May 7th Morning Readbook

Shia blocs form new Iraq alliance 




Fear of bloodshed in Iraq as Iran-backed bloc tries to take power
Two months after landmark elections, the State of Law party of Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister, and the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which is dominated by Moqtadr al-Sadr, the radical cleric, announced that they would jointly form a new government. The deal was apparently put together with the help of the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, which maintains close ties with Shia political parties. They expect to have a narrow majority in parliament.


Iraq vote winner asserts right to form government
The leader of Iraq's top vote-getting coalition in the inconclusive March elections is saying that his bloc still has the right to form the next government. Ayad Allawi returned to Iraq after touring the Mideast since his cross-sectarian Iraqiya party eked out a slim lead in the balloting. He met with the heads of other political parties late on Thursday.


Pakistani Taliban Are Said to Expand Alliances
The Pakistani Taliban, which American investigators suspect were behind the attempt to bomb Times Square, have in recent years combined forces with Al Qaeda and other groups, threatening to extend their reach and ambitions, Western diplomats, intelligence officials and experts say.


Pakistani Taliban: NY bomb attempt a 'brave' act
The Pakistani Taliban on Thursday denied any role in the botched car bombing in Times Square but praised the suspect for a "brave job," as New York authorities pressed him on his claims of terrorist training.


Obama talks about Afghanistan, Pakistan with national security team
It seems likely the Times Square bombing attempt came up today at President Obama's national security meeting on Afghanistan and Pakistan, though officials aren't saying much.



The main headlines on Al Jazeera

Comparison of Iraq's 2005 & 2010 Elections

Voter Turnout

2005     79.6%
2010     62.4%


Shiite-Dominated Parties

2005 Total                          5,021,137

United Iraqi Alliance         5,021,137

2010 Total                           4,884,149

State of Law Coalition        2,792,083    
National Iraqi Alliance       2,092,066

Change                               -136,988 or -2.7%


Kurd-Dominated Parties
    
2005 Total                           2,799,860

Democratic Patriotic
Alliance of Kurdistan         2,642,172
Kurdistan Islamic Union        157,688

2010    Total                           2,554,442

Kurdistan Alliance                1,681,714
Gorran                                      476,478
Kurdistan Islamic Union          243,720
Islamic Group of Kurdistan     152,530

Change                                   -245,418 or 8.7% decrease


Sunni-Dominated Parties

2005 Total                                 3,317,504

Iraqi Accord Front                    1,840,216
Iraqi National List                        977,325
Iraqi National Dialogue Front      499,963

2010  Total                                 3,454,485

Al-Iraqiya                                  2,849,612
Unity Alliance of Iraq                  306,647
Iraqi Accord Front                        298,226

Change                                       +136,981 or 4.1% increase

Non-Fictional Baathists Attempting Comeback

Members of Syria-based Iraqi factions attend the Baath Party's first public meeting in Damascus, dedicated to "the national Iraqi resistance." (AFP/Louai Beshara)


It is hard to determine who will make a greater come-from-behind, the Taliban or the Baath Party. Saddam's outlawed cadre has been used as a political straw man by the Shiite-dominated and Iranian-allied democratic Iraqi government since 2009. Recently, the Baath held their first public meeting in Damascus calling for a reunification of the party. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki blamed the Al Qaeda in Iraq bombing campaign in Baghdad on the Baath in Syria, a claim the Baathists denied. Maliki's accusations deteriorated relations with Syria. It will be interesting to see Maliki's reaction to this Baathist convention in Syria as he continues his attempt to steal the parliamentary election.



Saddam's loyalists in Syria blast US
Supporters of Iraq's late dictator Saddam Hussein gathered in Damascus Thursday to denounce the U.S. "occupation" of Iraq and demand that his loyalists unite. About 500 Saddam loyalists, including members of his outlawed Baath Party, vowed to continue their support to what they called "Iraqi national resistance," a term they widely use to describe Iraqi insurgents attacking only U.S. forces.


