February 2nd Morning Readbook

Female Suicide Bomber Hits Iraqi Pilgrims




Blast kills 54 in Iraq, shaking faith in security forces
A woman who veiled her explosives in a black robe struck a column of Shi’ite pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad yesterday in a suicide attack that Iraqi officials had predicted but could not stop.


Cohn: Afghanistan: Unhappy ending to a very Canadian mission
The mission to remake Afghanistan is at a turning point – a U-turn, in fact. Seventy foreign ministers came to London the other day to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai for lunch. After tea, they served up a new survival strategy aimed as much at saving face as saving lives.


Taliban: Terrorist or not? Not always easy to say
Once considered so entwined that they were twin targets of a U.S. invasion, al-Qaida and elements of Afghanistan's Taliban are now being surgically separated - one careful stitch at a time.


Evidence mounts that Pakistani Taliban leader was killed
Evidence mounted yesterday that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, an extremist Islamic militia with close links to Al Qaeda and a record of major suicide bombings, has died of burns and other injuries he received during a recent US missile strike in Pakistan’s northwest tribal region.


Somalia's Al Shabaab to Ally With Al Qaeda
The militant group al Shabaab said it would ally with al Qaeda in a drive to establish an Islamic state in Somalia and fight for Muslims across East Africa, offering a fresh test for U.S.-backed African peacekeepers struggling to defend a weak Somali government.


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