tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-98169802024-02-28T07:58:05.405ZIraq Elections newswireUp-to-the-minute news stories, opinion, and blog posts on the Iraqi politicial scene.Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comBlogger491125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-9127021123496318362007-03-14T09:23:00.000Z2007-03-14T09:25:57.354Z<p>AP: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki fears the Americans will torpedo his government if parliament does not pass a law to fairly divvy up the country's oil wealth among Iraqis by the end of June, close associates of the leader <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070314/D8NRL91G0.html">told The Associated Press on Tuesday</a>.
The legislature has not even taken up the draft measure, which is only one of several U.S. benchmarks that are seen by al-Maliki as key to continued American support, a crucial need for the survival of his troubled administration.
Aside from the oil law, the associates said, American officials have told the hardline Shiite Muslim prime minister that they want an Iraqi government in place by year's end acceptable to the country's Sunni Arab neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt.
"They have said it must be secular and inclusive," one al-Maliki associate said. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-59408642085500465882007-03-13T21:15:00.000Z2007-03-13T21:17:22.265Z<P>AP: Iraq's Shiite prime minister on Tuesday <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070313/D8NR78OG0.html">made a groundbreaking and unannounced visit</a> to Ramadi, the Sunni insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad, a senior staff member told The Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had flown to the insurgent bastion Tuesday morning. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-75652407820234503092007-03-04T08:07:00.000Z2007-03-04T08:09:03.290Z<p>AP: Iraq's prime minister said Saturday <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070304/D8NL52G80.html">he will reshuffle his Cabinet</a> within two weeks and pursue criminal charges against political figures linked to extremists as a sign of his government's resolve to restore stability during the U.S.-led security crackdown in Baghdad. [...] Al-Maliki has been under pressure from the U.S. to bring order into his factious government of Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds since it took office last May. Rumors of Cabinet changes have surfaced before, only to disappear because of pressure from coalition members seeking to keep power.
Nevertheless, al-Maliki said there would be a Cabinet reshuffle "either this week or next."
After the changes are announced, al-Maliki said he would undertake a "change in the ministerial structure," presumably consolidating and streamlining the 39-member Cabinet.
The prime minister did not say how many Cabinet members would be replaced. But some officials said about nine would lose their jobs, including all six Cabinet members loyal to radical anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, an al-Maliki ally.</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-15094954999091236782007-02-27T15:20:00.000Z2007-02-27T15:21:50.909Z<p>BBC NEWS: <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6399257.stm">Breakthrough in Iraq oil standoff</a>. Iraq's cabinet has approved a draft oil law which aims to equitably share revenues from its oil revenues among the country's ethnic groups.
The bill - allocating oil revenues between Iraq's 18 provinces based on their population levels - must now be submitted to parliament for a vote. </p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1168147968377024372007-01-07T05:28:00.000Z2007-01-07T05:32:49.176Z<p>From the wonderful new Iraq news site <a href="http://www.iraqslogger.com/">IraqSlogger</a>:</p>
<p>(<a href="http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/587">article link</a>) Az-Zaman headlined in its international edition: “the American forces abort an Iranian coup in Iraq”. Az-Zaman claimed that an Iranian intelligence operation was underway to “form a pro-Iranian government in Iraq after removing al-Maliki’s government”. The paper added that the ‘coup’ was to be carried out in conjunction with Iraqi ‘heads of militias and pro-Iranian officials’. The paper quoted a ‘British source’ who said that the ‘plan’ was aborted when the American forces arrested five Iranian intelligence operatives during a ‘high-level meeting’ with Shi`a politicians. The aim of the meeting, according to the British source, was to negotiate a post-Maliki political arrangement and determine the viability of the government and the Shi`a coalition after the Da`wa party –one of the constituents of the Shi`a bloc- was tarnished by the process of Saddam’s execution. [...]Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1167828428176585382007-01-03T12:46:00.000Z2007-01-03T12:47:08.576Z<p>AP: <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070103/D8MDQ02G0.html">Saddam Co-Defendants to Be Executed Thurs.</a></p>
<p><i>Preparations are under way to hang two of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants on Thursday but the details still have to be worked out with the American military, an Iraqi government official said Wednesday.
Saddam's half brother Barzan Ibrahim, a former intelligence chief, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, the former chief justice of the Revolutionary Court, were originally scheduled to hang with Saddam, who was put to death on Saturday.
