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NEWS ABOUT: Nouri al-Maliki

Biden in Iraq to Talk Troop Withdrawal

Sadr faction wants them out on schedule in December

(Newser) - Joe Biden arrived in Iraq for a one-day visit today, and the top topic for discussion, behind closed doors anyway, was expected to be the US’ December troop withdrawal deadline, an official tells the AP . In front of closed doors, Biden merely reiterated the US' friendship with Iraq. “The... More »

Muqtada al-Sadr Returns to Iraq

Anti-American cleric's political influence rising

(Newser) - Muqtada al-Sadr—the radical Shiite cleric whose militia was involved in some of the bloodiest battles of the Iraq war—returned to Iraq today, after almost four years of self-imposed exile in Iran. Sadr finds himself with newfound political influence, after throwing his party’s weight behind Nouri al-Maliki, and... More »

Iraqi PM: US Troops Must Get Out by End of 2011

Maliki vows new government won't team up with Iran

(Newser) - US troops must stand by the plan to depart Iraq at the end of 2011, Iraq's PM tells the Wall Street Journal in a lengthy interview. Despite wide expectations that nine months of post-election turmoil would extend the US presence, “the last American soldier will leave Iraq” as scheduled,... More »

Iraq Confirms New Government

Women protest heavily male nominations

(Newser) - Iraqi legislators ended 9 months of political deadlock today, unanimously approving a new government under incumbent prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, the AP reports. A March parliamentary election had left the country’s political future unclear; today, lawmakers chose 29 ministers to form a government, with acting ministers making up rest... More »

Epic Battle Over, Maliki Must Form New Government

He now has 30 days to pick his Cabinet

(AP) - Incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki cemented his grip on power today, bringing an end to nearly nine months of political deadlock after he was asked to form the next government. The long-awaited request from President Jalal Talabani sets in motion a 30-day timeline during which al-Maliki must pick his Cabinet.... More »

Sunni Bloc Walks Out on Iraqi Parliament

Coalition deal in jeopardy

(Newser) - Iraq’s political compromise didn’t last long. Ayad Allawi’s predominantly Sunni Iraqiya party walked out of a parliament session intended to unite it in a coalition government with Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law party yesterday, the New York Times reports, after it failed to force votes on... More »

Iraq Breaks Political Deadlock

Maliki will return as PM under tentative deal

(Newser) - Eight months after the country went to the polls, Iraqi politicians have reached a tentative deal to form a government. The Sunni-backed Iraqiya alliance has agreed to support a unity government headed by Nouri al-Maliki, who will return for a second term as prime minister, the New York Times reports.... More »

In Secret Talks, Iran Forged Deal for Pro-Tehran Iraq

It brokered the coalition between Nouri Al-Maliki, Muqtada al-Sadr

(Newser) - Iran was behind the recently struck deal between Nouri al-Maliki and Muqtada al-Sadr, and the result could be an Iraqi government friendly to Tehran and distanced from the West, the Guardian reports. According to the paper's sources, Syria, Hezbollah, and top Shia religious leaders were involved with a secret campaign... More »

Surprise: Iraq Makes Progress on Government

Maliki likely to get new term, with help from anti-US cleric

(Newser) - A coalition of Shiite groups supported giving Nouri al-Maliki another term as prime minister, the Washington Post reports. The rare sign of progress came as the country achieved the dubious record of the longest time between an election and the formation of an actual government. Much uncertainty remains, however, and... More »

Iraq Sets Record: Longest Time With No Government

Not the sort of record a country wants to set

(Newser) - It's official: Iraq can now boast that it has gone longer than any country in the world between holding a parliamentary election and forming a government. At 208 days, it has now bumped the Netherlands, which went 207 days in 1977, to No. 2 on the list. The lag is... More »

Anti-US Cleric Pushes for New Iraqi Government

Al-Sadr meets with Maliki's main rival

(Newser) - Muqtada al-Sadr took a rare step into Iraq’s political fray yesterday, meeting with Ayad Allawi in Syria to discuss the formation of a new Iraqi government. Allawi leads the Iraqiya coalition, one of two major factions vying for control of Iraq’s parliament. Sadr is nominally aligned with the... More »

Biden Struggles to Break Iraqi Deadlock

VP urges rivals to form new government

(Newser) - Joe Biden spent his surprise visit to Iraq trying to prod Iraqi politicians into forming a new government, 4 months after elections finished in a stalemate. The vice president, keen to avoid a power vacuum as US combat troops exit, also stressed that the US has no intention of abandoning... More »

Prisoners Raped, Tortured in Secret Baghdad Prison

Human Rights Watch details abuses

(Newser) - They were hung by their feet and whipped, suffocated with plastic bags. If they passed out, they were revived with electrical shocks to the genitals. That's just a taste of the horrors prisoners describe in Human Rights Watch's report on the recently revealed Iraqi-run secret prison in Baghdad, where suspected... More »

Iraq Tortured Sunnis in Secret Prison

Maliki denies knowledge of prison run by his elite military force

(Newser) - An elite military force answering directly to the Iraqi prime minister held hundreds of Sunni men in a secret Baghdad prison for months, Iraqi officials say. The detainees—arrested without warrants in military sweeps in October—were routinely tortured, officials tells the Los Angeles Times . Human rights officials overcame resistance... More »

Karzai's the Best We've Got. Deal With It

We need him to win the Afghanistan war, so grow up and stop undercutting him

(Newser) - Sure, Hamid Karzai is a "vain, mercurial, hypersensitive man" presiding over "a system that is massively corrupt." But the US still should—and must—learn to work with him, Fareed Zakaria writes in the Washington Post . There is no alternative to Karzai, Zakaria argues; if the US... More »

Election Winner Allawi: Time for Iraq to Look After Itself

Says his coalition will be open to all rivals

(AP) - Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi reached out to his rivals to form a governing coalition today, staking his claim as the top vote-getter in Iraq's elections and saying he hoped to build strong relations with neighboring countries. Allawi's secular Iraqiya bloc edged out chief rival Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki by... More »

Iraqi PM Loses Election; Supporters Threaten Violence

UN condones votes, al-Maliki calls result 'not final'

(Newser) - Iraq's fragile democracy is in danger after vote counts released today showed Nouri al-Maliki narrowly lost the election. The current PM's party lost to Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya, 91 to 89. Though the margin was slim, electoral observers and diplomats say the result was fair and largely free of fraud. Nonetheless,... More »

Iraq's Prez Demands Election Recount

Joins PM in call to 'preclude any doubt' over results

(AP) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani today called for a recount in this month's parliamentary elections, to "preclude any doubt and misunderstanding" in the results of a tight race between PM Nouri al-Maliki and a secular rival amid widespread confusion and accusations of fraud. Al-Maliki, whose bloc is among those seeking... More »

Maliki Demands Recount as Party Lead Slips

Iraq boss accuses election panel of tampering

(Newser) - Iraq's prime minister accused the country's election commission of manipulating national vote results and ordered a recount as a rival coalition edged into the lead over his bloc with 79% of of the tally in. Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law coalition is still ahead in the province-by-province count, but challenger... More »

Very Close Iraq Vote Prompts Challenges, Maneuvering

Rampant horsetrading expected as groups struggle to form government

(Newser) - Early results are coming in from Iraq’s election, and though Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition appears to have won a plurality, the race remains exceedingly close. The Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition of Shiite parties, has already called the vote counting into question, with leader Ahmed Chalabi demanding candidates be... More »

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