A powerful political bloc in Iraq ended its boycott of the country's parliament on Sunday, describing the move as a "gesture of goodwill."
As recent bloodshed raises fears of renewed sectarian violence in Iraq, U.S. Vice President Biden has been calling Iraqi leaders in an apparent attempt to soothe political tensions, the White House said Saturday.
At least nine people were killed and at least 72 others wounded Tuesday when four car bombs and a roadside bomb exploded in mostly Shiite neighborhoods in Baghdad, police officials said.
Contractors in Iraq say they are mired in red tape. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.
Iraq is on the edge of the precipice as a consequence of the standoff between Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, with the former accusing the latter of engaging in terrorism and the latter accusing the former of dictatorial ambitions. This crisis involves all three major sectarian and ethnic groups in Iraq, with al-Hashimi taking refuge in the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq as a guest of Iraq's Kurdish President Jalal Talabani.
A series of explosions in Iraq come amid a power vacuum. CNN's Arwa Damon reports.
A wave of explosions across Baghdad killed dozens of people Thursday and spread fears that Iraq's government could collapse in the wake of the U.S. military's departure.
Iraqi political leaders agreed early Wednesday that the Iraqi government will begin negotiating with U.S. officials about leaving U.S. forces inside Iraq -- beyond their scheduled departure at the end of the year -- on a training mission.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki held out hope Monday that his country's political leaders will decide within a day whether to ask U.S. troops to stay in Iraq beyond 2011.
Iraqi activists and a gamut of groups ranging from intellectuals to unemployed workers to widows are preparing for large demonstrations Friday in al-Tahrir square in central Baghdad, along with large protests in most of Iraq's provinces.
After eight months of bickering and political paralysis, Iraqi leaders were thought to have finally reached a power-sharing agreement Thursday for a new government, but that deal appeared to fall apart late in the day as members of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya List walked out of the parliamentary session.
Iraq's parliament has rescheduled a key session next week to give political blocs more time to discuss an initiative that would end the war-weary nation's long political impasse.
Vice President Joe Biden arrives in Baghdad. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reports.
Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq on Monday to participate in a ceremony marking the end of the U.S. combat mission there, according to the White House.
The new U.S. ambassador to Iraq presented his diplomatic credentials to top Iraqi officials hours after arriving in the country Wednesday.
Arwa Damon reports on Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Iraq and the latest on the attack in the Green Zone.
Three mortar rounds struck harmlessly inside Baghdad's Green Zone on Sunday night during a weekend visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition has edged ahead in Iraq's parliamentary elections, according to partial results from election officials.
The Iraqi government Friday demanded the withdrawal of an Iranian "armed group" that it says seized an oil well in southern Iraq on Thursday night.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has hailed the passage of a law that calls for elections seen as critical to U.S. plans to withdraw troops.
Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president said Tuesday he will again veto legislation that sets the framework for the country's upcoming elections, saying revisions passed after his first veto made the bill worse.
The Iraqi parliament passed an amended election law Monday, but it failed to address concerns of the country's Sunni Arab vice president. That raised doubts about whether nationwide elections will take place as constitutionally required in January.
The Iraqi parliament passed an amended election law Monday, but it failed to address concerns of the country's Sunni Arab vice president. That raised doubts about whether nationwide elections will take place as constitutionally required in January.
The Iraqi government has aired videos showing three men, who claim to be members of the ousted Baath Party, saying they were involved in last month's devastating Baghdad attacks.
The Iraqi parliament has voted to pass a revised election law. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom reports.
U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill said Sunday that American officials were extremely relieved that Iraq's parliament passed a long-awaited election law.
The Iraqi government vows to improve security after suicide attack. CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom reports.
The fate of Iraq's national elections hung in the balance Thursday as the nation's lawmakers failed to convene for an official session and adopt an election law, a move that could spark a delay in the upcoming vote.
Twin car bombs exploded near three Iraqi government buildings Sunday in central Baghdad, killing at least 132 people. It was the deadliest attack in the country in more than two years.
Turkey's top diplomat is shuttling between Baghdad and Damascus Monday, in an effort patch up differences between its two neighbors, Syria and Iraq.
Popular Iraqi Shia leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim is dead. CNN's Arwa Damon has the story of his rise to power.
Tens of thousands converged Friday on the streets of Baghdad to pay final respects to one of Iraq's top Shiite leaders.
A funeral procession for a senior Iraqi Shiite leader wound through the streets of Tehran, the Iranian capital, on Thursday.