But their execution was delayed until after Islam's Eid al-Adha holiday, which ends Wednesday for Iraq's majority Shiites.
Al-Arabiya satellite television and Al-Furat TV, run by Iraq's major Shiite Muslim political organization, both reported Wednesday that Ibrahim and al-Bandar would go to the gallows on Thursday.[...]</i></p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1167624368961259122007-01-01T04:05:00.000Z2007-01-01T04:06:09.230Z<p>AP: Hundreds of Iraqis flocked to the village where Saddam Hussein was born on Sunday to see the <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070101/D8MC85HG1.html">deposed leader buried</a> in a religious compound 24 hours after his execution.
Saddam's body was transferred by American helicopter to the U.S. military base at Tikrit, 80 miles north of the capital, officials in Tikrit said. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1167452877042546602006-12-30T04:27:00.000Z2006-12-30T04:28:04.913Z<p>AP: <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061230/D8MAUI500.html">Iraqi TV Says Saddam Hussein Executed</a></p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1167426003214489922006-12-29T20:59:00.000Z2006-12-29T21:00:03.590Z<p>AP: Saddam Hussein <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061229/D8MANU481.html">will be executed</a> no later than Saturday, said an Iraqi judge authorized to attend his hanging. American and Iraqi officials met to set the hour of his death. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1166592774785157722006-12-20T05:32:00.000Z2006-12-20T05:33:06.300Z<p>Editor and Publisher: <a href="http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003521055">Former CNN News Chief To Launch 'IraqSlogger' Site</a></p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1163513523147070482006-11-14T14:10:00.000Z2006-11-14T14:12:05.860Z<p><a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/11142006/postopinion/opedcolumnists/double_edged_uncertainty_opedcolumnists_amir_taheri.htm">New York Post</a>: Most Iraqis knew little or nothing about America in 2003 when the U.S.-led Coalition forces entered Baghdad. Since then, most have learned at least one thing about the United States: Like a fickle monarch, it could wake up one morning and reverse whatever it was committed to a day before.
This may be a naive, even unfair, perception of America. But it is the one around which most players in Iraqi politics have built their strategies.
</p><p>
The Shiites, grateful though they are to America for having helped them win power for the first time, feel obliged to have a insurance policy for when (not if) the Americans cut and run. This is why all prominent Iraqi Shiite politicians have been to Tehran.
That insurance, however, comes at a price. Iran's rulers insist that the new Iraq turn a blind eye to the activities of Shiite militias, created and armed by Tehran with Hezbollah support.
And, because they are unsure of American steadfastness, the Shiites are pressing for a federal structure that would give them 90 percent of Iraq's oil regardless of what happens next. That, together with the increased activities of Shiite death squads, enrages the Arab Sunnis. </p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1161453233865130332006-10-21T17:44:00.000Z2006-10-21T17:53:54.203Z<p>Reuters: An envoy of
Iraq's prime minister on Saturday <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061021/ts_nm/iraq_amara_dc">met tribal leaders</a> in the southern town of Amara in efforts to ease the tension after fierce battles between militia gunmen and police.
National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waeli, sent to Amara on Friday by prime minister Nuri al-Maliki to restore order, said the clashes, which left at least 25 dead in two days, had been fueled by tribal divisions.
</p>
<p>AP: President Bush <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061021/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush">reviewed
Iraq strategy with top generals</a> for a second day in a row amid increasing election-season pressure to make dramatic changes to address deteriorating conditions.
Gathered around a Roosevelt Room conference table with Bush were Gen. John Abizaid, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East; Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld; Bush's national security adviser,
Stephen Hadley; and other officials. Vice President
Dick Cheney and Gen. George Casey, who leads the U.S.-led Multinational Forces in Iraq, joined in by videoconference.</p>
<p>dpa: Syria's Sunni leader Sheik Salah El-Deen Kiftaroof on Saturday said he 'strongly' <a href="http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/article_1213205.php/Syrias_Sunni_leader_supports_Mecca_call_for_peace_in_Iraq">supported an agreement</a> between Iraqi Sunni and Shiite religious figures rejecting sectarian violence and calling for peace between different religious sects in Iraq reached in Mecca. </p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1159900559537461912006-10-03T18:34:00.000Z2006-10-03T18:36:33.030Z<p>AP: Lawmakers across party lines Tuesday <A href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061003/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq">endorsed the prime minister's new plan for stopping sectarian killings</a>, but Shiite and Sunni leaders still must work out details of how to put aside sharp divisions and work together to halt the bloodshed. [...] The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been under intense pressure to put an end to Shiite-Sunni violence that has killed thousands of people this year. This week, gunmen carried out two mass kidnappings in as many days, abducting 38 people from their workplaces in Baghdad — attacks that Sunnis said were carried out by Shiite militias.