Iraq's banned Baath holds first public meeting in Syria
Iraq's banned Baath party, booted out of power in the 2003 US-led invasion, held its first public meeting in the Syrian capital on Thursday. "We have launched negotiations to reunite the party," Ghazwan Qubaissi, the number two in a wing led by Mohammed Yunes al-Ahmad, a former governor of Mosul under now executed dictator and Baath chief Saddam Hussein, told AFP.

Return of the Mahdi Army

Graphic courtesy of globalsecurity.org


If we look at the bell curve chart of violence in Iraq, we notice that the steep rise began when the Mahdi Army initiated a genocidal campaign with the support of Iraqi forces against the Sunnis. This occurred during the goverment formation period in 2006. We also notice the steep drop in violence just after Muqtada al Sadr ordered the Mahdi Army to stand down.

Due to the actions of a "defeated" and "decapitated" Al Qaeda in Iraq, Muqtada al Sadr has called for the return of the Mahdi Army.


Iraqi Cleric Calls on Followers to Defend Against Attacks
An influential Shi'ite cleric in Iraq is urging followers to defend Shi'ite communities after a series of blasts killed at least 69 people throughout Iraq Friday.

The most deadly attacks targeted Shi'ite neighborhoods and mosques in Baghdad's Sadr city, where a movement led by anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is based. 

Sadr released a statement late Friday calling on his followers to form brigades within the police force and army to defend their places of worship, homes and communities.  Sadr said they must not rely on U.S. forces in Iraq to defend themselves.


Anti-U.S. cleric offers Iraq government help after attacks
Anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr offered to help the Iraqi government maintain security after bomb attacks against Shi'ites killed 56 people in Baghdad in an apparent backlash by Sunni insurgents.

Sadr's offer of the use of his paramilitary Mehdi Army late Friday was made at a sensitive time for Iraq following a March election that produced no clear winner and left a power vacuum for insurgents to exploit.


Iraq govt says Sadr security help not needed
The Iraqi government said on Saturday that an offer by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr to help boost security at strategic sites was unnecessary, in the wake of anti-Shiite attacks in Baghdad.

April 20th Morning Readbook (Iraq Edition)

A paper displays photographs of a man the Iraqi government claims to be al-Qaida leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi at a news conference in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 19, 2010. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)


Two top leaders of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq are killed in raid
The two top leaders of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq were slain in a U.S. airstrike over the weekend, a decisive tactical victory for American and Iraqi forces and one that provides Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with additional political leverage at a crucial time.


Iraq announces killing of another senior al-Qaida leader
Iraq announced Tuesday the killing of another senior leader of al-Qaida group in the country, an official television reported. "Iraqi security forces killed the terrorist Ahmed al-Obaidi, also known as Abu Suhaib, the military leader for Qaida terrorist organization in the provinces of Nineveh, Kirkuk and Salahudin," the state-run television of Iraqia, quoted Mohammed al-Askari media advisor of the Iraqi Defence Ministry as saying.


Secret prison revealed in Baghdad
Hundreds of Sunni men disappeared for months into a secret Baghdad prison under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's military office, where many were routinely tortured until the country's Human Rights Ministry gained access to the facility, Iraqi officials say.


Iraq judicial panel orders recount
An Iraqi judicial panel on Monday ordered a manual recount of about 2.5 million ballots cast in Baghdad in last month's national elections, an action requested by Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's alliance, which had filed allegations of vote fraud.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera

AQI Leadership Killed & Manual Recount

In a shocking display of alleged competency, Iraqi security forces killed the top two leaders of al Qaeda in Iraq according to United States Forces - Iraq.  General Odierno stated “the death of these terrorists is potentially the most significant blow to al-Qaeda in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency,” which I would have to disagree. I think that whole Awakening / Sons of Iraq movement which was part of "the Surge" had a greater impact.





Notice the photos Maliki held up as "proof" the two al Qaeda leaders were killed. My understanding was that Iraqis spoke Arabic.

