March 4th Morning Readbook

Iraq expats in Jordan ready to vote




U.S. failure to neutralize Shiite militia in Iraq threatens to snarl pullout
A failed effort by the United States to neutralize a powerful Shiite militant group in Iraq has left in place a dangerous force whose attacks on American troops threaten to complicate the U.S. drawdown, according to American and Iraqi officials. The group, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, kidnapped an American defense contractor last month, and U.S. officials say its members appear to be forming alliances with other Shiite militias to attack Baghdad's Green Zone and U.S. military bases with rockets.


Following Suicide Attacks, Early Voting Begins in Iraq
With security forces on a heightened state of alert before Sunday’s national elections, early voting began Thursday morning as hundreds of thousands of Iraqis began making their way to the polls, among them the infirm, people with special needs and members of the military and the police.


Early voting begins in Iraq




UN envoy says it's 'time to talk' to the Taliban
he head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said Thursday that it's "high time" a political solution is found with the Taliban to resolve the more than 8-year-old conflict. "It's time to talk," Kai Eide said. In his last news conference as the U.N. representative, Eide said he hoped a spring peace jirga — or conference — that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is organizing would result in a national consensus for peace that the entire nation could rally around.


Yemen arrests 11 Qaeda suspects
Yemeni security forces arrested 11 Al-Qaeda suspects in a residential area of the capital Sanaa, killing one man during the operation, the defence ministry's 26sep.net news website has reported. The man killed, who was the father of one of the suspects, opened fire on security forces, wounding one of them, before being shot dead, the website said.


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