On Monday night, al-Maliki announced a four-point plan aimed at uniting the sharply divided Shiite and Sunni parties in his government behind security efforts to stop the bloodshed.
[...]
Al-Maliki's plan, signed by all sides, aims to resolve disputes by giving every party a voice in how security forces operate against violence on a neighborhood-by- neighborhood level. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1159392098242825412006-09-27T21:15:00.000Z2006-09-27T21:21:39.296Z<p> Sunni tribal leaders who have vowed to drive al Qaeda out of
Iraq's most restive province <A href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060927/ts_nm/iraq_dc">met the Shi'ite premier on Wednesday</a>, marking what Washington hopes will be a breakthrough alliance against Islamist militants.
But this good news for the U.S.-backed government regarding Anbar province came as the leader of the Kurdish region in the north threatened to secede if Baghdad tried to exert influence over his territory's oil wealth.</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1157914091907221452006-09-10T18:47:00.000Z2006-09-10T18:48:12.523Z<P>AP:
Iraq's best chance to boost its languishing oil output is by working with major international companies under production-sharing agreements, Iraq's deputy prime minister <A href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060910/ap_on_bi_ge/iraq_oil">said on Sunday</a>.
Barham Saleh said Iraqi leaders were nearing agreement on a long-awaited hydrocarbon law that would allow potentially huge investments by foreign companies in Iraq's oil sector. He was hopeful that oil would be a "unifying force," but conceded that wrangling continued over whether it would be controlled locally or by the central government.
Saleh said he expected the law setting ground rules for managing Iraq's huge petroleum reserves to be approved in parliament by year's end. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1157829371071617272006-09-09T19:15:00.000Z2006-09-09T19:16:11.806Z<P>AP: Iraq's prime minister announced <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060909/D8K18EJ00.html">plans to visit Iran</a> on Monday, just days after his deputy returned from the country, accompanied by several top officials. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1156697375086425492006-08-27T16:48:00.000Z2006-08-27T16:49:35.486Z<p>Reuters: Iraq's prime minister <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060827/ts_nm/iraq_reshuffle_dc">plans to reshuffle his cabinet</a> just 100 days after it was formed because of frustrations with some ministers' performance and disloyalty among others, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih told Reuters.
In a weekend interview, he said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would make the changes soon in an "important signal" of commitment to efficiency in his national unity coalition and to his efforts to rally factions behind a reconciliation plan to avert civil war.
Some changes will involve the movement of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, several political sources said on Sunday. A key player in the government formed in May after months of wrangling, Sadr denies his Mehdi Army militia runs some of the sectarian death squads behind much recent violence.
"There will be a government reshuffle. There will be some changes in a number of cabinet portfolios," Salih, the most senior Kurdish official in the cabinet, said.
"It's only natural for the prime minister and the political leadership to contemplate reshuffling and changing to improve the ability of the government," he added. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1156619672434825652006-08-26T19:11:00.000Z2006-08-26T19:14:36.673Z<p>AP: Hundreds of Iraqi tribal chiefs <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060826/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq">gave important support</a> Saturday to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's national reconciliation plan, while the government leader called the release of a leading Sunni Arab lawmaker by kidnappers a gift to his unity campaign.
Al-Maliki won endorsement of his program for bridging religious, ethnic and political divisions at a national conference of tribal chiefs. A representative of the chiefs read their agreement on live television, calling it a "pact of honor."</p>
<p>Reuters: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060826/ts_nm/iraq_dc">urged hundreds of tribal leaders</a> gathered in Baghdad on Saturday to unite to end the bitter sectarian bloodshed between Sunnis and Shi'ites that has raised fears of civil war.
<i>"Iraq needs all of its sons during this stage. There is no difference between Sunnis and Shi'ites," he told the meeting, the first in a series to promote dialogue between the warring sects as part of his national reconciliation programme.
"Yes, we differ in opinion and that's a healthy sign but we must hold dialogue to solve our problems," Maliki said.