Meanwhile, as U.S. Forces were high-fiving each other over the successful Iraqi forces mission, Prime Minister Maliki continued his campaign to legally steal the Iraqi election as an Iraqi court ordered a manual recount of the ballots in Baghdad.

Baghdad Bombings Continue

Rescuers search for survivors at the scene of a bomb attack in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 6, 2010. Massive explosions hit apartment buildings across Baghdad killing at least 34 and wounding more than 100 in the latest sign that Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the country's unresolved election. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)


Baghdad Explosions Kill 28
Iraqi officials say several explosions have rocked central Baghdad, killing at least 28 people and wounding more than 75 others. The multiple bombings destroyed several apartment buildings and a restaurant in the Allawi district Tuesday.  Media reports say people are trapped under the rubble.


Explosions hit Baghdad apartments, 34 dead
Massive bombs hit apartment buildings across Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 34 people and wounding more than 100 in the latest sign that Iraq's fragile security could dissolve in the chaos of the country's unresolved election.


6 explosions in Baghdad kill at least 28, wound 98
"The latest reports said that a total of 28 people were killed and 98 others injured by the massive blasts in Baghdad this morning," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. He said six explosions hit the Iraqi capital in the morning. The first blast started at about 8:45 a.m.(0545 GMT) in the Chikok area in Baghdad northern neighborhood of Kadhmiya, causing the collapse of two residential buildings, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

About 10 minutes later, another massive blast destroyed a third building in the Shula neighborhood in northwestern Baghdad, the source said, adding that another powerful explosion occurred in a fourth building in the southwestern Shurta al-Rabia neighborhood. A fifth explosion rocked the Hifa street in central Baghdad, the source said without giving further details about the incident, but said the bast was apparently carried out by a suicide bomber. The sixth explosion took place in the al-Amil neighborhood in southern Baghdad, the source said without giving further details.


'Tough negotiations ahead' for Iraq 

Embassies and Executions

Joao Silva for The New York Times

It was a tragic weekend for Iraq. From the COIN/CT perspective, I thought it would be interesting to study the strategic impact of the two most recent events. Most important to notice will be the Baath connection. Explanation at the bottom.


The Executions


Gunmen in military garb kill at least 24 in Sunni area south of Baghdad

Sunni Arabs who worked with the Americans as Sons of Iraq say they feel particularly vulnerable. "The Awakening people now are the easy targets for everyone," said Qais al-Jubouri, a tribal leader who worked with the U.S. military and the Iraqi military and government to forge reconciliation in his area of southern Baghdad. Jubouri, who won a seat in the next parliament, has been on the run since the issuance of an arrest warrant against him that he deemed politically motivated.

"The government targets us, and al-Qaeda targets us," he said. "The Americans are done with us, and they threw us under the bus. They lured us as friends, one by one."


25 Members of Sunni Family Killed Near Baghdad

Most of the 19 male victims were members of Iraqi security forces or of Awakening Councils, groups that now partner with American forces and are employed by the Iraqi government to protect Sunni neighborhoods, but whose members had once been allied with Sunni extremist groups like Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia during fighting against American troops.


Iraqi village killers 'posed as US soldiers'

Five women were among the 25 killed, all linked to the Sahwa (Awakening) movement, known as the "Sons of Iraq" by the US army, which joined American and Iraqi forces in 2006 and 2007 to fight against Al-Qaeda and its supporters, leading to a dramatic fall in violence across the country.

The victims were all tied up and shot either in the head or in the chest. Seven other civilians discovered handcuffed in the village were freed.


Killings in Iraq raise fears of renewed sectarian violence

 The elections last month polarized the country, with Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Maliki refusing to accept that an alliance led by rival Iyad Allawi, favored by Sunnis, had won more parliamentary seats than his bloc had. Some Iraqi security officers, U.S. military personnel and Western officials are expressing concern that Al Qaeda in Iraq could reestablish itself on Baghdad's rural perimeter and cause havoc before the next government is formed.

