Iraq

Baghdad, September 15: The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush was released Tuesday after nine months in prison, and he said Iraqi security forces tortured him with beatings, whippings and electric shocks after his arrest.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, whose stunning act of protest last December made him a hero around the Arab and Muslim worlds, said he now feared for his life and believed that U.S. intelligence agents would chase after him.

Baghdad, September 15: An Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at then U.S. President George Bush was released from prison on Tuesday, his brother said.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, whose act of defiance during a news conference last December summed up the feelings of many Iraqis towards the former U.S. leader, was met outside jail by some parliamentarians who support his case, Uday al-Zaidi said.

—Agencies

Baghdad, September 13: ave raided the home of a Kurdish policeman in the northern city of Kirkuk, killing his wife and three children.

Officials say the attackers entered the policeman’s home while he was away early Sunday, and shot his wife and children as they slept.

In other violence in Kirkuk, militants set off two roadside bombs targeting Iraqi security patrols on Sunday, wounding at least three policemen.

Tahren, September 13: In Iraq, where parliamentary elections are scheduled for January, religious Shiite parties still dominate the political scene.

But with local politics in flux, Iraqis are beginning to question how far they want to follow these religious Shiite leaders, who are flexing their muscles after decades of being repressed by Saddam Hussein’s largely Sunni regime. Liberal voices, though still in the minority, say Iraqis’ preference for a relatively secular society may yet come to the fore.

Baghdad, September 12: A massive car bomb exploded close to a major army base and the Iraqi health ministry in Baghdad killing at least three people and wounding dozens on Saturday, security and health officials told AFP.

The bomb exploded at 12.35 pm (0935 GMT) next to the former site of the country’s defence ministry, which is now used by the Iraqi army, an interior ministry official said, giving the death toll.

An official at Medical City Hospital in the capital said 35 people were being treated for injuries.

Baghdad, Sepyember 12: Prisoners started a fire during a riot at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison, U.S. and Iraqi officials said, resulting in some injuries before wardens began evacuating the jail that became notorious for U.S. detainee abuse.

Namir Mohammed, a local council member in western Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib district, said the inmates set fire to mattresses on Thursday following a search of the facility for mobile phones and banned drugs or medication.

Baghdad, September 12: The Iraqi TV journalist who threw his shoes at then-president George W. Bush will be showered with gifts including a four-bedroom house — and at least one potential bride — upon his imminent release from jail.

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, 30, is scheduled to be freed Monday after spending nine months in prison for assault, according to Dhiya al-Saadi, his lawyer.

Al-Zeidi hurled both shoes at Bush during a Baghdad news conference last December to protest the U.S. presence in Iraq. Bush ducked twice and was unhurt; the incident was replayed numerous times on TV.

Baghdad, September 10: A suicide truck bomber hit a residential area of a Kurdish village in northern Iraq before dawn Thursday, killing at least 19 people and injuring 30 others, officials said, in what appeared to be the latest in a string of ethnic attacks in the region.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, but it bore the hallmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni insurgents who remain active in Mosul and surrounding areas.

Baghdad, September 08: Iraqi police and health officials say a Health Ministry official escaped an assassination attempt when a roadside bomb hit his convoy in eastern Baghdad, but one ministry employee died in the blast.

Three people in the four-vehicle convoy and four bystanders were also wounded in the attack on Tuesday that appeared directed at Dr. Ali Bustan al-Fartosi, who is in charge of eastern Baghdad’s medical facilities.

The officials said the doctor escaped unharmed.

The police official said it was not known why the doctor was targeted.

London, September 01: At least 1,000 people are currently facing the death sentence in Iraq which has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, the human rights group Amnesty International said in a report Tuesday.

The report said 150 of the people under sentence of death had exhausted all legal remedies available and were therefore at serious risk of being hanged.

“Iraq now has one of the highest rates of execution in the world,” said the Amnesty report. It added that it had never been possible to ascertain the exact number of executions.

Baghdad, September 01: The son of the late leader of Iraq’s largest Shiite political party acknowledged setbacks and reached out to political rivals Tuesday as he formally replaced his father at the party’s helm.

Ammar al-Hakim, 38, takes the reins of the Iranian-backed Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council amid skepticism about whether he can hold the organization together as the group struggles to regain its footing ahead of January’s parliamentary elections.

Baghdad, August 31: The son of the late leader of Iraq’s largest Shiite political party was chosen Monday to take the reins of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a party official said.

The choice of Ammar al-Hakim to succeed his father, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, was widely expected. But there have been questions whether the relatively inexperienced son can hold the organization together during a politically sensitive time in Iraq.

Baghdad, August 31: The suicide truck bomber who targeted Iraq’s Foreign Ministry in one of the most deadly attacks this year had recently been freed from U.S. custody, an Iraqi investigator said Sunday, raising fresh concerns that former detainees will return to violence.

