki Charts Post-Sectarian Politics in Iraq
analysis
Mar 20, 2009 7:04 AM CDT

Maliki Charts Post-Sectarian Politics in Iraq

Shiite PM teams with secular Sunnis and even militant cleric

(Newser) - The Shiite party of PM Nouri al-Maliki has allied itself with Sunni political figures and even Moqtada al-Sadr, a major departure from earlier politics that followed ethnic and sectarian lines. writes Anthony Shadid in the Washington Post. All support a strong central government and advocate a united Iraq over a...

Looted Iraq Museum Partially Reopens

PM backs controversial move; much of building still shut

(Newser) - Iraq’s National Museum reopened yesterday for the first time since its 2003 looting made it a symbol of post-invasion bedlam, the New York Times reports. But with only eight of 26 rooms functional, its reopening symbolizes as much the long road ahead as it does Iraqi reconstruction thus far,...

Iraqi Kurds Fear a Resurgent Baghdad

Arab-Kurdish tensions intensify as country's safety improves

(Newser) - Now that violence between Sunni and Shia Arabs is declining across Iraq, tensions are mounting again between Arabs and Kurds, who want Barack Obama to step in to cool off conflicts, the Economist reports. Oil and land disputes, political losses and an empowered central government have weakened the Kurds, who...

Iraq PM Shrugs Off US as Sarko Cozies Up

In his first visit to Baghdad, French prez seeks oil, influence

(Newser) - French prez Nicolas Sarkozy, whose predecessor led international opposition to the Iraq war, paid a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday in an attempt to raise his country's profile in the region. Sarkozy met with PM Nouri al-Maliki, who used a joint news conference to slap at recent US pressure to...

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