US worried about need for warrants in Iraq (16.12.2008)

(Quelle:Washington Post / USA)

U.S. soldiers preparing for raids study maps, examine photos of wanted men and check their weap-ons. Starting next month, they'll have to go see a judge. For nearly six years, American troops have been free under a U.N. mandate to search any home and detain anyone deemed a security risk. All that changes next month, when the mandate expires and a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement takes ef-fect.

US troops to stay in Iraq cities: commander (13.12.2008)

(Quelle:Middle East Times / USA)

US troops will stay in Iraqi cities in a support and training role even after a June target date set for a pullback by a new security agreement between the two governments, the top US commander in Iraq said on Saturday. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates met General Raymond Odierno on an unan-nounced visit to the US air base of Balad north of Baghdad to discuss plans for US forces after the new status of forces agreement with Iraq comes into force in the New Year.

Official history spotlights Iraq rebuilding blunders (13.12.2008)

(Quelle:New York Times / USA)

An unpublished 513-page federal history of the American-led reconstruction of Iraq depicts an effort crippled before the invasion by Pentagon planners who were hostile to the idea of rebuilding a for-eign country, and then molded into a $100 billion failure by bureaucratic turf wars, spiraling violence and ignorance of the basic elements of Iraqi society and infrastructure. The history, the first official account of its kind, is circulating in draft form here and in Washington among a tight circle of techni-cal reviewers, policy experts and senior officials.

As Iraqis head closer to polls, UN finances thousands of election training sessions (13.12.2008)

(Quelle:UN News / International)

A United Nations development agency announced today that over 150,000 Iraqi civilians, some in the remotest areas of the country, have been trained in the electoral process in programmes it has financed ahead of upcoming elections. The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) awarded micro-grants to 75 Iraqi non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to run activities educating relevant sec-tions of the population about imminent provincial polls and national ballots.

Iraq pull-out may begin in March (10.12.2008)

(Quelle:BBC / UK)

British forces could begin pulling out of Iraq by next March, a senior defence source has revealed to the BBC. The UK has been negotiating the legal basis on which its forces can stay when its UN mandate expires at the end of the year.

Campaigns get under way for provincial elections in Iraq (09.12.2008)

(Quelle:New York Times / USA)

With provincial elections scheduled for Jan. 31, Iraqi politicians began campaigning on Tuesday, taking advantage of voters’ free time as Iraqis celebrated the three-day Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha.

Iraq violence at 5½ year low, Petraeus says (09.12.2008)

(Quelle:Washington Post / USA)

Violence in Iraq has in the past few weeks fallen to its lowest level since summer 2003 and security gains, while still at risk of reversal, are less fragile than before, General David Petraeus said on Tuesday.

Iraq outlines regional plan for security, development (09.12.2008)

(Quelle:Middle East Times / USA)

Iraq on Tuesday outlined plans for a new regional economic and security partnership to promote peace and prosperity, in a speech delivered by its official spokesman during a visit to Washington.

Iraq security contractors face end to immunity (08.12.2008)

(Quelle:Washington Post / USA)

Private security guards in Iraq, whose armored convoys once barreled through the streets with impunity, could face being thrown into crowded and violent Iraqi jails once their era of legal immunity ends on January 1. Under a security pact signed with the United States, foreign contractors, including some 30,000 armed-to-the-teeth private warriors, will become subject to trial in Iraqi courts.

Iraq's oil-rich Basra province seeks autonomy (07.12.2008)

(Quelle:Middle East Times / USA)

Iraq's independent electoral commission announced plans on Sunday to collect signatures in support of a referendum to transform the oil-rich province of Basra into an autonomous region.

Troop pullout to leave U.S. and Britain as Iraq force (06.12.2008)

(Quelle:New York Times / USA)

A majority of the foreign troops that have been part of the multinational coalition in Iraq will depart in the next few weeks or have already done so, because they will no longer have the authority to operate in Iraq when the United Nations resolution authorizing their presence expires December 31.

New orders for US troops in Iraq after landmark pact (05.12.2008)

(Quelle:Middle East Times / USA)

The top US military commander in Iraq on Friday issued new orders to troops after the Iraqi government approved a landmark military pact that will give it increased control over their operations.

Clash in Iraq over a plan for councils intensifies (03.12.2008)

(Quelle:New York Times / USA)

A power struggle between Iraq’s prime minister and the Kurdish regional government intensified on Wednesday, when Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki rejected Kurdish arguments that he could not create new tribal councils that would answer to his government. The disagreement cuts to the heart of a broader dispute taking place in northern Iraq, particularly around Mosul and Kirkuk.

Human rights abuses continue in Iraq, despite security improvement, UN reports (02.12.2008)

(Quelle:UN News / International)

Grave rights abuses persisted in Iraq during the first half of this year, including targeted killings of professionals, assaults on minorities, alleged widespread torture of detainees and attacks against women, despite great improvements in general security, according to a new United Nations report released today.

Kurds defend policies in sharp rebuke to Iraqi government (01.12.2008)

(Quelle:New York Times / USA)

The Kurdish regional government released a pointed rebuttal on Monday to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki’s recent criticism of its policies, in a sign of growing fault lines between the Kurds and Iraq’s central government. Mr. Maliki gave a speech on Nov. 20 in which he said the Kurds were pursuing several unconstitutional policies, including the development of an oil business independent of Baghdad and the opening of representative offices in foreign countries. His government has also criticized the activities of Kurdish defense forces, known as peshmerga, outside the region.