"The liberation of the nation from any foreign hand cannot be without national unity, the unity that our forefathers built during hundreds of years."</i> [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1154563753865238492006-08-03T00:05:00.000Z2006-08-03T00:09:14.370Z<p>Reuters: Iraq has <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f18f76b6fe89e298f61ea28dd758aa25.htm">joined forces</a> with the United Nations and the World Bank to tackle corruption and to boost economic development. [...]</p>
<p>Reuters: Iraq is expected to <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/GEO247098.htm">start talks with major [oil] companies</a> in two months to develop its oilfields and some are eager to begin work even before a hydrocarbon law is in place, its oil minister said on Wednesday. [...]</p>
<p>Zaman Daily News (Turkey): Positive developments have begun to occur after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced harsh reactions to the US and Iraqi administrations regarding their stance over the outlawed terrorist organization, Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK).
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said they were serious about the fight against the terror organization and would “immediately” <a href="http://www.zaman.com/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20060802&hn=35300">shut down the PKK’s bureau</a> in Bagdat (Baghdad). [...]</p>
<p>Reuters: Iraq's central bank <a href="http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L02107786.htm">offers a beacon of stability</a> in a country on the brink of civil war, but the governor is still forced to use safe houses for meetings with guests too scared to visit his headquarters downtown.</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1154079632233523562006-07-28T09:39:00.000Z2006-07-28T09:40:32.923Z<p>Washington Post op-ed: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/27/AR2006072701215.html">Do or Die Against Iraq's Death Squads</a></p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1153770884226919322006-07-24T19:53:00.000Z2006-07-24T19:54:44.613Z<p>Reuters: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday his country <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060724/ts_nm/iraq_dc">will not slide into civil war</a> but acknowledged that mounting sectarian violence is now killing 100 civilians a day.</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1152732524378390782006-07-12T19:26:00.000Z2006-07-12T19:28:44.750ZIraq status report<p>Via <a href="http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/">The Belmont Club</a>, the full transcript of ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's <a href="http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2006/07/khalilzad-on-iraq.html">Iraq status report</a>.</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1151728473978482092006-07-01T04:33:00.000Z2006-07-01T04:34:34.116Z<p>Financial Times (UK): Iraq's national reconciliation initiative has paved the way for government contacts with insurgents and should be seen as only a <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f0a37fa0-089d-11db-b9b2-0000779e2340.html">first step towards a political solution to the conflict</a>, according to Iraq's vice-president.
Adel Abdel-Mehdi, senior Shia official and vice-president in the new government, told the Financial Times that other measures would follow the plan unveiled last Sunday and deemed by many analysts to be vague and incomplete.
In an interview during a visit to London, Mr Abdel-Mehdi said contacts with insurgents had been going on for some time but the reconciliation plan had now made dialogue an official policy.
He also left the door open to a broadening of an am-nesty offer after Nuri al-Maliki, the prime minister, this week insisted it would exclude anyone who had killed American troops or Iraqis. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1150588081245263802006-06-17T23:45:00.000Z2006-06-17T23:48:01.450Z<P>AP: <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060617/D8I9S2N00.html">Analysis: Iraq PM Challenged by Insurgency</a></p>
<p>IranMania: According to an AFP report, Iran will next month <a href="http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=43747&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs">host a conference on security in Iraq</a> gathering representatives from Iraq's neighbours, Egypt, the Arab League and Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said.</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9816980.post-1150473819542174712006-06-16T16:02:00.000Z2006-06-16T16:03:39.820Z<p>AP: A top government official said Friday that Iraq has an <a href="http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060616/D8I98SSG1.html">agreement to take over security responsibilities</a> from foreign forces in southern Iraq this month.
Deputy Prime Minister Salam Zikam Ali al-Zubaie was responding to a Japanese news report that British, Australian and Japanese troops will transfer security responsibilities in southern Iraq to Iraqi authorities next week, and soon withdraw from the area.
"There is an agreement to take over the security responsibilities from the British, Australian and Japanese forces in southern Iraq during this month," al-Zubaie said. "There is such a plan and such news is not based on nothing. We hope that the Iraqi security forces will live up to their duties there. It is the dream of all Iraqis that our forces will handle security issues all over Iraq."
The Kyodo News agency, citing people close to the coalition forces, reported that British officials told their counterparts in the other two countries last week that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will announce the transfer of security authority in southern Iraq on Tuesday.
Officials in the Iraqi prime minister's media office said they could not confirm or deny the report. [...]</p>Jeff Garzikhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11664909333009539129noreply@blogger.com