Word: maliki
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Mosul, the capital of Nineveh Province, has been unusually quiet in recent days as Iraqi security forces undertake fresh sweeps of the city in a new offensive dubbed "Lion's Roar" and commanded personally by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. "We have come to Nineveh to restore security," Maliki said to reporters shortly after arriving Wednesday. "Today, law and order is our message. We want to end the suffering in this province...
Perhaps some Iraqi and American commanders hoped for an Alamo scene in Mosul, the guerrilla movement's last urban stronghold in Iraq. But it appears the insurgents have decided to melt away rather than take part in the "decisive battle" Maliki vowed to unleash months ago when Mosul reemerged as an insurgent haven...
...gesture seems to have fallen flat. The National Accordance Front still appears uninterested in getting involved in a Maliki government. No doubt part of that calculation has much to do with lingering disputes between the two camps, such as over the fate of thousands of Sunni detainees in Iraqi jails the National Accordance Front wants freed. But a new reality is emerging that may factor into the thinking of potential political allies the Prime Minister is courting: Maliki is looking more and more like a lame duck as October elections in Iraq approach...
What little political capital Maliki's hobbled and isolated government holds is likely to dwindle in the upcoming provincial elections, which both the Sadrists and the Sunni factions hope to capitalize on. By and large both camps stayed away from the last elections in 2005. But since then both the Sadrists and various Sunni factions have displayed a new interest in gathering political power at the polls even while keeping a hand in Iraq's ongoing violence. The Sadrists are poised to win broadly in southern Iraq, while members of the Sunni Awakening Council will likely clinch victories in Anbar...
Already he suffers in the shadow of Iraq's most popular nationalist, Moqtada al-Sadr. Fighting between U.S.-backed Iraqi forces and guerrilla fighters in Sadr City flared again Monday despite the announcement over the weekend of a cease-fire. On the afternoon Maliki spoke, sporadic clashes in Sadr City left at least 11 dead and 19 wounded - and opened the question of whether the Prime Minister has the ability to make peace at all anymore...