The attack Friday appeared to be aimed at intimidating the Sunni population. Residents of Hawr Rajab said the attackers, wearing American-style military uniforms, arrived in the afternoon. They seized an abandoned home, and one of the men, pretending to be an interpreter, told villagers in a mix of English and Arabic that the "American soldiers" were on a mission.


The Embassies


Deadly Bombs in Baghdad Point to Divisions

At least 58 people were killed in a three-day period, according to security sources and Iraqi media, including at least 30 people Sunday morning when three car bombs detonated in the capital near Iranian, Egyptian and German embassy buildings; three people in a separate car bombing in the restive northern city of Mosul; and 25 villagers who had been tied up and executed in a shadowy, early morning attack Saturday on a Sunni village on the southern outskirts of Baghdad.


Baghdad alert after embassy blasts 

Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, told the AFP news agency that the incident resembled previous attacks by al-Qaeda in Iraq, but it was too soon to be certain as investigations were ongoing.

"They bear the same marks of previous attacks, in the timing, the targeting, the simultaneous attacks on different targets in different places to have maximum impact," he said.


Baghdad hit by triple blasts 




The Baath Connection

Any potential gains from the recent election are slowly slipping away. One of the Sons of Iraq leaders who entered politics and won a seat in the new Iraqi government is now a fugitive running from the government he fought for against al Qaeda in Iraq. The Iraqi government also accused al Qaeda in Iraq and the Baath as being responsible for the embassy bombings. Currently Ali Faisal al Lami is attempting to disqualify members of Ayad Allawi's coalition through de-baathification. The shadow of Saddam's political apparatus casts a dark shadow on Iraq today. It is still too early to definitively state that a civil war will break out. I fear that a few more instances of political exclusion of the Sunnis, terrorist attacks against the government, and indiscriminate government security operations will bring Iraq to the brink yet again.

Inside Story - Iraq's fledling democracy

Allawi Did Not Win

(AP Photo/Karim Kadim)


In spite of what many headlines have said, former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi did not win the recent election. More importantly, a recent Federal Supreme Court decision stating that political coalitions can be formed AFTER the election has in essence negated the results. Prior to this decision Iyad Allawi's secular Iraqiyah coalition would have formed the new Iraqi government.

Below are some highlights as to what is really occurring in Iraq's post-election period.


Allawi Accuses Tehran of Meddling in Iraqi Politics

Ayad Allawi, leader of the bloc that won the most seats in Iraq's parliamentary election, lashed out at Iran on Tuesday, accusing Tehran of interfering in the battle to form a new government in Baghdad.

Mr. Allawi's cross-sectarian political bloc secured a narrow victory over Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated slate in the March 7 vote, potentially upending the lock on power that the country's majority Shiites have had since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003. But Mr. Allawi didn't win a majority of seats in the 325-member parliament, and is battling the incumbent to lock in enough coalition partners to form a stable government.

Representatives from Mr. Maliki's State of Law slate and from the two most influential parties inside a Shiite umbrella slate that finished third all recently visited Tehran at the same time. Iran has exerted significant political and economic power in Iraq since shortly after Mr. Hussein's ouster, when Shiite Iraqis rose to power.


Asharq Al-Awsat Talks to Iraqi VP Tariq al-Hashimi

Tariq al-Hashimi, the Iraqi vice president and prominent leader in Al-Iraqiya List led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi which won the legislative elections held on 7 March, has stated that Al-Iraqiya faced major challenges like "disqualification and Debathification" and also "the campaigns of distortion and tampering with the voters' will." He pointed out that his bloc was open to all the political forces to ally themselves with it but did not refer to an alliance with the State of Law Coalition [SLC] which is led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who rejected the results of the elections. Al- Iraqiya List won 91 seats, two seats more than Al-Maliki's list.


