Editor and Publisher: Former CNN News Chief To Launch 'IraqSlogger' Site

New York Post: 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.

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.

Reuters: An envoy of Iraq's prime minister on Saturday met tribal leaders 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.

AP: President Bush reviewed Iraq strategy with top generals 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.

dpa: Syria's Sunni leader Sheik Salah El-Deen Kiftaroof on Saturday said he 'strongly' supported an agreement between Iraqi Sunni and Shiite religious figures rejecting sectarian violence and calling for peace between different religious sects in Iraq reached in Mecca.

AP: Lawmakers across party lines Tuesday endorsed the prime minister's new plan for stopping sectarian killings, 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. [...]

Sunni tribal leaders who have vowed to drive al Qaeda out of Iraq's most restive province met the Shi'ite premier on Wednesday, 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.

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 said on Sunday. 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. [...]

AP: Iraq's prime minister announced plans to visit Iran on Monday, just days after his deputy returned from the country, accompanied by several top officials. [...]

Reuters: Iraq's prime minister plans to reshuffle his cabinet 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. [...]

AP: Hundreds of Iraqi tribal chiefs gave important support 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."

Reuters: Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged hundreds of tribal leaders 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. "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." [...]

Reuters: Iraq has joined forces with the United Nations and the World Bank to tackle corruption and to boost economic development. [...]

Reuters: Iraq is expected to start talks with major [oil] companies 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. [...]

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” shut down the PKK’s bureau in Bagdat (Baghdad). [...]

Reuters: Iraq's central bank offers a beacon of stability 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.