Iraq political reconciliation talks in doubt (04.04.2012)

(Quelle:BBC)

There is confusion in Iraq over much-heralded political reconciliation talks, which were scheduled to be held in the capital, Baghdad, on Thursday. The meeting was intended to address long-standing differences between the country's political leaders over power-sharing, oil policy and other issues.

Al-Qaeda claims wave of deadly Iraq attacks (21.03.2012)

(Quelle:Al Jazeera)

Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks that killed 46 people across the country this week, and said the violence exposes how weak government security is ahead of the upcoming Arab League summit in the capital, Baghdad.

Iraq’s political Crisis eases as Sunni ministers rejoin the government (07.02.2012)

(Quelle:New York Times)

Iraq’s Sunni ministers returned to the cabinet on Tuesday, an incremental step that eases the tensions of the country’s political crisis but does not end it.

Iraq bloc to end parliament boycott (29.01.2012)

(Quelle:Al Jazeera)

The largest political alliance in Iraq's government has said that it would end its boycott of parliament.

The decision by Iraqiya on Sunday, backed by much of the country's Sunnis and some secular Shias, could ease an ongoing political crisis in the government of Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq's Shia prime minister.

Sunni-backed Allawi says Maliki risks splitting Iraq (18.01.2012)

(Quelle:Washington Post)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is pushing to form a Shiite-controlled government that risks tearing the country apart unless he changes course or is removed from office, a Sunni-backed politician said at a news conference Wednesday.

Top UN official in Iraq urges dialogue to resolve tensions (04.01.2012)

(Quelle:UN News)

In a statement released after his meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in the city of Sulymaniya, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq Martin Kobler urged all political parties in Iraq “to work together in the spirit of partnership” and resolve their differences through “meaningful dialogue.”

Iraq mulls ways to resolve government standoff (30.12.2011)

(Quelle:RFE/RL)

Iraqi political factions are considering several proposals to resolve the government crisis that erupted after an arrest warrant was issued for Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on terrorism charges.

Bombs kill 57 as Iraq mired in political crisis (22.12.2011)

(Quelle:Reliefweb)

A wave of attacks in Baghdad Thursday killed 57 people as Iraq faced a political crisis, with its vice president accused of running death squads and the premier warning he could break off power-sharing.

US to lower flag to end Iraq war (15.12.2011)

(Quelle:BBC)

The American flag has been lowered in Baghdad bringing nearly nine years of US military operations in Iraq to a formal end. The US Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, told troops the operation had been worth the cost in blood and dollars.

NATO: Iraq Training Mission to end on December 31 (12.12.2011)

(Quelle:RFE/RL)

NATO says it will end a police and army training mission in Iraq by the end of the year. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement that the extension of the program "did not prove possible, despite robust negotiations conducted over several weeks."

US withdrawal from Iraq nears completion (07.12.2011)

(Quelle:VOA News)

The United States' eight-year military operation of Iraq is coming to an end. Military commanders in Iraq say the withdrawal of troops and equipment from the country is nearly complete.

Iraqi regionalism and its discontents (05.12.2011)

(Quelle:ISN Security Watch)

The incompetence of Iraq's central governance is fuelling demands for the formation by local provinces of self-governing regions. But such a course is most unlikely to solve the core problems Iraqis are facing.

Iraq would accept U.S. soldiers as trainers (30.11.2011)

(Quelle:New York Times)

Iraq’s prime minister signaled Wednesday that he was open to the eventual return of American troops as trainers, underscoring the reality that the United States is likely to be involved in this country’s security even after the last soldiers depart in the coming weeks.

New report of the Secretary-General (28.11.2011)

(Quelle:S/2011/736)

The report provides an update on the activities of the United Nations in Iraq since the report … of 7 July 2011.

Iraqi military to get around 700 US trainers: officials (23.11.2011)

(Quelle:The Daily Star)

About 700 U.S. mostly civilian trainers will help Iraqi security forces when American troops leave, Iraqi and U.S. officials say, far less than the several thousand troops and contractors once under discussion between Baghdad and Washington.

Huge U.S. air base returned to Iraqi control (09.11.2011)

(Quelle:Reuters)

The U.S. military has handed over to the Iraqi government its 2nd largest Iraq base, a joint army and air force complex that housed some 36,000 American troops and contractors at the peak of the war, U.S. officials said.

All U.S. troops to leave Iraq by the end of 2011 (21.10.2011)

(Quelle:Washington Post)

For months, U.S. and Iraqi officials had been negotiating the terms of an accord that would have kept several thousand U.S. troops in Iraq for special operations and training beyond the year-end deadline.