Iraq election: Victorious candidates may be purged, boosting Maliki

Six winning candidates in Iraq elections will be stripped of their votes and lose their seats – which would cost secular politician Iyad Allawi's bloc its narrow victory – if a federal court upholds a broad purge of candidates who are suspected of past involvement with the late dictator Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party, Iraqi officials said Monday.


Maliki is block in Iraq coalition merger talks

Maliki's State of Law (SOL) coalition is negotiating a possible union with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), which includes anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, to form the largest bloc in Iraq's next parliament. The Sadrists' strong election showing makes Sadr a potential kingmaker.

An alliance between the two major Shi'ite parties could push former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's cross-sectarian Iraqiya coalition, the top vote-getter in Iraq's March 7 election, to the sidelines. That could anger many Sunnis who voted for Allawi and deepen Iraq's sectarian divide.


Iran 'preventing’ Ayad Allawi from becoming Iraq’s prime minister

Tehran was interfering in the election process in Iraq, where his Iraqiya bloc won 91 seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives, two more than Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Alliance, he told the BBC.

“Iran is interfering quite heavily and this is worrying,” Mr Allawi told the broadcaster, accusing the Islamic republic of inviting all the major parties to Tehran apart from his bloc.

“They have invited everybody – but they haven’t invited us – to Tehran,” he said.

Asked directly whether Iran wanted to stop him becoming prime minister, Mr Allawi responded: “I think so, they made it very clear ... that they have a red line.

“We are concerned about respecting the will of the Iraqi people.”


Iraqi commission moves to disqualify winning candidates

Six winning candidates in Iraq's parliamentary elections will be stripped of their votes and lose their seats — which would cost secular politician Ayad Allawi's bloc its narrow victory — if a federal court upholds a broad purge of candidates who are suspected of past involvement with the late dictator Saddam Hussein's outlawed Baath Party, Iraqi officials said Monday.

March 12th Morning Readbook

UN sanctions on Iraq still in force 




In Early Tally, Tight Iraq Race Deepens Splits
Iraq’s major coalitions were locked in a surprisingly close race on Thursday, in initial results from elections that deepened divisions across a fractured landscape. Candidates were quick to charge fraud, heightening concerns whether Iraq’s fledgling institutions were strong enough to support a peaceful transfer of power.


Iraq's election race tight as results delayed again
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had a modest lead over rival Shi'ites, partial results from Iraq's tight election race showed on Friday, but a secularist challenger remained far ahead among Iraqi Sunnis.


 Yemen holds US 'al-Qaeda member' 
Yemini authorities have arrested a US citizen suspected of being an al-Qaeda operative who allegedly killed a guard while trying to break out of a hospital.


Some U.S. officials see a growing Taliban-Al Qaeda rift
A growing number of Taliban militants in the Pakistani border region are refusing to collaborate with Al Qaeda fighters, declining to provide shelter or assist in attacks in Afghanistan even in return for payment, according to U.S. military and counter-terrorism officials.


Peace eludes Swat Valley 




Suicide blasts in Pakistan's Lahore kill 39
Suicide bombers targeting the Pakistani military killed at least 39 people in the city of Lahore on Friday, officials said, despite government assertions that crackdowns had weakened Taliban insurgents.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera

March 8th Morning Readbook

Who will win Iraq's election?




Votes being counted in Iraq election
Counting is under way in Iraq's elections, with preliminary results expected in several days.


Iraq election head says turnout at 55-60 percent
The head of Iraq's election commission says turnout for Sunday's election was between 55 and 60 percent. Faraj al-Haidari, who heads the Independent High Electoral Commission, told The Associated Press that the exact figures would be released later Monday at a news conference.


Gates Visits Afghanistan to Meet With Karzai
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan on Monday morning to meet with President Hamid Karzai and NATO commanders, and to review plans for a major American-led offensive into the Taliban heartland of Kandahar.


