Middle East

The instability of the Iraqi south was on display Friday, as a doomsday cult attacked police and religious mourners on the eve of Ashura’, the holiest day of the Shiite Islamic calendar. The clashes in Basra and Nasiriya left at least 80 dead and 90 wounded according to the LAT. The cities were under curfew […]

Al-Zaman reports in Arabic that women activists on Thursday organized a conference in Baghdad to protest the increasing problem of women being targeted for killing, especially by religious militias. They said that more than 100 women have been killed in Basra, 250 in Kirkuk province, and 50 in Diyala. McClatchy reports on Shiite hopes that […]

The USG Open Source Center translates an interview with the police chief of Basra, Staff Maj-Gen. Abdul Jalil Khalaf. Therein, Khalaf denies that Iran is playing a negative role and stirring turmoil in the southern port city of 1.5 million. Khalaf was appointed by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki about six months ago. He is therefore […]

In the small town of Khan Bani Saad in Diyala Province east of Baghdad, a woman suicide bomber killed 9 Shiites and wounded 15 at a market just before a major religious holiday. Meanwhile, in nearby Salahuddin Province, guerrillas deployed small arms fire to kill 3 US troops: ‘ SALAHUDDIN PROVINCE – Three U.S. soldiers […]

So whatever happened to Fallujah? Hard to get news from the city. Can they drive personal cars again, yet? Apparently the US military has built blast walls around each of 10 districts in the city. As the US prepares to withdraw from al-Anbar, there are worries about there not being enough local police to provide […]

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that altogether 150 deputies in parliament (well over a majority) signed a memorandum of agreement aimed at resolving the most contentious issues facing Iraq. For their part, the Kurds considered the new alliance as a “wave against them.” Al-Hayat also says the PM Nuri al-Maliki is conducting extensive talks with the […]

The USG Open Source Center translates a statement by Shiite clergyman Muqtada al-Sadr condemning Bush’s Middle East tour. “Iraq: Muqtada al-Sadr Statement Condemns President Bush’s Mideast VisitIraq – OSC SummaryMonday, January 14, 2008 . . . Al-Amarah Militant Al-Amarah News Network in Arabic — website associated with the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, url: http:// al3marh.net/ […]

Several Sunni, Shiite and secular political parties have come together in a new pact aimed at challenging the dominant coalition of the Kurdistan Alliance and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). They appear to aim at blocking the formation of a Shiite regional confederacy in the South. They also want to stop oil-rich Kirkuk […]

PM Nuri al-Maliki called for widened political participation. He appears to be working on a compromise that might bring the parties of Iyad Allawi and Tariq al-Hashimi/ Adnan Dulaimi back into his government. Ammar al-Hakim, called on the Iraqi Accord Front and the National Iraqi List to rejoin the al-Maliki government, giving al-Maliki some support. […]