Iraq army to delay pullout from cities (09.10.2011)

(Quelle:RFE/RL)

The Iraqi military says it is delaying its pullout from the country's cities. The Iraqi military was scheduled to hand over security duties to Iraqi police by the end of the year. But the spokesman for the Baghdad military operations command, Qasim al-Musawi, said the military is worried that the police will not be able to handle security in all areas of the country.

Iraq denies immunity for US troops after 2011 (05.10.2011)

(Quelle:Al Jazeera)

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has won enough backing from Shia, Sunni and Kurdish political blocs to keep some US soldiers in Iraq as military trainers, but without granting them immunity if they commit crimes. Baghdad and Washington must still negotiate over how many troops will stay on and how long they will stay after the December 31 deadline for their withdrawal from Iraq.

Failing oversight: Iraq’s unchecked government – new ICG report (26.09.2011)

(Quelle:International Crisis Group)

Spreading corruption threatens to undermine the significant progress Iraq has made toward reducing violence and strengthening state institutions. “Failing Oversight: Iraq’s Unchecked Government”, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the steady erosion of the credibility of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government resulting from the failure to safeguard institutions against corruption and abuse.

Plan would keep small force in Iraq past deadline (06.09.2011)

(Quelle:New York Times)

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta is supporting a plan that would keep 3,000 to 4,000 American troops in Iraq after a deadline for their withdrawal at year’s end, but only to continue training security forces there, a senior military official said on Tuesday. The recommendation would break a longstanding pledge by President Obama to withdraw all American forces from Iraq by the deadline.

US troops face new threat from Iraqi Shia militia (31.08.2011)

(Quelle:IWPR)

A Shia militia in Iraq has stepped up its attacks on United States troops, warning them to withdraw by the end of December or face an escalation in violence. After remaining fairly quiet for the last couple of years, Asaib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous) has emerged as a fighting force to be reckoned with, responsible among other things for a rocket attack on Baghdad’s Green Zone on July 4.

Iraq's Qaeda asks ex-fighters to return, threatens attacks (08.08.2011)

(Quelle:Reuters AlertNet)

Al Qaeda’s Iraqi affiliate has asked Sunni militia members who turned against the insurgency and joined forces with the U.S. military and the Shi’ite-led government to return to its ranks, threatening to attack those who do not "repent".

German diplomat Kobler to be new U.N. Iraq envoy (05.08.2011)

(Quelle:Reuters AlertNet)

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday named veteran German diplomat Martin Kobler as his next special envoy to Iraq, overseeing the world body’s political, economic and human rights operations there. Kobler, a former German ambassador to Iraq and Egypt, and chief of staff from 2000 to 2003 to then German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, will replace former Dutch politician Ad Melkert as head of the U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI).

Iraq to open talks with U.S. on troop presence past 2011 (03.08.2011)

(Quelle:New York Times)

American officials said Wednesday that an announcement by the Iraqi government that it was ready to open formal discussions with the United States about keeping some troops in Iraq after the end of the year was a positive first step toward resolving the question about the American military’s future presence here.

Iraq less safe than a year ago: US watchdog (30.07.2011)

(Quelle:BBC)

A top US adviser on Iraq has accused the US military of glossing over an upsurge in violence, just months before its troops are due to be withdrawn. Iraq is more dangerous now than a year ago, said a report issued by the US Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, Stuart W Bowen Junior.

Iraqi-Kurd force to take over in Kirkuk after U.S. withdrawal (27.07.2011)

(Quelle:Reuters)

Iraq's experimental Golden Lions security force made up of old foes is getting ready to stand alone as U.S. forces withdraw along the potentially explosive fault line of Kirkuk, the disputed northern oil city.

Overall situation in Iraq improving: UN envoy (20.07.2011)

(Quelle:Xinhua)

There is ground for "cautious optimism" in Iraq, Ad Melkert, who is UN Secretary- General's special representative for Iraq, said here on Tuesday. … Since March the Iraqi government incorporated a power-sharing constitution and guaranteed participation of women and minorities. Regular elections have taken place in line with international standards and in the meanwhile parliament is taking an " increasingly important role" in decision-making, Melkert reported.

New report of the UN Secretary-General (07.07.2011)

(Quelle:S/2011/435)

The report provides an update on the activities of the United Nations in Iraq since the last report (S/2011/213) of 31 March 2011.

Iraq should continue to regulate private military and security firms, say UN experts (16.06.2011)

(Quelle:UN News)

While the number of incidents involving private military and security companies in Iraq has decreased in recent years, the Government should continue to regulate and monitor their activities, a group of independent United Nations human rights experts says.