Maliki Wields 'De-Baathification' In Iraqi Power Struggle
Nouri Al-Maliki The former members of the dissolved Iraqi Baath party have become a point of contention in the conflicts between Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his rivals. According to the de-Baathification Law, which was issued by the former administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq, Paul Bremer, members of the Baath …
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Iraq hostage to sectarian forces
Iraqi Sunni Muslims take part in an anti-government demonstration in Falluja, 50 km (31 miles) west of Baghdad, February 22, 2013. Thousands of Sunni Muslims protested after Friday prayers in huge rallies against Shi'ite Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, demanding that he step down. The Iraqi National Alliance is facing a series of crises. It se…
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Thousands demand fall of Iraq government
THOUSANDS of people in Sunni-majority areas of Iraq called on Friday for the government's fall amid a spike in violence that has accompanied a political stalemate two months before provincial polls. The demonstrations, which have been ongoing for nearly two months, have steadfastly urged for the ouster of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki while decr…
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Death threats for Iraq vote staff
Militants have issued death threats against employees of Iraq's election commission, raising concerns about security ahead of the upcoming provincial balloting, officials said. The April 20 vote is the first nationwide ballot since 2010 and an important test for embattled prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. Muqdad al-Shuraifi, a member of the e…
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Arab Spring-style protests take hold in Iraq
This restive Sunni town, the first to rebel against U.S. troops a decade ago, is rising up once again, this time against the government the Americans left behind. In an echo of the Arab Spring protests that have overturned regimes elsewhere in the region, angry residents have been staging weekly demonstrations against the Shiite-led government of Pr…
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Iraq Announces 21 Executions in a Day
Iraq has executed 21 people convicted of terror-related charges, including three women, on the same day, a spokesman said on Tuesday, bringing to 91 the number of people executed so far this year. The executions come despite a call from the UN's human rights chief for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Iraq, amid concerns over the l…
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Iraq violence surges
A half year after the U.S. military left Iraq, dire predictions seem to be coming true: The country is mired in violence and the government is on the verge of collapsing. With no relief in sight, there’s growing talk of Iraq as a failed state as al-Qaida’s local wing staged near daily attacks that killed at least 234 people in June. Iraq no longer s…
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Iraq cuts anti-Qaeda militia pay
Most of Iraq's remaining 40,000 anti-Qaeda militiamen have seen their pay cut by 20 percent this year following a decision by parliament, an aide to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told AFP on Tuesday. "I have been obliged to reduce by 20 percent the wages of Sahwa (Awakening) members who earn more than 200,000 dinars ($158/120 euros) a month…
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Iraqi Children Prostituting
Studies by human rights groups in Iraq have found that there are a growing number of child prostitutes among the nation’s many displaced persons. NIQASH went to Basra’s markets where the underage sex workers ply their unhappy trade. Naji is a porter in the markets in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. His job involves loading his heavy iron trolley …
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leader slams Iraq problems
Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi slammed the human rights situation in Iraq on Monday, arguing that "massive" violations were destroying its democracy just as it grapples with a festering political row. Osama al-Nujaifi said that targeting the innocent, the use of violence against individuals and their property, and random arrests were all sig…
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Fears for Iraq’s Christians
The number of Christians in Iraq has more than halved since Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003, according to UN figures. The amount is now down to around half a million. In Baghdad Iraqi soldiers patrol the largest Christian neighbourhood. Over the past 9 years its estimated that over 900 Christians have been killed and 54 churches attacked, and sectarian t…
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Qa'eda prisoners 'had inside help'
Al Qa'eda prisoners who escaped from a jail in Basra last week had high-level government connections and were helped by insiders from a corrupt Iraqi intelligence unit, investigators believe. The 12 detainees, including leading members of the Islamic State of Iraq, an Al Qa'eda affiliate, walked out of a high security government compound on Friday, …
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