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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Basra

Basra stories: 43 news summaries

21 - 40 of 43 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Baghdad Curfew Lifted;
 Basra Violence Slows 

Move comes a day after Sadr ordered militants to stand down

Mar 31, 08 8:31 AM CDT
(Newser) - Baghdad authorities lifted a 3-day-old curfew today as violence ebbed and soldiers from Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army began to heed his call yesterday to stand down, reports the AFP. The southern city of Basra also eased its curfew as 6 days of violent clashes wound down, although the BBC reported... More »

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Baghdad • Green Zone • Basra • curfew • ceasefire • Muqtada al-Sadr • mortar attack

Updated

Al-Sadr Orders His Militia Off Streets of Basra

He offers weakened Maliki a truce deal as violence continues

Mar 30, 08 5:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to leave the streets of Basra and other cities, reports the BBC, in an effort to end clashes with security forces. “Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us,” Sadr said, but minutes after... More »

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Iraq • Baghdad • Basra • Shia • Iraq government • cleric • ceasefire • Muqtada al-Sadr • Iraq war • Shia militia

Brits Join the Fight in Basra

US widens its airstrikes, and Sadr tells followers to keep their weapons

Mar 29, 08 11:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - As the Iraqi army struggles to combat militias in Basra, British troops for the first time directly joined the fight, and American forces expanded their bombing beyond the militia stronghold. The Brits, who had previously provided only logistical and air support to the Iraqis, fired on an insurgent mortar team... More »

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Iraq • Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • US military • British • British troops • Shiite insurgents • Muqtada al-Sadr • Iraq war • George W. Bush

Criticism Dogs Basra Battle

US influence limited in potential quagmire, fight likely to drag on: military officials

Mar 29, 08 5:33 AM CDT
(Newser) - As US troops are drawn deeper into the four-day-old Iraqi crackdown on militants in Basra,  critics see a long and difficult road ahead. While President Bush praised the operation as a "defining moment in the history of a free Iraq," military officials murmured that the battle "... More »

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Iraq • Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • Iraq war • George W. Bush • Shiite militants

 US Joins Basra Battle;
Maliki Extends Deadline

Maliki extends deadline as fighting continues

Mar 28, 08 8:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki today gave Shia militants in Basra 10 more days to turn over their weapons, as fighting continued in Iraq’s third largest city. The US, meanwhile, made its first moves in the fight, bombing Mahdi Army positions, the BBC reports. Muqtada al Sadr, the radical... More »

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Iraq • Baghdad • Mahdi Army • Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • Muqtada al-Sadr

Iraqi Lawmakers to Meet
as Violence Escalates

Baghdad under curfew as militants in Basra hold their ground

Mar 27, 08 9:45 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session in Baghdad tomorrow to try to find a way to resolve the escalating violence in Basra and the capital, Reuters reports. Baghdad, its Green Zone rocked by steady rocket and mortar fire, is now under a three-day curfew, and the State Department ordered... More »

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Iraq • Baghdad • Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • Iraq Civil War • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr

 Bush Praises Iraqi Offensive 

President scolds Congress' calls for withdrawal

Mar 27, 08 4:47 PM CDT
(Newser) - President Bush praised the government of Iraq today for the offensive launched three days ago against militias in Basra, painting it as a sign of progress toward the goals of the US war, the AP reports. Bush also criticized Congress for calling for troop withdrawals so the military’s attention... More »

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Iraq • Bush administration • Mahdi Army • Nouri al-Maliki • Iraq pullout • Basra • Iraq government • Iraq Civil War • Iraq reconstruction • Iraq mess • Muqtada al-Sadr • Iraq war • Iraq exit strategy • George W. Bush

 Sadrists Resist Crackdown, 
 Demand Maliki's Ouster  

Intra-Shiite battle pounds on in Basra

Mar 27, 08 6:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Followers of Muqtada al-Sadr marched in Baghdad today, denouncing Nouri al-Maliki's US-backed government as non-representative, while the onslaught in Basra continued for a third day. Explosions were heard in the city every 10 to 15 minutes and more than 100 are already dead, Reuters reports. Residents of Iraq's second-largest city,... More »

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Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • Iraq Civil War • Sadrists • Muqtada al-Sadr

 Iraq PM Threatens Sadrists as Basra Explodes 

'Moment of truth' as government battles Shiite militias

Mar 26, 08 6:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - As Iraqi government forces battle Shia militants for a second day in Basra, the Iraqi prime minister has issued a 72-hour deadline for insurgents to lay down their arms. In a television broadcast, Nouri al-Maliki warned militants, many of them loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, to stand down... More »

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Iraq • Baghdad • Mahdi Army • Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • Shiite militia • Muqtada al-Sadr

Iraqi Forces Battle Mahdi Army in Basra

Sadr promises 'civil revolt'

Mar 25, 08 11:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iraqi security forces fought pitched gun battles through the streets of Basra today, trying to wrest control of the oil-rich city from Mahdi Army militants. An enraged Muqtada al Sadr promised a “civil revolt” if the attacks on his faction didn’t stop and ordered police cleared from the... More »

