Iraqi meeting discusses new offensive
MOSUL, Iraq, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other Iraqi and U.S. leaders held a strategy session Saturday in the northern city of Mosul to prepare for a new offensive.
The aim is to drive al-Qaida in Iraq out of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province and a stronghold of the group, CNN reported.
A U.S. military source told CNN that more Iraqi troops would be moving into Mosul soon.
"Iraqis are taking the lead in this action," the source said.
Also present at the meeting were the Iraqi defense and interior ministers, Abdul Qadir Mohammed Jassim and Jawad al-Bolani, and the top U.S commanders, Gen. David Petraeus and Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno.
The meeting came the day after bombings in two Baghdad markets. Investigators say the explosives were strapped to two mentally handicapped women and detonated remotely.
Maine GOP voters turn out for caucuses
AUGUSTA, Maine, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Maine Republicans appeared to be turning out in stronger-than-expected numbers Saturday for their weekend-long, non-binding political caucuses, it was reported.
More than 250 people from two dozen Kennebec County communities showed up at Farington School in Augusta, the Kennebec Journal reported.
While the presidential candidates were zipping across the United States in advance of Super Tuesday -- when some 20 states will hold primary elections -- former Massachusetts Gov. Jane Swift showed up in Maine Saturday to tout Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as a "true American hero," the Journal said.
Mitt Romney, who also served as Massachusetts' governor, was represented by his son, Tagg, while Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, and Ron Paul, who represents Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives, also had surrogates on hand.
CNN reported that with 47 percent of caucuses tallied, Romney had 53 percent of the vote, with McCain at 22 percent, Paul at 19 percent and Huckabee at 5 percent.
The caucuses continue into Sunday, but Maine GOP officials were expected to announce results of a straw-poll Saturday night. The non-binding votes begin the selection process for Maine's 18 GOP delegates to the national convention.
Maine Democrats hold a presidential preference vote at Feb. 10 caucuses.
Rebels reportedly fighting in Chad capital
N'DJAMENA, Chad, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Hundreds of rebels were reportedly in the capital of Chad Saturday as a coalition of three insurgent groups pressured for the president's departure.
Chadian and foreign officials in Ndjamena reported fighting around the presidential palace, The New York Times said. But the country's ambassador to the United States, Adam Bechir, claimed President Idriss Deby remained in control and said only a token rebel force had managed to get to the city.
The coalition fighters had been fighting a few miles outside the capital in recent days.
A spokesman posted a statement on the rebels' Web site offering a peaceful resolution. The coalition is "ready to facilitate, with the guarantee of the African Union, the negotiated departure of President Idriss Deby and avoid a pointless blood bath," he said.
Reed Brody, a Human Rights Watch lawyer, said the rebels, who had been living in Sudan, apparently intended their march on the capital in advance of the deployment of a European Union force to provide security for refugees. He said many rebels have ties to past regimes in Chad.
"Nobody is going to miss Deby, but these guys aren't exactly fighting for freedom and democracy," Brody told the Times.
5 women killed in shooting at Ill. mall
CHICAGO, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Five women were shot dead Saturday morning in a Lane Bryant store in a Chicago-area mall, in what a police source reportedly said may have been a robbery.
Police responded to a report of gunfire and found several people shot at the Brookside Marketplace in Tinley Park, Ill., the Chicago Tribune reported. The call came in at 10:44 a.m.
"Responding units entered the store and discovered multiple victims who'd been shot and killed," Tinley Park Police Sgt. T.J. Grady said at a mid-afternoon news conference.
A police source told the Chicago Sun-Times it wasn't clear why the shooter targeted the women's clothing store since "it's not a place where you would find a lot of cash." But the source added that a suspect made off with some valuables, the Sun-Times reported.
Police said foot and helicopter searches of the mall grounds turned up no sign of a suspect, and he was believed to have left the area.
The Brookside Marketplace is just off Interstate 80 about 15 miles south of Chicago.