The revelation came as the government added more fodder to its allegations that Syria has been used as a launching pad for violence in Iraq, broadcasting a confession from a man who said he received militant training in the neighboring country.

Baghdad, August 29: Two truck bombs struck separate communities north of Iraq’s capital on Saturday, killing at least 16 people in the latest attacks that indicate insurgents are targeting relatively unprotected areas as security forces focus on defending the cities.

The Iraqi government is eager to demonstrate it can protect the population following the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban areas nearly two months ago. But a recent series of high-profile bombings that have killed hundreds in both major cities and remote areas has raised concerns Iraqi forces are not up to the task.

Baghdad, August 29: A suicide bomber killed at least four people and wounded six in an attack at a police station north of Baghdad on Saturday, Iraqi police said.

The attack occurred at about 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) near the town of Shirqat, 300 km (190 miles) north of Baghdad, in Salahuddin province.

Iraq is struggling to recover from a rash of violence that has raised questions about the durability of security gains, including truck bomb attacks that killed almost 100 people near government ministries on Aug. 19.

Iraq, August 28: Iraqi MPs have called for an emergency session of parliament next week to address the security concerns following recent attacks, the parliament’s deputy speaker has said.

The call on Friday followed a meeting of Iraq’s political blocs and the ministers of defence, interior and national security, which recommended a review of security measures.

The decision aims at dealing with the fallout as anger mounted over truck bombings against key government institutions that killed at least 101 people on Wednesday.

Baghdad, August 25: Getting ready for next year’s general elections, Iraqi major Shiite powers unveiled a new political coalition on Monday, August 24, with Shiite Premier Nouri al-Maliki conspicuous by his absence.
“To the brothers who are not joining us today, for any reason, we want their participation and we want to share responsibilities with them,” former premier Ibrahim Jaafari, a leading figure of the new alliance, said told a televised news conference.

Baghdad, August 23: Facing widespread criticism over security lapses, the Iraqi military on Sunday broadcast the confession of a Sunni man identified as the mastermind of one of two suicide truck bombings targeting government buildings in Baghdad.

The announcement comes as Iraqi lawmakers and other top officials have traded blame and called for investigations into how the bombers drove trucks past checkpoints and positioned them close to government institutions.

Baghdad, August 23: Five members of Iraq’s security forces accused of robbing a bank and killing security guards stood trial Sunday in a session disrupted by angry outbursts from relatives of those killed.

One relative attacked a defendant and another was dragged from the courtroom screaming obscenities.

Baghdad, August 23: Workers used giant cranes to raise concrete walls around the blast-scarred Foreign Ministry and other government buildings on Saturday, as Iraqi authorities sought to bolster security after suicide truck bombings that killed scores in Baghdad.

The decision to reinforce vital institutions is a sharp reversal of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s desire to remove the barriers as part of his efforts to make life more normal for war-weary Iraqis before January’s national elections.

Baghdad, August 22: Some worshippers stayed away from mosques Friday, offering their traditional prayers at home. Markets had fewer-than-usual shoppers. Parks were strangely uncrowded — unusual for a hot August day.

The normally bustling streets of Baghdad were subdued, in sharp contrast to the lively atmosphere that had been creeping back as major violence ebbed the past two years.

Baghdad, August 21: Al Qaeda in Iraq is the most likely suspect behind massive truck bombings targeting major government institutions in Baghdad.

But the Prime Minister and other Shi’ite politicians also linked Saddam Hussein loyalists to the attacks, an allegation that may indicate a more political tilt to the violence ahead of January’s Parliamentary Elections.

Analysts and Iraqi lawmakers said the steadily escalating attacks are clearly aimed at undermining the government and Iraqi security forces at a sensitive time and warned that political rhetoric is stoking the tensions.

New Delhi, August 20: In a significant decision to help Indians in distress abroad, Government today decided to set up a special fund in 18 missions to meet emergency expenses on providing food, shelter, legal aid and other welfare activities for them.

A meeting of the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved setting up of the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), which would be backed by a budgetary support of Rs 480 lakhs for three years, besides resources from charging cess on consular services and donations from the local Indian community.

Baghdad, August 20: A bicycle bomb exploded near a restaurant in Baghdad Thursday killing two people in a deadly reminder of Iraq’s security problems as the death toll rose to at least 101 from a string of blasts the day before that mainly targeted heavily guarded government buildings.

More than 500 people also were wounded when nearly simultaneous truck bombs struck Iraq’s Foreign and Finance ministries on Wednesday — the deadliest day of coordinated bombings in more than a year.

Baghdad, August 19: Baghdad and Damascus have agreed to work together to improve security amid ongoing concerns that foreign fighters are crossing the desert border from Syria to reinforce armed groups in Iraq.

At a meeting in the Syrian capital on Tuesday, Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, and Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, agreed to form a “high-level strategic co-operation council” to work on areas of mutual concern.