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Sadr City • Mahdi Army • Nouri al-Maliki • Basra • Muqtada al-Sadr

Basra Awash in Violence as It Tests Self-Rule

Militia violence doesn't bode well for rest
of the nation

Feb 23, 08 2:31 PM CST
(Newser) - Basra is supposed to be a shining example of Iraqi self-rule, but the city remains riven by violence five months after British forces pulled out and left local leaders in control, the New York Times reports. Dozens of Shia militias are competing for power, and murders and kidnappings of prominent... More »

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Iraq • Shiite • Basra • coalition forces • Iraqi militias • religious violence

CBS Journalist to Be Freed 'Within Hours'

Radical Shiite group says it negotiated freedom of 2 hostages

Feb 13, 08 5:00 AM CST
(Newser) - A kidnapped British journalist working for CBS and his translator are to be freed "within hours," according to the office of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadrists conducted negotiations with the kidnappers, who took the two hostage at gunpoint from a hotel in Basra, AFP reports. The captives have... More »

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Iraq • kidnapping • Basra • Muqtada al-Sadr

Journalists Kidnapped
in Iraq

CBS photographer, translator snatched from Basra hotel

Feb 11, 08 4:30 PM CST
(Newser) - A CBS photographer and translator have been kidnapped in Iraq, reports the Italian news agency ADN Kronos. Richard Butler, a Briton whose work has appeared in Newsweek and Time, and an Iraqi co-worker were forced out of their Basra hotel and into a car by a group of armed men,... More »

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Iraq • kidnapping • Basra • journalist • Richard Butler

After 5 Years, Brits Hand Over Basra to Iraqis

Strategic, unstable region to test strength of Baghdad government

Dec 16, 07 6:16 AM CST
(Newser) - Ending five years of British control in southern Iraq, the UK today handed over authority for the wealthy, populous Basra region to the Iraqi government. Residents greeted the handover with jubilation, but the responsibility for Basra—strategically located, an oil export hub and home of Iraq's only port—will prove... More »

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Iraq • Iraq pullout • Basra • British troops • British military • Iraq violence

British PM Gives Troops Surprise Visit

Vows Basra pullout in
2 weeks; mum on link
to kidnappings

Dec 9, 07 3:35 PM CST
(Newser) - UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown surprised his troops with a visit in Iraq today and declared that Britain will cede control of Basra within two weeks, the Times of London reports. He told 300 soldiers that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki had advised the quick pull-out "so Iraq can... More »

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Iraq • Nouri al-Maliki • Gordon Brown • Basra • war • Britain

UK to Slash Iraq Force by More Than Half

PM sees 'overwatch' role after cut from 5,500 to 2,500 troops

Oct 8, 07 1:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - British troops will number only 2,500 in Iraq by next spring, Gordon Brown said today. In “two distinct stages,” the PM said, the UK will shrink its presence to 4,000 troops from the current 5,500 and then to 2,500, the Guardian reports. Three of... More »

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Iraq • Gordon Brown • Basra • Tories • British troops • drawdown

Brown Cuts 1,000 Iraq Troops

Brown announces 1,000 troop cut in surprise first visit

Oct 2, 07 7:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise first visit to Iraq today and announced that he'll withdraw 1,000 troops by the end of the year. He spent an hour with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, and was expected to meet with Gen. David Petraeus in advance of addressing... More »

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Iraq • Gordon Brown • Basra

British Troops Pull Out Of Basra

UK ready to hand over city to Iraq army

Sep 3, 07 7:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - British troops yesterday began pulling out of the center of Basra as they prepared to hand over control of the southern port city to the Iraqi army. A small UK force of about 500, which had been headquartered in Saddam Hussein's former palace, moved to Basra's airport, reports the Guardian.... More »

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Iraq • Donald Rumsfeld • Gordon Brown • Basra • troop withdrawal • British military • Ministry of Defence • Liam Fox • Mike Jackson • Tim Cross

Top Military Brits Bash US

Iraq strategy
called 'bankrupt,’ Rumsfeld roasted

Sep 2, 07 10:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two British officers instrumental to the country’s role in Iraq have lambasted the US strategy there, with one calling the policies “fatally flawed.” The chief of post-war planning and the head of the army during the 2003 invasion took their criticisms to the press this weekend as... More »

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Iraq • Donald Rumsfeld • Basra • Mike Jackson • Tim Cross • Britain • Iraq war

US Rattled by Brit Pullout Plans

Withdrawal schedule expected this fall

Aug 8, 07 4:51 AM CDT
(Newser) - The White House is increasingly concerned about the timing of the British troop pullout from Iraq, expected to be announced by PM Gordon Brown in October, the Guardian reports. About 5,000 British troops remain in the Basra area, where they' have already withdrawn to  an area around the city's... More »

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Iraq • White House • Gordon Brown • Basra • troop withdrawal • British troops • Brookings Institution

21 - 40 of 43 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>


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