UN-Iraqi monitors promise clean local elections (30.11.2008)

(Quelle:Middle East Times / USA)

The UN special envoy to Iraq and local election commissioners unveiled new measures designed to prevent fraud during provincial elections. … The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq will be assisting Iraq's Independent High Election Commission in holding elections on January 31 in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces - the first vote in the country since 2005. To date the UN mission has trained some 40,000 election observers in Iraq and the Washington-based National Democratic Institute has trained an additional 20,000 monitors.

End of immunity worries U.S. contractors in Iraq (30.11.2008)

(Quelle:New York Times / USA)

When the Iraqi government ratified an agreement last week setting new terms for a continued American presence in Iraq, private contractors working for the Pentagon faced the inevitability that they would be stripped of their immunity from Iraqi law. That immunity had been granted by the Coalition Provisional Authority before a postwar Iraqi government was established.

Rocket kills 2 contract workers at U.N. compound in Baghdad (29.11.2008)

(Quelle:New York Times / USA)

A rocket fired into the Green Zone here about 6:15 a.m. Saturday struck a spot near the United Nations compound, killing two contract employees and wounding 15 others, said Eliane Nabaa, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq.

Iraq-US push for pact to take effect quickly (29.11.2008)

(Quelle:Middle East Times / USA)

Maliki, US ambassador Ryan Crocker and the commander of American forces General Ray Odierno discussed "immediate measures to activate the agreement," the prime minister's office said in a statement. "They also discussed technical means of disengaging Iraq from Chapter Seven, the issue of detainees, positions held by American troops, the Green Zone and airspace," the statement said.

Iraq delays vote on US withdrawal (26.11.2008)

(Quelle:BBC (UK))

The Iraqi parliament has delayed until Thursday a crucial vote on a plan to withdraw all US troops from the country by the end of 2011. Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said agreement had been reached on all points under discussion except one, but gave no further details.

Iraqi foes of security deal seek to shield assets (23.11.2008)

(Quelle:New York Times (USA))

Iraqi lawmakers opposed to the proposed security agreement with the United States have seized on a new argument that has emerged only in recent days: the accord does not explicitly protect Iraq’s vast oil wealth and other assets from seizure to satisfy billions of dollars in legal claims against the former government of Saddam Hussein. An extension of this protection, which is guaranteed in the soon-to-expire United Nations resolution that the security agreement is meant to replace, will have to be negotiated separately, a wide range of Iraq and American officials who support the security agreement acknowledged Sunday.

Iraq's neighbors discuss security cooperation (23.11.2008)

(Quelle:Washingtonm Post (USA))

A top U.S. official in Syria said Sunday that militants driven out of Iraq continue to pose a threat and urged Iraq's neighbors not to tolerate them. U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires Maura Connelly told a conference of Iraq's neighbors held in Syria that the militant groups continue to receive weapons, training, funding and guidance from abroad.

Iraqis protest against troop deal (21.11.2008)

(Quelle:BBC (UK))

Iraqis protest against troop deal

U.S. troops in Baghdad take a softer approach (20.11.2008)

(Quelle: Washington Post; USA) Focus shifts to reconciling factions. … With violence down sharply this year, the U.S. military is broadening its efforts to reconcile Sunnis and Shiites, reintegrate former insurgents into society and repair the rift between residents and their government. … The U.S. reconciliation campaign includes some major projects, but much of the American effort is decentralized, consisting of reconstruction programs, peace marches and meetings with rival tribal leaders over platters of rice and lamb.

Brawl halts session of Iraqi Parliament (20.11.2008)

(Quelle: New York Times; USA) A session of Iraq’s Parliament collapsed in chaos on Wednesday, as a discussion among lawmakers about a three-year security agreement with the Americans boiled over into shouting and physical confrontation.

Premier of Iraq is quietly firing fraud monitors (17.11.2008)

(Quelle: New York Times; USA) The government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is systematically dismissing Iraqi oversight officials, who were installed to fight corruption in Iraqi ministries by order of the American occupa-tion administration, which had hoped to bring Western standards of accountability to the notori-ously opaque and graft-ridden bureaucracy here.

Iraqi and American critics of security pact speak up (17.11.2008)

(Quelle: New York Times; USA) Iraqi and American critics of a security agreement governing American troops in Iraq voiced their ob-jections on Monday, a day after the Iraqi cabinet approved the pact and sent it to Parliament for rati-fication. In Iraq, opposition has created an unlikely association between the followers of the anti-American Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, who rejected the agreement out of hand, and some Sunni politicians, including ones who support the deal but are trying to wrest concessions from the Iraqi government.

US pullout of Iraq should depend on conditions: Mullen (17.11.2008)

(Quelle: Middle East Times; USA) US military leaders are comfortable with a 2011 deadline for the withdrawal of all US forces from Iraq but it should depend on conditions on the ground, the US military chief said Monday. "I do think it is important that this be conditions-based," Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

UN official welcomes creation of human rights commission (17.11.2008)

(Quelle: UN News; International) The top United Nations official in Iraq today welcomed the country’s establishment of an independ-ent commission to promote and protect human rights in the troubled Middle East country.

Iraq cabinet backs US troops deal (16.11.2008)

(Quelle: BBC; UK) The Iraqi cabinet has approved a security pact with the US governing the future presence of 150,000 US troops in the country, officials have said. Under the deal, US troops will withdraw from the streets of Iraqi towns next year, leaving Iraq by the end of 2011. The decision will need to go before Iraq's parliament for a final vote.