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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Iraqi militias

Iraqi militias stories: 11 news summaries
GLOSSIES

 Gay Iraqis Fear for Their Lives 

Human Rights Watch attempts to save persecuted gays from murder

Oct 5, 09 4:41 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iraqi society is overwhelmingly  homophobic, but that prejudice took a back seat to more pressing issues while war was raging. Now, as Shia militias find themselves with time on their hands, they appear to have turned to a perceived internal problem, “to make society clean from bad things.”... More »

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homophobia • homosexuality • refugee • Human Rights Watch • relocation • Iraqi militias • Iraq war • gay Iraqis • persecution

ANALYSIS

 Iraq Militias 
 Kill Gays 
  With Impunity 

Government's unwillingness to protect gays points to a bleak future for all Iraqis

Sep 10, 09 7:12 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iraq's militias have switched from slaughtering rivals to killing men they suspect of being homosexuals, and the Iraqi government is turning a blind eye, Rasha Moumneh writes in Foreign Policy. Gay men have been kidnapped, tortured, and murdered in rising numbers since the start of this year, but not a... More »

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Iraq • gay rights • murder • homosexuality • Iraqi government • Sadrists • Iraqi militias • Muqtada al-Sadr

(Newser) - The imminent withdrawal of US troops and the lack of funds to keep Sunni Awakening members on the payroll has led to rising violence there, the Wall Street Journal reports. The steep decline in oil revenues has left the Iraqi government broke, and former insurgents hired by the US... More »

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Baghdad • troop surge • US military • troop withdrawal • Awakening Councils • Iraqi militias • Iraq war • Sunni Awakening • oil revenue

 Iraq Cracks Down on
 US-Allied Sunni Fighters

US commanders fear reversal of hard-fought peace

Aug 22, 08 6:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has begun a crackdown on groups of US-backed Sunni fighters, the New York Times reports. The government fears the fighters, part of what is called the Awakening movement, could be waiting to turn their guns on Shiites. In several parts of the country senior members have been... More »

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Iraq • Diyala • Iraq government • Sunni insurgents • Iraq Army • al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia • Awakening Councils • counter insurgency • Iraqi militias • Sunni allies

 US Death Toll in Iraq Plummets  

Iraqi deaths down 75% from this time last year

Jul 31, 08 5:36 PM CDT
(AP) - The monthly US toll in Iraq fell to its lowest point since the war began, with 10 American deaths recorded as July drew to a close today. Iraqis also are dying at dramatically lower numbers in the sixth year of the war. July saw the lowest civilian toll since December... More »

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Iraq • troop surge • US military • Iraq death toll • troop withdrawal • Iraqi militias • casualties

Hezbollah Militants School Iraqi Fighters in Iran: US

Report contradicts Tehran's pledge not to meddle

May 5, 08 9:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hezbollah is helping to train Iraqi militants in Iran, the US claims in a report to Iraq’s government. The information, obtained during US questioning of captured Shiite fighters, suggests Iran is quietly aiding the militia, despite repeated claims it’s not interfering in internal Iraqi matters, the New York ... More »

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Iraq • Iran • Nouri al-Maliki • Hezbollah • Iraqi militias • Shiite militants

 Iraqi Army Rescues 
 British Journalist 

Photographer had been held in Basra for two months

Apr 14, 08 10:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - Iraqi troops rescued British photojournalist Richard Butler during a raid in Basra today, the Daily Telegraph reports. Storming a suburban house, soldiers found Butler with a hood over his head, but apparently unharmed. Butler had been working in Basra for CBS when he was abducted—by what were thought... More »

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Iraq • Basra • Iraq Army • Iraqi militias • photojournalist • Richard Butler

Iraqi PM:
No Elections
for Militias

Mahdi Army must disband, Maliki says,
or lose political power

Apr 7, 08 8:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Muqtada al-Sadr and his loyalists will be banned from upcoming elections if the Mahdi Army doesn't disband, Nouri al-Maliki said today, in his toughest rhetoric yet against the popular cleric. Sadrists say the Iraqi PM has no constitutional power to make that threat, but even if lawmakers succeed in banning... More »

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Iraq • Sadr City • Mahdi Army • Green Zone • Nouri al-Maliki • Iraq government • Sadrists • Iraqi militias • Muqtada al-Sadr

 Iraqi Assault on Basra
 Was 'Thrown Together' 

Americans taken aback by Maliki's hasty,
improvised raid

Apr 3, 08 6:37 AM CDT
(Newser) - American officials were expecting a gradual, methodical operation when Nouri al-Maliki moved Iraqi troops into Basra to restore order in the city. What they witnessed instead was a rush job: an Iraqi raid that had little forethought and began even before the last of the soldiers had arrived. "He... More »

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Iraq • Nouri al-Maliki • David Petraeus • Ryan Crocker • Basra • Sadrists • Iraqi militias • Muqtada al-Sadr

Iran Played Key Role in al-Sadr Ceasefire

Iraqi lawmakers met cleric in Iran before deal was struck

Mar 31, 08 6:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - Iran played a key role in convincing Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to call a ceasefire in Basra yesterday, CNN reports. Iraqi lawmakers from five Shiite parties traveled to Iran on Friday to meet with al-Sadr, and returned yesterday, right before al-Sadr's injunction to halt violence in Basra, an Iraqi official... More »

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Iraq • Iran • Shiite • Basra • Iraqi government • Shiite cleric • Iraqi militias • Muqtada al-Sadr • Shiite militants

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

11 Stories


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