Arbil, Iraq News

WAM Irbil, 10th Dec. 2009 -- UAE Ambassador to Iraq Abdullah Al Shihi delivered yesterday a message The Prime Minister of Iraq's Kurdistan region, Dr.

Iraqi politicians have reached an agreement on a new version of a stalled electoral law, paving the way for elections early next year, Khalid al-Attiya, the deputy speaker of parliament, has said.

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, is credited as the driving force behind the decision to embrace its neighbours in trade.

The famous Lebanese artist Najwa Karam will be hosting two live concerts in Northern Iraq in the cities of 'Irbil and Al Sulaimanyah' on the 3rd and 4th of December 2009.

IRBIL, Iraq -- Iraq's Kurdish parties have announced the creation of a new Kurdish political bloc ahead of the January general election, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reported.

Date : Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:41:48 +0400 TURKEY'S IDENTITY CRISIS: WHERE IS ANKARA HEADING? Khaleej Times Nov 13 2009 UAE 13 November 2009 There have been many questions raised in recent months regarding Turkey's position on a number of issues which have been viewed in the West, particularly in Washington, with trepidation.

Page 1 of 2 The rise of Rimland? By Robert M Cutler MONTREAL - Recent energy and other developments in Southwest Asia, particularly involving Turkey, Iran and Iraq, sketch the outline of an imminent reorganization of international relations in the region.

Siham Alhad and her daughter-in-law are both widows from the campaign of violence that targeted Christians in Mosul in late 2008.

This undated file photo, released by freethehikers.org, Aug. 20, 2009, shows Americans Shane Bauer, left, and Sarah Shourd.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani says the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party must make dramatic changes if it doesn't want to be rejected by the masses of Kurdish people.

MAKHMOUR, Iraq: Fifteen years after they were driven out by bloodshed, thousands of Kurdish refugees living in a camp in northern Iraq dream of returning to Turkey, but say they will not move unless Ankara grants extensive political and cultural rights to Kurds.

NO SALES This image made from a July 29, 2009 video released Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 by Shon Meckfessel and the families of Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Josh Fattal, shows Shourd dancing in an unfinished cinder block building in the Kurdish city of Irbil, Iraq.

ARBIL, Iraq: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu stressed the importance of ties with Iraq, which he termed Ankara's gateway to the Gulf, on a historic visit to Iraqi Kurdistan on Friday.

Video clips being released today of a Minnesotan and two other Americans shortly before they were captured in Iran nearly three months ago "will prove to Iran" that the three errantly crossed into Iran as mere hikers and did not have political motives in their travels, said one of the captives' mothers.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and State Minister for foreign trade Zafer Caglayan will travel to Iraq on Friday.

The president of Iraq's Kurdish region demanded Wednesday that oil-rich Kirkuk be incorporated into his autonomous area, as parliament prepared for a showdown on the contentious issue of which of the northern city's residents can vote in upcoming elections.

The families of three Americans being held in Iran plan to release video footage that they say proves the three were simply on vacation and had no underhand intentions when they strayed across the border.

"The 'other' Kurdistan seethes with rage By Derek Henry Flood IRBIL - The Qandil Mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan have maintained a reputation for relative tranquility and stability in a diagonal belt across northern Iraq while much of the rest of the country has burned with sectarian nihilism and anti-occupation insurgency." More: Asia Times Online :: ...

The 'other' Kurdistan seethes with rage By Derek Henry Flood IRBIL - The Qandil Mountains in Iraqi Kurdistan have maintained a reputation for relative tranquility and stability in a diagonal belt across northern Iraq while much of the rest of the country has burned with sectarian nihilism and anti-occupation insurgency.

Oil fields in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq have been pumping oil into Iraq's national pipeline system for export to the world market since June.