Pakistani minister confirms death of three senior Taliban leaders
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik confirmed on Saturday that three Tehreek-e-Taliban ( TTP) leaders were killed along with 30 other militants in the country's northwest. The Taliban leaders were killed as helicopter gunships targeted their hideouts in Mohmand Agency.


Pakistan intelligence try to establish identity of arrested American militant suspect
Intelligence officials say they are trying to establish the identity of an American militant suspect arrested in Pakistan, but believe the man is not Al-Qaida's U.S.-born spokesman as they originally reported.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera

March 7th Morning Readbook

Iraq election analysis




Iraq parliamentary election hit by insurgent attacks
Iraq's second parliamentary election since the 2003 invasion has been hit by multiple attacks, with at least 24 people being killed.


Blasts, Mortars Mar Voting in Iraq
At least 25 Iraqis died in dozens of attacks around the country Sunday morning as polling got underway in the country's first parliamentary election since 2005. Mortar attacks in the restive northern city of Mosul and its surroundings forced five polling stations to temporarily close there. By midday Sunday, it was still too early to gauge voter turnout, but officials appeared to be ramping up appeals to voters to go to the polls.


Kirkuk's Arabs seek to reclaim city




Pakistani Taliban Deputy Believed Killed
A senior Pakistani Taliban commander with close links to al Qaeda and the Afghani Taliban was “probably killed” in an attack by Pakistani army helicopter gunships in a remote region along the Afghan border Friday, a senior Pakistani security official told CBS NEWS on Saturday.


Taliban and Rival Militants Fight Each Other in Afghanistan
Afghan officials say clashes between rival Islamist militant groups in the country's northeast have killed at least 50 people.


Al-Qaida calls on US Muslims to attack America
Al-Qaida's American-born spokesman on Sunday called on Muslims serving in the U.S. armed forces to emulate the Army major charged with killing 13 people in Fort Hood.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera

The Day Prior

Tomorrow will be praised by the US as proof the Iraqis are in control of their country's destiny and US forces can leave as planned. The true situation will be determined, not tomorrow, but in the weeks and months ahead.

If you would like a one-stop shop for Iraqi election coverage, Al Jazeera has a special section dedicated to coverage of the 2010 Iraqi elections. You can find it here.



General Abadi: Iraqis 'will get their change'




Security tight for Anbar vote




Frost over the World - Saleh al-Mutlaq and Sigrun Davidsdottir




Iraqis living in Iran head to polls




Iraqis determined to vote

March 5th Morning Readbook

Montage of Iraqi election commercials




Iraq expats vote as election enters final straight
Politicians launched into their last day of campaigning on Friday as more than a million Iraqis living abroad began voting in an election that could turn the page on years of deadly sectarian strife.


Iraq 'determined to regain dignity'
Since the occupation of Baghdad and the fall of the Baath regime in April 2003, the Iraqi people have gone to the polls almost once every year, on average. Among the countless running jokes in Iraq today is the one where an independent candidate pledges to save the country millions by keeping his current election posters plastered through the capital's streets – permanently.


Iraq's Kurds go the polls amid carnival atmosphere
Ahmed Hassan Rasul spent 10 years in the mountains of northern Iraq as a pershmerga guerilla, fighting for independence for Iraq's Kurds against the forces of Saddam Hussein.


Pakistan steps up anti-Taliban efforts
U.S. pressure on Pakistan to crack down on Taliban extremists within its borders is paying off, American officials and independent analysts say, paving the way for progress in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.


Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen outlines a more restrained art of war
Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, outlined a new U.S. approach to war in a series of speeches this week that replaces overwhelming firepower with more restrained use of force to safeguard civilian lives.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera

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.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera

March 3rd Morning Readbook

An Iraqi worker passes election posters in central Baghdad. Three powerful co-ordinated suicide attacks in the central Iraq city of Baquba killed at least 33 people and wounded 55, just days before nationwide parliamentary elections. (AFP/File/Sabah Arar)


Iraq suicide bomber targets hospital in triple attack
A suicide bomber ended a series of deadly attacks in central Iraq by detonating explosives in a hospital emergency ward where victims of two earlier blasts were being treated.


