Word: iraqi
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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High-profile visits by political figures are relatively rare in Najaf, the quiet holy city in southern Iraq where Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani lives. Sistani, the most venerated Shi'ite religious leader in the country, shuns the limelight. But it fell his way last week nonetheless when Iraqi Prime Ministry Nouri al-Maliki and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared in Najaf separately within days of each other. It raised questions whether Sistani is making a comeback as a voice in political decision-making in Iraq...
...long-term bilateral agreement that will spell out conditions for a U.S. presence in Iraq beyond next year, when the current U.N. mandate ends. A number of contentious issues, such as the presence of permanent U.S. military bases and the ability of U.S. forces to arrest and detain Iraqis, remain unresolved. Crocker, who did not meet with Sistani, was in Najaf to meet with local leaders but he addressed how the talks over the bilateral security agreement were shaping up. "We are in negotiations, and when that negotiation ends there will be an agreement," said Crocker, who spoke in Arabic...
...revelation that an American soldier had used a copy of the Koran for target practice, riddling the Islamic holy book with 14 bullets at a target range near Baghdad on May 9. Within days, top military brass held a ceremony apologizing for the incident and expressed their regret to Iraqi officials; President Bush called Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki personally to apologize. The Army said the soldier, who remains unnamed, was quickly disciplined and removed from Iraq. Meanwhile, Baghdad officials called for harsher punishment...
...government stance in Sadr City, some hope, will break the militia's hold on the local economy and spur badly needed reconstruction and development in the area. But any reconstruction effort will be a massive undertaking. Iraqi army forces viewed scenes of widespread destruction as they entered Sadr City. Roughly 10,000 Iraqi troops moved through block after block of burnt and shattered buildings. Iraqi army Humvees slogged through pools of standing water that could come to pose a serious health threat in the densely packed urban area as well...
Unseen Tuesday on the streets of Sadr City were the fighters from the Mahdi Army, who faded from view under Sadr's orders. Sheik Salman al-Freiji, director of the Sadr Movement, said the Mahdi Army plans to honor the cease-fire, though signs of tensions are already emerging. Iraqi forces came in much greater numbers than Mahdi Army leaders expected, al-Freiji said, leaving the militia wary of the Iraqi army's next move. A key test of whether the truce will hold is likely to happen in the coming days as Iraqi forces begin to move from...