Arab World

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 […]

For those of you with access to BBC World, the best 24 hour news channel in the English-speaking world check out the Doha Debate this weekend. I was one of the debaters in Qatar. Press coverage: The Christian Science Monitor The blurb: ‘ Watch the latest Doha Debate: ‘This House believes the Sunni-Shia conflict is […]

A double suicide bombing killed 35 and wounded 66 at a wedding party in Baladruz, a city northeast of Baghdad in troubled Diyala province. In Baghdad, 1 US soldier and 8 Iraqis were killed by a roadside bomb targeting a US convoy. In a sign of a reinvigorated American Left, longshore workers declined to come […]

Madhavi Bhasin writes from Calcutta: The Bush administration says it is waging a global war to fight terrorism and defeat Al-Qaeda. The human, financial and psychological costs of the war on terror have been immense. The U.S. is attempting to adopt every possible military and non-military approach to meet the challenges in Iraq and Afghanistan– […]