Iraq

The al-Maliki government and the Sadrists pulled back from the brink in Sadr City on Saturday. PM Nuri al-Maliki had demanded that the Mahdi Army militia that serves as the Sadrist paramilitary give up its arms and dissolve itself. The compromise simply states that the Iraqi security forces would be allowed in to Sadr City […]

AFP reports, “25 killed as Rockets Shatter Basra Calm.” Shiite guerrillas fired a barrage of rockets at the British base out at the airport in Basra, killing two civilians. There was retaliatory fighting in Basra that left more dead. Tina Susman of the LAT has some fun with the Bush administration’s fixation on Iran as […]

The USC Open Source Center translates a statement by a Sunni Salafi cleric in Kuwait that allows that some Arab Shiites in Iraq are “honorable” but not those allied with Iran. Kuwaiti Shaykh Differentiates Between Iraqi Shia Supporting, Opposing IranJihadist Websites — OSC SummaryWednesday, May 7, 2008 . . . Terrorism: Kuwaiti Shaykh Differentiates Between […]

The killing of a US soldier in al-Anbar province by Iraqi guerrillas was announced on Wednesday morning. The Scotsman reports: ‘ IRAQI soldiers yesterday detained dozens of policemen and closed down a hospital suspected of treating Shiite militiamen in a Baghdad stronghold of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army. ‘ It doesn’t seem to me like […]

Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has caused a firestorm of criticism in Iran. AFP writes: ‘ In his speech, Khatami referred to the ambition of Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to export the 1979 Islamic revolution around the world, but expressed fear this wish was being distorted. “What did the imam (Khomeini) mean by […]

The USG Open Source Center translates a discussion on al-Arabiya’s Panorama program about Iranian intervention in Iraq. May 5, 2008 Monday Al-Arabiya discusses Iraq government, Al-Sadr Trend criticism of Iran role [“Panorama” programme moderated by Muntaha al-Ramahi discusses Iran’s intervention in Iraq, the Iraqi Government’s escalatory tone against Iran, Al-Sadr Trend’s criticism of Iran – […]

A roadside bomb almost killed Iraq’s first lady on Sunday in Baghdad, striking her car and wounding three of her bodyguards. Bush is asking for another $70 bn. for next year, most of it for the Iraq War. Will the next president have the courage to put the war in the regular budget and not […]

McClatchy reports that a US missile strike aimed at a suspected Mahdi Army HQ blew out the windows in a hospital next door in the densely populated slum of Sadr City. Flying glass produced by a missile is like lots of little missiles: ‘The rocket strike near Sadr Hospital injured 30 people, shattered the windows […]

Friday prayers were tumultuous in Baghdad’s Sadr City on Friday, as supporters of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr denounced Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for his brutal invasion of their township. Turkey’s bombing campaign on Friday against the Kurdish Workers’ Party guerrillas hiding out in northern Iraq caused the price of oil to rally on Friday. Speculation on […]