Topic: Asharq Al-Awsat

BAGHDAD, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr issued a decree stating only an elite force may carry arms while the rest of his supporters will advocate social awareness in Iraq.

LONDON, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Iranian special forces played no role in training Shiite militias in southern Iraq, a former Iranian military officer said in regard to U.S. claims.

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Leaders of the African Union say they are ready to suspend Mauritania because of the recent overthrow of that country's democratically elected president.

BAGHDAD, July 14 (UPI) -- Iraqi forces will take charge in all provinces by the end of the year as part of the memorandum of understanding with the United States, a lawmaker said.

LONDON, June 13 (UPI) -- The political reconstruction of Iraq reached a tipping point in 2005, but the current government has reached its "sell by" date, the writer Amir Taheri said.

The Iraqi central and Kurdish regional governments are ready to export; Iraq plans to finalize technical oil contracts by the end of June; Iraq in talks to unify oil fields with Kuwait and Iran; Iraqi crude could ease global economic woes, Indian minister says; Iraq renews 2006 oil deal with Jordan.

ERBIL, Iraq, June 11 (UPI) -- There are more than 100 private investments projects in Iraq Kurdistan totaling more than $16 billion, a Kurdish financial officer said Wednesday.

BAGHDAD, May 20 (UPI) -- A tribal elder with the Anbar Awakening Council cautioned the Iraqi central government against postponing or fixing the October provincial elections.

The Association of Muslim Scholars' Al Basaer newspaper said in its editorial Wednesday that President Bush has divided the people of Iraq into five groups according to the five political groups in Iraq.

BAGHDAD, May 5 (UPI) -- High-ranking Iraqi officials returned from Iran with "positive" declarations of support while U.S. officials maintain Tehran is stoking the violence.