One of Iraq's top Shiite leaders died Wednesday after a lengthy battle with lung cancer, a senior official with his office told CNN.
Syria and Iraq each recalled their ambassadors from the other country Tuesday, after Baghdad demanded that Damascus hand over two suspects in last week's deadly bombings in the Iraqi capital.
Iraq's main Shiite parties Monday announced the formation of a new alliance that excludes the prime minister -- at least for now.
Iraqi officials Sunday released what they called a confession from a man identified as a former Baathist police official, who says he helped organize one of last week's attacks on government buildings in Baghdad.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will likely not seek re-election once his term ends.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki rallied sheikhs of the nation's tribes on Saturday to participate in Iraq's government.
Iraq's parliament has passed a $58.8 billion budget for 2009 after cutting $3.2 billion from government spending because of weak oil prices, a Iraqi lawmaker said.
Iraqi leaders are applauding President Obama's plan to withdraw most U.S. troops from the country by August 2010.
Insurgents dressed as Iraqi police officers shot and killed a U.S. soldier and an interpreter Tuesday afternoon in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Iraqi officials said Wednesday.
The second-highest ranking official in Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's political party resigned Saturday, along with four other high-ranking Kurdish politicians, officials said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid a visit to Baghdad on Friday to congratulate its citizens for last weekend's "remarkable" Iraq-led provincial elections, a process he said "augurs well for the transition process and the solidifying of Iraq's national reconciliation."
The Iraqi prime minister's political bloc sweeps the country's provincial elections. CNN's Arwa Damon reports.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition won most of the provinces in last week's local elections, and an underdog prevailed in Anbar, the largely Sunni Arab province, election officials said Thursday.
U.S. troops in Iraq will gradually reduce their visibility after a new security pact takes effect, but they won't lose the "fundamental ability to protect" themselves, the top U.S. general in Iraq said Friday.
Iraq's presidency council Thursday approved the U.S.-Iraq security agreement -- the final step for the agreement to be ratified by the Iraqi government, a council spokesman said. The pact allows the presence of American troops in Iraq for three more years.
Iraqi lawmakers postponed a vote Wednesday to set a deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops because the nation's three major factions continue tussling over political reforms.
On Iraq, McCain and Obama are not as different as they seem. CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports.
The United States has signaled to Iraqi officials that it is seriously considering proposed changes to an agreement that would set the terms for U.S. troops in Iraq, an adviser to the Iraqi prime minister told CNN on Tuesday.
The Iraqi government expects Washington to delay responding to proposed changes in a draft security agreement between the countries until after the presidential election, an aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Sunday.
Analysis: McCain and Obama may spar over when to quit Iraq, but that decision may now be in Iraqi, not American hands
The Iraqi government has unanimously agreed that a security pact with the United States lacks "some necessary amendments," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Tuesday.
Thousands of Iraqis took to the streets in a nonviolent protest of the American involvement in Iraq.
U.S. troops or contractors who commit "major and premeditated murders" in Iraq while off-duty and outside U.S. facilities would fall under Iraqi jurisdiction, according to a copy of a draft U.S.-Iraq agreement obtained by CNN.
Turkish warplanes bombed two Kurdish rebel bases -- one in northern Iraq and one in Turkey -- on Friday, the Turkish military announced, according to CNN Turk.
U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have agreed on a draft of a status-of-forces agreement authorizing U.S. troop presence in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday.
Iraqi leaders met Tuesday to review a draft of an agreement on the future of U.S. troops in Iraq, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.
A Turkish delegation led by the country's deputy foreign minister met with Iraqi leaders on Tuesday in Baghdad amid an increase in Turkish military strikes on suspected Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
The United States' insistence that its troops and contractors remain immune from Iraqi law is a key obstacle to reaching a status of forces agreement, the Iraqi foreign minister said Tuesday.
The cleric may be pushing for a seat at discussions over U.S.
military withdrawal. But don't expect a breakthrough on Iraq yet
Iraqi officials say they're close to a deal for a U.S. troop withdrawal, but there are hurdles. CNN's Arwa Damon reports
Iraq and the United States are close to reaching a deal under which U.S. combat troops would leave by December 2010 and the rest would leave by the end of 2011, two Iraqi officials said Thursday.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Saturday that plans are being made to scale back troops in Iraq, but he would not set an "artificial timetable."
