A car bomb blow up exterior a funeral tent Thursday in a mostly Shiite area of Baghdad, killing at least 48 people — the newest in a wave of attacks that has trigger fury over the government's incapacity to stop the carnage.As ambulances raced to the scene and Iraqi helicopters buzzed over your head, young men angry over the security descend pelted Iraqi forces with sticks and stones, prompting skirmishes.The aggression over the past week and a half has mainly under attack the majority Shiite community and Iraqi security forces, posing a major challenge for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his delicate alliance government that was seat last month.Full Storyuseful links:
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Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Wednesday he will not sign an implementation order for Tareq Aziz, the former deputy of Dictator Saddam Hussein sentence to death last month for crimes alongside humanity."No, I will not sign the execution order for Tareq Aziz, since I am a socialist," Talabani told French television France 24 in a consultation."I feel sorry for with Tareq Aziz because he is an Iraqi Christian. in addition he is an old man who is over 70," he said.Iraq's high court passed a death sentence on Aziz, once the worldwide face of Saddam's government, in October over the harassment of Islamic parties in Iraq throughout Saddam's rule.Full story
Iraqi safety forces stormed a Catholic minster Sunday where gunmen suspected of having tie to al Qaeda were holding worshippers captive, ending an hours-long standoff, police officials said Sunday.Thirty-seven populace were killed in the operation, counting hostages, kidnappers and security workers, they said. At least seven of the victims were hostages, police officials said, while one more 57 were injured.Eight suspect were under arrest."All the marks tip out that this incident carries the fingerprints of al Qaeda," Iraqi protection Minister Abdul Qader Obeidi said on state TV Sunday.Full story
The U.S. on Wednesday stirred into the final phase of its military participation in Iraq, with management officials proverb the war was ending even as the new leader of the remaining 50,000 troops warn of the ongoing threat from "hostile elements."The move of authority came a day after President Barack Obama make known the shift from battle operations to preparing Iraqi forces to assume responsibility for their own safety. Obama complete clear in Tuesday's speech that this was no victory fête.A six-month deadlock over forming a new Iraqi government has raised concerns about the country's permanence and questions over whether the leadership can cope with a diminished but still unsafe insurgency.
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The last group of vanguard American troops poured over the Iraqi border into Kuwait, marking the end of US battle operations despite rising violence and a lack of performance government in the country. Under strict ready secrecy, 1,200 troops of the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, passed over the Khabari border crossing just before dawn. Thousands additional were flown out of the country. President Barack Obama marked the occasion with an open letter in which he persisted he would stick to his schedule for a final removal of military aid by the end of 2011, despite widespread anxiety over the deteriorating security condition. A bomb on Tuesday killed 59 men queuing to link the army at a major base in Baghdad, just a few days following the Iraqi chief of staff called on American forces to stay put in the country until 2020.full story
