A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside of the Forsenics Lab of the Iraqi Ministry of Interior’s Criminal Investigation Department, killing 21 people and injuring 80.
Judge Ricardo Urbina ruled that charges may be brought again against six accused of massacring 17 people in Nisur Square, Baghdad, while working for Blackwater Worldwide.
Death squads returned to the streets of Baghdad with the first targeted killing of civilians in the city for more than two years, Iraqi media reported.
The Supreme Iraq Criminal Tribunal sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid to death by hanging, finding him guilty of having ordered the Kurdish town of Halabja gassed in 1988.
Shell Oil and Malaysia’s state-run Petronas finalized a contract to develop Iraq’s giant Majnoon oil field, and pledge to massively boost output.
The Jerusalem Post cites claims that Iraq’s Antiquities and Heritage Authority is desecrating ancient Hebrew inscriptions at the Tomb of Ezekiel—but some caution skepticism.
A military judge ruled that the trials for two Navy SEALs accused in the assault of an Iraqi prisoner will be held on a US military base in Iraq in order for the victim to be questioned.
Blackwater reached a settlement in seven federal lawsuits filed by Iraqi citizens that claimed the security firm created a reckless culture that resulted in numerous deaths.
On New Years Eve, a federal judge dismissed all criminal charges against five Blackwater guards accused in the massacre of 17 innocent Iraqi civilians in Baghdad’s Nisur Square.
Bomb attacks targeted Shi’ite worshippers in Kirkuk and Christian churches in Mosul, leaving seven dead. Over the past six days, 32 Iraqis have been killed in Ashura violence.
Three bomb blasts in Iraq killed more than 30 people and injured 75 others as the Shi’ite Ashura ceremonies opened, while a Christmas Eve attack left one Christian dead in Mosul.
Iran’s apparent seizure of an oil well on Iraqi territory comes on the eve of an OPEC summit in which Iraq’s ambitious designs to boost output could upset plans for price hikes.
