No image available
/ 10 April 2008

US air strikes hit Sadr City, street clashes ease

United States air strikes killed 10 people in the eastern Baghdad militia stronghold of Sadr City, Iraqi police said on Thursday, but street fighting eased after four days of clashes that have killed close to 90 people. The Sadr City slum has since Sunday been the focal point of battles between black-masked Mehdi Army militiamen and security forces.

No image available
/ 9 April 2008

US commander to halt Iraq troop withdrawals

The top United States commander in Iraq told Congress on Tuesday he plans to stop US troop withdrawals in July due to fragile security gains and heard appeals for quicker action to find a way to end the war. Appearances by General David Petraeus and the US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, drew US presidential candidates.

No image available
/ 7 April 2008

Iraq’s leader threatens to bar cleric from vote

Iraq’s prime minister has raised the stakes in his showdown with followers of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, saying in an interview broadcast on Monday they would be barred from elections unless their militia disbanded. The comments followed raids on Sunday by security forces into the cleric’s Baghdad stronghold, the slum of Sadr City.

No image available
/ 17 March 2008

Dick Cheney makes Iraq visit

United States Vice-President Dick Cheney, an architect of the US-led invasion of Iraq, made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Monday to assess the success of a troop build-up five years after the war began. Cheney arrived as Republican candidate John McCain, who will be the Republican choice in November’s presidential election, was meeting Iraqi leaders.

No image available
/ 24 February 2008

Oil giants poised to move into Basra

Western oil giants are poised to enter southern Iraq to tap the country’s vast reserves, despite the ongoing threat of violence, according to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s business emissary to the country. Basra has been described as ”the lung” of Iraq by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

No image available
/ 11 February 2008

Gates eyes pause in US troop cuts in Iraq

United States Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in Baghdad on Monday he was in favour of a short pause in troop drawdowns from Iraq after about 30 000 soldiers have been sent home by July. Gates said the security situation in Baghdad remained ”fragile”, a comment echoed on the streets of the capital, which was rocked by two car bombings.

No image available
/ 14 January 2008

Bush urges Arab allies to confront Iran

United States President George Bush on Sunday ratcheted up rhetoric over Iran, lambasting it as ”the world’s leading sponsor of state terror”, and urging America’s closest Arab allies to confront it ”before it is too late”. ”Iran’s actions threaten the security of nations everywhere,” he declared in Abu Dhabi.

No image available
/ 19 December 2007

Putin is Time magazine’s person of the year

Time magazine named Russian President Vladimir Putin its person of the year for 2007 on Wednesday, saying he had returned his country from chaos to ”the table of world power” though at a cost to democratic principles. ”He’s not a good guy, but he’s done extraordinary things,” said Time managing editor Richard Stengel.