In the lead-up to Iraq’s provincial elections, there is growing anger that the draft version of the election law has weakened provisions to set aside seats for women.
Now relegated to the back pages, near-daily rocket and suicide attacks continue to claim lives in Baghdad and central Iraq. Several civilians have been killed in attacks this week alone.
Iraqi and US military forces will beef up security ahead of landmark provincial elections set for Jan. 31, when up to 15 million Iraqis could go to the polls in 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces. Already candidates have been targeted… Read moreObama inspires Black Iraqi freedom movement
Turkish warplanes and Iranian artillery bombarded Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq on Jan. 5, a spokesman for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said. “Turkish planes and Iranian artillery bombarded Aquwan and the Iranians bombarded Maradu. The bombardment lasted for… Read moreTurkey and Iran in joint air-strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan
From the General Federation of Workers’ Councils and Unions in Iraq (GFWCUI), Dec. 13: Dear Brothers and Sisters in the global struggle for workers’ rights, peace and justice: Plans are underway to hold an International Labor Conference in Iraq in… Read moreIraq unions call for international labor conference in Irbil
A female suicide bomber killed at least 35, including women and children, and wounded 65 others in an attack on a religious procession near the holy Kadhimiyah shrine in northern Baghdad Jan. 4. The woman blew herself up at a… Read moreIraq: Shi’ite pilgrims massacred as Muharram holy days open
A suicide bomber on a bicycle in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul targeted a protest against the Israeli air-raids on the Gaza Strip, killing one civilian and wounding 16 on Dec. 27. The protest was sponsored by the Sunni-backed Iraqi… Read moreIraq: pending troops agreement background to sectarian struggle
A Jordan-based Iraqi rights group announced this week it has filed 200 lawsuits against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and US security firms for their roles in torturing Iraqis. Ali Qeisi, head of the Society of Victims of the US… Read moreIraqis sue Rumsfeld over torture
Japanese and South Korean forces both ended their missions in Iraq this week. The approximately 200 Japanese troops in Kuwait for an air support mission in Iraq are to return home by the end of the year. Japan withdrew its… Read moreJapan, South Korea end Iraq mission
Reporter Muntadhar al-Zeidi notoriously hurled his shoes at Bush—a vile insult in the Muslim world—during a press conference in Baghdad, yelling “this is a farewell kiss, you dog. This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed… Read moreIraq: the politics of shoe-throwing
Samir Adil, president of the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), was among those wounded in a Dec. 11 suicide attack on a reconciliation meeting in the divided northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. His wounds are not life-threatening, the IFC reports via… Read moreIraq: civil resistance leader injured in Kirkuk terror blast
Here’s a case study in what Iraq’s besieged secular left calls the “two poles of terrorism.” From the Washington Post, Dec. 6: WASHINGTON — Five Blackwater Worldwide security guards have been charged in a September 2007 shooting that left 17… Read moreBlackwater mercs indicted in Baghdad atrocity
