March 1st Morning Readbook

Vote Seen as Pivotal Test for Both Iraq and Maliki
A few months ago, building on genuine if not universal popularity, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki appeared poised to win a second term as Iraq’s prime minister. Now, as Iraqis prepare to vote in parliamentary elections on March 7, his path to another four years in office has become increasingly uncertain, his campaign erratic and, to some, deeply troubling.


In Iraq, Americans Struggle to Relinquish Control
At 3 a.m. on Feb. 19, U.S. and Iraqi special forces burst into the home of Sheikh Turki Talal, leader of the powerful Ghartani tribe, and hauled the 71-year-old to jail on a terrorism-related arrest warrant.


Iraqi PM accused of handing out guns in bid to buy tribal votes
A senior Iraqi spy has accused the prime minister, Nour al-Maliki, of handing out thousands of guns to tribal leaders in a bid to win votes. The claim was made by Iraqi National Intelligence Service former spokesman, Saad al-Alusi, a week before Iraq's general election, in which allegations of vote buying and exorbitant handouts have become widespread.


Car bombs kill NATO soldier, five Afghans
Bombers targeted the police headquarters in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar and a NATO convoy Monday, detonating car bombs that killed six people including a foreign soldier.


Militants blow up NATO tanker in Pakistan: police
Suspected Islamist militants armed with guns and rockets on Monday blew up a tanker carrying fuel through Pakistan for NATO troops based in neighbouring Afghanistan, police said.


Bomber Called C.I.A. Target Gift From God
In a posthumously released video message, the suicide bomber who killed seven C.I.A. employees on Dec. 30 said that his original target had been his handler from Jordanian intelligence, and that an invitation to meet C.I.A. officers at a remote base in Afghanistan had been an unexpected boon.


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