NAJAF, Iraq, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Clerical leaders in Najaf voiced opposition to the status of the educational system, noting it is as it existed under the Saddam Hussein regime.

BAGHDAD, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- The next round of Iraqi elections in 2009 will have a greater impact on the emerging Iraqi state and its identity than any other, the foreign minister said.

RAMADI, Iraq, Sept. 22 (UPI) -- The Sunni tribal elders in the western Iraqi province of Anbar will form an electoral bloc to run in the provincial elections, a top official said.

ERBIL, Iraq, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Officials in the security arm of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party Thursday denied allegations the force had carried out guerrilla raids in the region.

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.

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.