Iraq News

" - " Baghdad will play host to an international film festival next month, the first major cinematic event in the war-ravaged capital in more than two years, an Iraqi film director said on Sunday. via Times of Oman

“Coalition forces will continue to retain physical custody of the defendants until this issue is resolved”

US forces will not hand over "Chemical Ali" and two other cohorts of Saddam Hussein for execution until a legal row is settled, the US embassy said on Monday, responding to a bitter attack by Iraqi Prime ... via News24.com

“They understand that freedoms don't come free and they are willing to make sacrifices even before they reap the benefits of citizenship.”

WASHINGTON : U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff spent Sunday in Iraq, where he participated in a ceremony for 178 foreign-born service members to become U.S. citizens. via International Herald Tribune

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused the U.S government of thwarting attempts to execute former members of Saddam Hussein's government. via Toronto News.Net

TIKRIT, Iraq, Nov. 10 -- Iraqi insurgents blew up a roadside bomb under an oil pipeline in the central province of Salahudin on Saturday, setting up a huge fire, a provincial police source said. via Peak Oil News & Message Boards- Forums

An American soldier has been acquitted of murder charges in the deaths of three Iraqis but was convicted of lesser charges, the U.S. military said Sunday.

Army Staff Sgt. Michael Hensley of Candler, N.C., had been charged with premeditated murder in the three deaths, which occurred April 14, April 27 and May 11 during operations south of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

Hensley, a sniper and the scout platoon sergeant for 1st Battalion, 501st Airborne, was acquitted of those charges by a military court last Thursday, the U.S. statement said. Read more

“This was the craziest thing in the world”

As the insurgency in Iraq escalated in the spring of 2004, U.S. officials entrusted an Iraqi businessman with issuing weapons to Iraqi police cadets training to help quell the violence. via StarTribune

“Exactly, it's on the Internet. That's where he got it too!”

In late 2002, two strong-willed CIA officers, identified only as Beth and Margaret, were at daggers drawn. via Deseret Morning News - Opinions

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - A pretrial hearing for an eastern Idaho soldier accused of killing an unarmed Iraqi man is set for Saturday in Baghdad. via Times-News

Four anti-Al Qaeda tribal leaders have been killed in a suicide attack inside a house in the volatile province of Diyala in Iraq, a provincial police and the US military said Saturday. via India eNews

“While our troops are quelling violence and defeating terrorists in Baghdad and throughout Iraq, Democrats in Washington are trying to choke off funds for our troops in the field”

U.S. Army soldiers from Demon Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division react after coming under fire, leaving one soldier wounded, right, in western Mosul, 360 kilometers ... via Topeka Capital-Journal

An influential Sunni sheikh active in the reconciliation movement against al Qaeda in Iraq died early Thursday evening in a suicide attack in Khalis, a village about 50 miles north of Baghdad, police said. via SI.com

“We are just construction workers, trying to get to our jobs. We were riding in the minibus when the explosion went off”

Roadside bombs exploded next to two minibuses ferrying Iraqi laborers to work early Saturday, killing at least four people in separate attacks, police said. via Jerusalem Post

“It's a fundamental lack of experience. ... I mean it's great to have led a major city. I mean, his post-crisis handling was fine. But that certainly doesn't mean you're qualified to lead.”

Bernard Kerik did an irresponsible job training police in Iraq, presidential contender John McCain said Friday, adding to criticism of Kerik as Rudy Giuliani's former police commissioner surrendered to face ... via Post-Standard

The spending bill goes to the President. It would help bridge most of the estimated $3.5 Billion shortfall in the Road Home Program. via KPLC-TV Lake Charles

IRAQI and US forces killed 14 suspected insurgents and detained 44 more in raids over the past 48 hours in northern Iraq. via Scotsman.com News

As of Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, at least 3,860 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes eight military civilians. At least 3,144 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

The AP count is five higher than the Defense Department's tally, last updated Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT.

The British military has reported 171 deaths; Italy, 33; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 21; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11; Denmark, seven; El Salvador, five; Slovakia, four; Latvia, three; Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, Romania, two each; and Australia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, South Korea, one death each. Read more

“All nine individuals were determined to no longer pose a security risk”

Nine Iranians were released Friday from U.S. custody in Iraq, the American military said.

The nine included two men _ identified by the military for the first time as Brujerd Chegini and Hamid Reza Asgari Shukuh _ who were among five people captured when U.S. forces stormed an Iranian government office in the northern city of Irbil in January.

At the time, U.S. officials accused them of being members of Iran's elite Quds Force, an arm of the Revolutionary Guards. Iran said the five were diplomats working in a facility that was undergoing preparations to be a consular office. Read more

“This is not a blank check for the president”

U.S. Army Sgt. Robert Clemons, left, and Sgt. Joshua Rodriguez of Demon Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division wait for news on a wounded comrade after their patrol came ... via Tuscaloosa News

“We want them to turn back ... to participate in the process of building and developing this country”

BAGHDAD * Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki hailed the release of 450 detainees from US detention centres yesterday and urged them to help improve security in the country. via The Peninsula