Al-Maliki to Face No-Confidence Vote? As Many as 150 Dead in “Turkmen Massacre” Readers sometimes ask me if analyzing the news from Iraq every day doesn’t get me down. It got me down today. Sunni Arab guerrillas, unable to operate as effectively in Baghdad because of the US troop surge, had a suicide bomber drive […]
Archives for July 2007
Pakistan Mosque Tensions Rise
Musharraf Warns Militants of Death See Manan Ahmed’s excellent analysis of the crisis in Pakistan at our group blog. He points out that the militant Red Mosque was an ally of the United States and the Pakistani government in the 1980s, when they were fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. On Saturday and early Sunday, Pakistan’s […]
Pakistani Army Moves In Takes Faridia
Pakistani Army Moves in Takes Faridia Seminary Standoff at Red Mosque Pakistani troops took the Faridia Seminary attached to the Red Mosque on Friday. On Saturday morning, the army continued to move in on the mosque itself, amid sounds of explosions. The clerical leader there, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, has been talking about fighting to the […]
Car Bomb Kills 22 Clashes In Samawah
Car Bomb Kills 22 Clashes in Samawah Parliament vote on Oil Bill Murky Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that parliament is scheduled to debate the draft petroleum bill on Saturday. It says that the Sadr Movement, loyal to fundamentalist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is rumored to be ending its boycott of parliament. The absence of those […]
Shiite Wedding Bombed Sadrists Reject
Domenici Calls for Change of Course Shiite Wedding bombed Sadrists Reject Oil Law Republican Senator Pete Domenici has joined the small but expanding ranks of Republicans in Congress who are demanding a change of course in the Iraq War, having lost faith in the surge. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called for Iraqi security forces […]
Human Shield Fears Grow Over Besieged
Government Troops advance on Red Mosque Pakistani troops moved in on the Red Mosque complex early Friday morning, engaging in fierce gun battles with the remaining militants within On Thursday, the standoff between the militants within and the Pakistani government had continued. About 50 of the several hundred remaining hold-outs had surrendered, and the leader, […]
Iraqi Parliament Fails To Reach Quorum
Buyukanit Implies US Soft on Terrorism Major engagement near Baquba kills Dozens Iraqi Parliament fails to Reach Quorum Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that the Iraqi parliament was unable to reach a quorum on Wednesday. As a result, it postponed discussion of pending legislation, including bills on petroleum, on the distribution of petroleum receipts, and on […]
Pakistani Radical Cleric Captured From
Red Mosque Leader Arrested in Burqa Dawn reports, ‘ Maulana Aziz was caught after a group of 50 burqa-clad women from the mosque started screaming as they were taken to a nearby school for security checks after giving themselves up, saying the procedure was un-Islamic. “Our officers spotted his (Aziz’s) unusual demeanour. The rest of […]
Massive Street Battle In Pakistans
Massive Street Battle in Pakistan’s Capital Army versus Muslim Militants Dawn reports on the fierce fighting in the streets of Islamabad between radical fundamentalists and the army loyal to secular general Pervez Musharraf, which left 21 dead (including one soldier) and 150 injured. The government’s Interior Minister had recently warned of the spread of Taliban-type […]