• India sets up team to probe Jaipur blasts
    Published: May 16, 2008 at 11:01 AM
    NEW DELHI, May 16 (UPI) -- India has set up a special investigative team to probe Tuesday's bomb explosions in the city of Jaipur in which 64 people were killed.
  • Sadr fighters lay down their weapons
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 10:44 PM
    BAGHDAD, May 15 (UPI) -- Forces loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr laid down their weapons Thursday as reports emerged from Iraq of relative calm in the Baghdad district of Sadr City.
  • U.S. claims Iranian weapons are in Iraq
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 10:42 PM
    BAGHDAD, May 15 (UPI) -- A spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad said emerging evidence suggests Iran is backing the so-called special groups targeting coalition and Iraqi forces.
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  • Feature: U.S. cites attacks despite truce
    Published: May 16, 2008 at 2:34 PM
    By RICHARD TOMKINS
    BAGHDAD, May 13 (UPI) -- A new cease-fire has been declared between the Iraqi government and Shiite gunmen of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr, but U.S. and Iraqi forces say their troops are still coming under attack in Sadr City.
  • Dogs of War: Blackwater, Najaf -- Take Two
    Published: May 16, 2008 at 10:28 AM
    By DAVID ISENBERG
    WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- One aspect of private military and security contractors that is relatively ignored is their relationship with regular military forces. Such discussion, as there is, is generally limited to sound bites about the reported envy that soldiers have for allegedly better paid security contractors.
  • Analysis: Indian agencies start blame game
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 8:36 PM
    By KUSHAL JEENA
    UPI Correspondent
    NEW DELHI, May 15 (UPI) -- India's intelligence and security agencies are indulging in a blame game over a recent foiled infiltration bid by militants on the Pakistani border, with one agency accusing the paramilitary forces guarding the border of lacking alertness.
  • Iraq press roundup
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 7:20 PM
    By HIBA DAWOOD
    UPI Correspondent
    The daily Al Mashriq newspaper had an editorial Thursday titled "Last lines for the chaotic months" that said although Iraq has been in a war for five years, the government in the last few weeks has been chaotically carrying out quick military operations and offensives in many cities and areas around the country.
  • Features: More graves found
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 2:31 PM
    By RICHARD TOMKINS
    ZAHAMM, Iraq, May 13 (UPI) -- The number of human remains unearthed in an al-Qaida killing field northeast of Baghdad in Diyala province is nearing 70 with the discovery of more graves by villagers who had volunteered to search an abandoned pomegranate orchard.
  • Analysis: USAF's cyber offense capability
    Published: May 15, 2008 at 2:23 PM
    By SHAUN WATERMAN
    UPI Homeland and National Security Editor
    WASHINGTON, May 15 (UPI) -- Procurement documents from the U.S. Air Force give a rare glimpse into the Pentagon's plans for developing an offensive cyberwar capacity that can infiltrate, steal data from and if necessary take down enemy information technology networks.
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Sadrists hail provincial election decision


Published: March 20, 2008 at 4:34 PM
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BAGHDAD, March 20 (UPI) -- The head of the party loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr hailed Thursday the decision by the Presidential Council to proceed with provincial elections.

"The decision came due to political and popular pressures," said Nassar al-Rubaei of the Sadrist Movement. The comments were reported by Voices of Iraq.

The three-member Presidential Council lifted its objections to the draft provision following a visit to Baghdad by U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, who urged Iraqi leaders to resolve their differences to make political progress that matches the security gains in the country.

Rubaei admonished the Presidential Council, saying Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi "made a big mistake" when he blocked the provincial election law. "All Shiite political parties, including the Unified Iraqi Coalition, Fadhila party and the Sadrists" backed the law, Rubaei said, adding the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Abdel-Mahdi's party, voiced the sole objection to the law.

The Presidential Council issued a statement Wednesday saying "there would be no changes to the law" paving way toward provincial elections Oct. 1.

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