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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Iraqi elections

Iraqi elections stories: 14 news summaries

Iraq Passes Election Law, Clears Way for US Pullout

Vote set for Jan. 21, US will begin withdrawal 60 days later

(AP) - Iraq's parliament passed a long-delayed law yesterday paving the way for the planned January election to go forward, sidestepping a crisis that could have delayed the US troop withdrawal. The head of Iraq's electoral commission quickly proposed Jan. 21 for the election, five days after the earlier scheduled date. The... More »

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 Kurds Threaten 
 to Block Iraqi Election 

Dispute over Kirkuk holds up passage of new election law

(Newser) - A dispute over the oil-rich province of Kirkuk is threatening to delay the Iraqi elections scheduled for January and push Arab-Kurd tensions past the breaking point. Kurdish lawmakers in the Iraqi parliament have vowed to block a vote on a new election law unless authorities agree to use voter records... More »

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Iraq Kurdistan Kurds Massoud Barzani Kirkuk Iraqi elections

Iraqi Shiites Ditch Maliki in New Coalition

Group favors a government more closely allied with Iran

(Newser) - Iraq’s major Shiite parties have formed a new coalition without Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki or his Dawa Party, they announced today. That means that unless Maliki finds new allies, he will likely lose his job following the January elections. If the new coalition wins a majority, he’ll be... More »

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Iraq Iran Shiite Iraqi Parliament Nouri al-Maliki Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council Sadrists Muqtada al-Sadr Iraqi elections

(Newser) - PM Nouri al-Maliki looks a lot like a strongman these days, using every lever at his disposal to influence Iraq’s January elections, the Washington Post reports. His men have arrested or threatened political rivals in Diyala province and Basra; last month they even arrested a councilman from the Iraqi... More »

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Iraq Nouri al-Maliki Diyala US military Iraqi government Iraqi elections Iraqi Islamic Party

analysis

Maliki Charts Post-Sectarian Politics in Iraq

Shiite PM teams with secular Sunnis and even militant cleric

(Newser) - The Shiite party of PM Nouri al-Maliki has allied itself with Sunni political figures and even Moqtada al-Sadr, a major departure from earlier politics that followed ethnic and sectarian lines. writes Anthony Shadid in the Washington Post. All support a strong central government and advocate a united Iraq over a... More »

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Iraq Sunni Shiite Nouri al-Maliki Iraqi government Sadrists Muqtada al-Sadr Iraqi elections Sunni Awakening Dawa

OPINION

 DC Shrugs Off 'Miracle' in Iraq 

Obama must support healthy Iraq, even if he opposed war

(Newser) - The US barely noticed the recent "small miracle" in the Middle East, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post: Iraq's peaceful elections. The nation "moved away from religious sectarianism toward more secular nationalism”—good news for the US, bad for Iran. Even though our policies made it... More »

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Iraq democracy secularism Washington, DC Iraq war Iraqi elections Obama administration President Obama

Maliki's Allies Win Big
in Provincial Vote

Maliki's party wins 38% of Baghdad vote, 37% in Basra

(AP) - Allies of Iraq's prime minister finished first in races for ruling councils in Baghdad and eight other provinces, official results from last weekend's election show. Nouri al-Maliki's party won 38% of the vote in Baghdad, the election commission said. His party was followed by allies of anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr... More »

 Iraqis Vote for Secular Parties 

Iraq PM claiming victory in provincial poll

(Newser) - Iraq's Dawa Party and other secular political parties appear to have scored significant victories in Iraq's provincial elections, strengthening the hand of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Detailed election results are still several days off, but religious parties appear to have been defeated in the principal cities of Bahgdad and Basra,... More »

Iraqis Wrap Up Voting
Amid Relative Calm

That this is worth reporting is deeply sad and also deeply funny

(Newser) - Iraq’s first provincial election went off more or less smoothly today. Though three mortar shells landed near one polling place, no one was injured or killed, Reuters reports, and polls closed without any other major incidents. Turnout appeared strong, even in places like Anbar province, a Sunni-dominated area that... More »

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Polls Open in Watershed
Iraqi Election

Thousands vie for seats in biggest vote since fall of Saddam

(Newser) - The polls are already open for this weekend's provincial elections in Iraq, the nation's first since it became a fully sovereign nation after the fall of Saddam. The Sunni minority is participating, reports the Christian Science Monitor, and Iraqis can vote for more than 14,000 candidates vying for 440... More »

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Iraqi Women Pressured to Run for Office, Fill Quota

Many candidates in Anbar are wives of tribal leaders

(Newser) - Iraq has new rules to boost women's rights, but it may take a while for the nation's culture to get up to speed, Time reports. In this month's provincial elections, for instance, 25% of newly elected council members must be female. But in provinces such as Anbar, the idea of... More »

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 US Troop Deaths at New Low 

Fewest troops killed since Iraq war began

(Newser) - The US military lost 467 service members in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008, the lowest annual death toll since the Iraq war began in 2003, reports USA Today. But the coming year could be more challenging. Up to 30,000 extra troops are being sent to Afghanistan and upcoming elections... More »

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Political Turf War Threatens Stability at Iraqi Oil Giant

Government wants to oust director of South Oil, but he's resisting

(Newser) - The central government in Iraq is trying reassert its control over a huge state-owned oil company by forcing out its maverick—but highly effective—chief, the Wall Street Journal reports. He's refusing to go, however, and the resulting turf war could have huge implications not only for Iraq but the... More »

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Iraq oil Nouri al-Maliki Iraq government political factions Hussain al Shahristani Iraqi elections South Oil Jabber el-Leaby

US to Stall Troop Cuts Over Iraqi Elections

But Baghdad vetoed
plan for the ballots earlier this week

(Newser) - US troop cuts in Iraq will stall after July to ensure security for local elections, a Washington official said yesterday. "You can actually increase your own risk if you pull out too many simultaneously," the official said. "This is not a stall tactic." But Baghdad officials... More »

14 Stories