Q&A: Iraq's 2010 elections
On March 7, Iraq will hold national parliamentary elections in what is believed to be a critical stage in the country's political development since the US-led invasion in 2003.


Pakistan's army discovers intricate al-Qaeda cave complex used by militants
Pakistan's army has discovered an extensive network of caves used by the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The cave complex, in Damadola on the Afghan border, was used as a refuge by militants and even sheltered Ayman al-Zawahari, Osama bin-Laden's second-in-command.


Taliban, not drugs, focus of US-Afghan offensive
Even by Afghan standards, it was a startling find: An opium packaging workshop, buried under donkey dung and old hay in a stable that U.S. Marines turned into a patrol base in southern Afghanistan.


Afghanistan Aims to Ban Live Coverage of Attacks
Minute-by-minute news coverage by Afghan television stations of two recent suicide attacks proved an embarrassment for the government, showing that it could not stop militants from penetrating even heavily guarded areas of the capital.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera

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.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera

February 28th Morning Readbook

Nato forces move on to Kandahar




Afghanistan bomb 'kills 11 civilians'
A roadside bomb has killed 11 civilians in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province, officials say.


Marines, Afghan troops to stay months in Marjah
More than 2,000 U.S. Marines and about 1,000 Afghan troops who stormed the Taliban town of Marjah as part of a major NATO offensive against a resurgent Taliban will stay several months to ensure insurgents don't return, Marine commanders said Sunday.


Pakistan suicide attack kills 4, wounds dozens
A suicide car bomber attacked a police station Saturday in northwestern Pakistan, killing four people and wounding about two dozen, underscoring the continuing security threat as the country's army battles militants.


Iraqi PM defends ban of candidates before vote
Iraq's prime minister on Sunday defended a decision to ban hundreds of candidates from the upcoming election, saying the decision was not intended to target the country's minority Sunni population.


U.S. pullout top challenge for Iraq security: minister
Iraq's armed forces will not finish a modernization program until 2020, several years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country is completed, the defense minister said.


The main headlines on Al Jazeera 

February 24th Morning Readbook

Interview: US Commander in Helmand




Battle starts to win over Helmand locals and wean them off poppy growing
Afghan civilians will today begin to pour into the district cleared by British troops in a pivotal phase of the operation to banish the Taleban.


Taliban Capture Raises Hopes of Pakistan Shift
The capture of a second high-level leader of the Afghan Taliban by Pakistani authorities has raised the prospect that Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency, long accused by the U.S. of ties with Islamist extremists, has begun to turn on an organization it once cultivated.


India Says Fired At By Pakistan Guards Ahead Of Talks
Indian border guards said their troops came under fire from Pakistan on Wednesday, a day before the two nuclear-armed neighbours are set for the first official talks since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.


Insurgency Rises in Northern Ireland
The car bomb that exploded in the Northern Ireland city of Newry Monday night highlights the resurgence in activity of Irish Republican splinter groups determined to wreck the province's fragile peace process with an increasingly sophisticated use of explosives.


Top Yemen al Qaeda leader threatens U.S. attacks
An article under the name of a senior member of al Qaeda's Yemen wing that the Yemeni government said it had killed has appeared on an Internet forum, threatening to carry out attacks in the United States.


Iraq Election Preview
Iraq will soon hold national elections -– a step critical to strengthening its democracy.  These elections said, Commander of U.S. Forces in Iraq General Ray Odierno, "are important to everyone in the region, they are important to the people of Iraq, and they're important to people outside the region because of the impact it could have on stability not only in Iraq but in the Middle East as a whole."


Extending Our Stay in Iraq
IRAQ’S March 7 national election, and the formation of a new government that will follow, carry huge implications for both Iraqis and American policy. It appears now that the results are unlikely to resolve key political struggles that could return the country to sectarianism and violence.


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