Archive for September, 2008

Iraq says doctors can carry guns (Reuters)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

A member of the Special Police Commandos walks inside an emergency room in Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad September 14, 2007. (Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud/Reuters)Reuters - Doctors in Iraq will have the right to carry guns to protect themselves, the government said on Monday, in a bid to address the security concerns of a profession that has been targeted by gangsters and militants.

Al-Maliki says security pact in US, Iraqi interest (AP)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

AP - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said in an interview Monday that reaching a new security accord with the United States is essential to both sides, but that any deal reached must respect Iraqi interests.

Iraq hunts for Baghdad bombers (AFP)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Debris is strewn across the road at the site of a blast near a Shiite Mosque in Baghdad's Shurta neighbourhood. Iraq has vowed to hunt down the perpetrators of a spate of bombings that killed 33 people and wounded more than 100 in Baghdad as the Muslim month of Ramadan draws to a close.(AFP/Ali al-Saadi)AFP - Iraq on Monday vowed to hunt down the perpetrators of a spate of bombings that killed 33 people and wounded more than 100 in Baghdad as the Muslim month of Ramadan draws to a close.

US ambassador appeals for patience in Iraq (AP)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker answers a question during an interview with the Associated Press in Baghdad, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008.  Ambassador Crocker criticized Iran for trying to block a new security agreement between the United States and Iraq. In an interview with The Associated Press on Sunday, Crocker said a steady stream of public statements from clerical and political figures in Tehran make it clear that Iran is interfering in the bilateral negotiations between Iraq and the United States. The talks must conclude by the end of 2008. The ambassador says Iran wants to keep Iraq 'off-balance' to be able to control events in its Arab neighbor to its satisfaction.  (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)AP - U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker on Sunday accused Iran of trying to interfere with a new security pact between Iraq and the United States, and said Americans need to view Iraq with “a sense of strategic patience” because the stakes in the region are so high.

Baghdad bombs kill at least 32 (Reuters)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Policemen inspect a burnt vehicle at the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad's Karrada district, September 29, 2008. (Saad Shalash/Reuters)Reuters - Four bombs killed at least 32 people and wounded scores in busy districts of Baghdad on Sunday as Iraqis shopped and broke their fast for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, police said.

US military deaths in Iraq war at 4,174 (AP)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

A mother hugs her son following his release from a US military prison in Baghdad on September 20. American authorities have freed 2,404 detainees in four weeks of Ramadan, the US military said, still short of the 3,000 the military promised in early September to release during the Muslim fasting month.(AFP/File/Ahmad al-Rubaye)AP - As of Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008, at least 4,174 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Spate of Baghdad bombings kills 33 (AFP)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

The Iraqi flag flutters as US soldiers secure a street in the former restive district of Dora in southeastern Baghdad on September 25, 2008. At least 33 people were killed in a spate of bombings in Baghdad on Sunday, including three attacks which struck as Iraqis marked the end of the daily Ramadan fast, security officials said.(AFP/File/Ahmad al-Rubaye)AFP - At least 33 people were killed in a spate of bombings in Baghdad on Sunday, including three attacks which struck as Iraqis marked the end of the daily Ramadan fast, security officials said.

Iraqi Christians protest at election law (AFP)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Iraqi Christian women are pictured in April 2008. Crowds of Iraqi Christians protested on Sunday against a newly approved provincial election law, saying the legislation failed to represent the interests of the minority community.(AFP/File/Sabah Arar)AFP - Crowds of Iraqi Christians protested on Sunday against a newly approved provincial election law, saying the legislation failed to represent the interests of the minority community.

Tit-for-tat Kurds reverse Saddam's 'ethnic cleansing' (AFP)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

Iraqi Kurdish mathematics teacher Mohammed Aziz recounts his story at his home in the northeastern town of Khanaqin on September 24, 2008. Aziz, 37, was just four years old when his family was evicted from Bawaplawi village, near the town of Khanaqin in 1975 and Arab settlers grabbed their home. Today he lives in a former Arab-owned house which he occupied since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.(AFP/File/Ali Yussef)AFP - For Iraqi Kurdish mathematics teacher Mohammed Aziz, two wrongs can make a right. After decades of forced exile by the Baath party of Saddam Hussein, he is back with a vengeance.

Iraq PM seeks safeguards for Christians (Reuters)

Monday, September 29th, 2008

A nun holds a rosary as she attends Christmas mass at Mar eleya church in Baghdad December 25, 2007. (Thaier al-Sudani/Reuters)Reuters - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sought safeguards on Sunday for Christians and other minorities who have complained that they have lost guaranteed seats in provincial councils under a new election law.