Security contractors working in Iraq will no longer receive immunity from prosecution in that nation under a deal being brokered by Iraqi and U.S. officials, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki pushed Iran on Sunday to back off its fierce opposition to a U.S.-Iraqi security pact
An Iranian official says the government wants the United States to stop its "savage attacks" in Iraq before its envoys hold more talks with U.S. and Iraqi officials, Iran's Fars News Agency reported.
The U.S. continues to inveigh against Tehran's alleged subversion of Iraq, so why are many in Baghdad slow to believe the American accusations?
An Iraqi delegation that arrived in Tehran on Wednesday confronted Iranian officials with "evidence" that Iran is smuggling weapons and explosive devices into Iraq and training Iraqi militants, charges that the Iranians vehemently denied, an Iraqi politician said Saturday.
Iraqi lawmakers were making a "brief" visit to Iran to confront officials there with "sufficient evidence of Iran's support for militias and outlaws in Iraq," Iraqi officials said Thursday.
Gen. David Petraeus tells CNN's Michael Ware there have been significant gains in Iraq, but they are 'fragile'.
Iranian influence on Iraq's ruling parties is a "stark reality," the commander of U.S. troops in Iraq said Thursday, but he said Iranian support for Iraqi Shiite Muslim militias has raised "genuine concern" among leaders in Baghdad.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki blasted the U.S. State Department for renewing its contract with the Blackwater security firm, saying the company has yet to answer for what he called a "massacre" last year.
Blackwater is still working in Baghdad as an FBI investigation of the contractor continues. Jill Dougherty reports.
The U.S. State Department's renewal of Blackwater's contract to provide security in Iraq "is bad news," an adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said.
The deal to end the weeklong fighting in Iraq's Shiite regions appeared to be holding Monday, but left lingering questions about Iran's growing influence, the Iraqi government's military resolve and the chances for more intra-Shiite hostility.
Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on followers to stop shooting and cooperate with Iraqi security forces Sunday, a move Iraq's government praised as a step toward ending six days of fighting that has left hundreds dead.
Iraq's three-man presidency council on Wednesday approved draft legislation for provincial elections, reversing an earlier decision.
On a visit to Iraq, Condoleezza Rice sees steps toward national reconciliation in Baghdad. CNN's Arwa Damon reports.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other senior leaders Tuesday on an unannounced visit to Iraq, the White House said.
U.S., Turkish and Iraqi leaders all held talks Monday about Kurdish rebels using northern Iraq as a launchpad for cross-border attacks into Turkey.
Iraq's prime minister wants the American military to hand over "Chemical Ali" and two other convicted officials from Saddam Hussein's regime for execution, an Iraqi official said Tuesday, but the move could widen the divide between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities.
A legal debate and reconciliation politics have delayed the scheduled executions in Iraq of three Saddam Hussein-era officials and the hiatus is causing an uproar among Iraqi officials.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised Saturday to smoke out Kurdish separatist rebels using Iraq as a base to launch attacks into neighboring Turkey.
With Turkish officials under pressure to strike at Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush has told Turkey's president his administration will keep pressing Baghdad to clamp down on the rebels, the White House said Monday.
The Turkish prime minister indicates he's not willing to wait forever. CNN's Phil Black reports
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad disavowed a Senate resolution calling for dividing Iraq into federal regions, a move Iraqi leaders condemned Sunday as a violation of Iraq's sovereignty.
Iraq and Iran
updated: Sun Sep 30 2007 21:03:00
CNN's Wolf Blitzer speaks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari about his country's complex relationship with Iran.
An investigation of weapons smuggling targets former Blackwater USA workers. CNN's Alessio Vinci reports.
The Iraqi government said it will file criminal charges against employees of security firm Blackwater USA who were involved a gun battle in Baghdad in which civilians were killed, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said Sunday.
Those wounded in an incident involving Blackwater security say the shooting was unprovoked. CNN's Aneesh Raman reports.
Lobbying against Iraqi leader
Faced with walkouts by members of his government and increasing criticism from U.S. officials, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told U.S. senators Sunday to butt out of his country's domestic politics.
Warner proposal draws support
Civilian casualties remain high, sectarian groups can't get along, al Qaeda in Iraq is still pulling off high-profile attacks and "to date, Iraqi leaders remain unable to govern effectively," said the declassified version of the National Intelligence Estimate released Thursday.
With sentiment growing that Iraq's Prime Minister needs to be replaced, the potential successors inspire little confidence
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