Murder Trial of Iraqi VP Starts Without Him
Hemera/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — The Iraqi government Tuesday began the trial of Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who is accused of running death squads that have allegedly killed dozens of Shiite officials.Al-Hashemi, on the lam since being indicted last…
UN Envoy Sees No Deterioration in Iraq’s Security Situation
Rubberball/Mike Kemp(BAGHDAD) — More than four months after the U.S. withdrew nearly all of its troops from Iraq, the security situation there seems to be going as well as can be expected, given the threats from al Qaeda and the local insurgency that …
Iraq to Free Hezbollah Commander Accused in US Troop Slay Plot
Photodisc/Digital Vision/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — In a decision that will likely strain relations between Washington and Baghdad, the Central Criminal Court of Iraq announced Monday that it was freeing a jailed Hezbollah commander who allegedly plotted t…
Group Charges Iraq with Suppressing Press Freedoms
Rubberball/Mike Kemp(WASHINGTON) — Journalists in Iraq have much to fear, a local rights group has charged.That fact was already documented in media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders’ 2011-2012 World Press Freedom Index, which listed Ira…
Islamic Cleric Undertakes Mission to Keep Iraq Unified
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr finds himself in the role of peacemaker in an attempt to calm a crisis that threatens to split Iraq.Al-Sadr, who is pro-Iran and vehemently anti-America, traveled to Iraq’s semi…
Dozens Killed, Wounded in Series of Bombings in Iraq
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — A series of bombings across Iraq Thursday morning left dozens dead and many more injured, marking the deadliest day in the country in nearly a month.Blasts were reported in Baghdad, Baqouba, Dibis, Kirkuk, Samarra and…
Dozens of Boeing Planes Headed to Iraq
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — One of the many casualties of the long war in Iraq was the shuttering of its commercial aviation operations.However, the industry could be up and flying again, with reports that 40 Boeing commercial airplanes will soo…
Iraqi Vice President Claims Bodyguards Tortured to Death
SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images(BAGHDAD) — Iraq’s fugitive vice president is making explosive claims that two of his bodyguards were tortured to death by government security forces in late March, allegedly making it three that have been killed during the…
Iraq Approves First Human Rights Commission
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Baghdad’s current problems notwithstanding, the Iraqi parliament took a positive step to disassociate the country from its violent past by approving the first-ever independent human rights commission.Something that wo…
Former Saddam Crony Appears to Surface in New Video
Salah Malkawi/Getty Images(NEW YORK) — A frail-looking man with a striking resemblance to former Iraqi Vice President Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri has turned up in a video posted on YouTube — the most recent evidence to date that he possibly remains the hi…
Kurdish President Warns of New Iraqi Dictatorship
SAFIN HAMED/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Is Iraq headed toward another Saddam Hussein-style dictatorship?Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, suggested that possibility on Thursday.Barzani, who was in Washington to…
Iraq’s Problems Becoming More Evident to Arab Neighbors
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — The Iraqi government of Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has canceled Thursday’s reconciliation conference with opposition groups just a week after hosting an Arab League summit that Baghdad had used to boast the…
Victim of Possible Hate Crime Buried in Iraq
Comstock/Thinkstock(EL CAJON, California) — An Iraqi woman who was found slain in her California home last month was buried Saturday in her native country.While mourners laid to rest Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old mother of five, in the holy Shii…
Victim of Possible Hate Crime Buried in Iraq
Comstock/Thinkstock(EL CAJON, California) — An Iraqi woman who was found slain in her California home last month was buried Saturday in her native country.While mourners laid to rest Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year-old mother of five, in the holy Shii…
Arab League Summit Gets Off to Shaky Start in Baghdad
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — This was not the way the Iraqi government envisioned things happening as the highly-anticipated Arab League summit got underway Thursday in Baghdad.For one thing, the participants were greeted with rockets, presumably…
Arab League Members to Witness the "New" Iraq at Summit
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — It’s a huge week in Iraq, one that Baghdad says will convince its neighbors just how far the nation has come since it was invaded by U.S.-led forces nine years ago to depose dictator Saddam Hussein.Members of the Arab…
Iraq Rocked by Deadly Attacks Ahead of Arab League Summit
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Insurgents seeking to undermine the Iraqi government’s claims that the country is finally stabilizing after close to a decade of war, launched a series of attacks Tuesday that left dozens dead.The bomb blasts and shoo…
On Iraq War Anniversary, First Lady Solicits Veterans to Campaign
Chris Kleponis/Bloomberg via Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — First lady Michelle Obama, whose advocacy for veterans and their families has defined her tenure in the White House, is now appealing to the constituency for political support for a second Obama …
American Released by Shiite Militia in Iraq After Nine Months
Photodisc/Digital Vision/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — In a move that seemed to take everyone by surprise, a Shiite militia in Iraq freed a former U.S. soldier-turned-contractor over the weekend after he had been held for nine months in captivity.The man was …
Iraq Experiencing Resurgence of Violence
iStockphoto/Thinkstock(BAGHDAD) — Violence is on the rise again in Iraq as militants try to expose flaws in the country’s national security ahead of an Arab summit in Baghdad at the end of the month.The latest incident occurred Wednesday in the northe…