Word: primed
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Amara, the capital of Iraq's unruly Maysan province - long a smuggling hub for weapons and drugs on Iraq's border with Iran - Iraqi forces are waging a crackdown on the Mahdi Army, led by popular radical Shi'ite cleric and opposition leader Muqtada al-Sadr. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched the campaign last month under the banner of "imposing the law" and wresting control away from militias operating "outside the law." Similar campaigns in Basra, the chaotic port 100 miles away, and Sadr City, the huge Baghdad slum, initially met fierce resistance from al-Sadr's followers...
...results of that hot pursuit will help determine whether al-Maliki's military and police forces are capable of reinforcing the central government's tenuous hold on the oil-rich regions south of Baghdad - even as the Prime Minister discusses the possibility of a timetable for American troop withdrawal as part of a new security agreement with the U.S. More immediately (and concretely), the efficacy of Iraqi government forces is critical to the outcome of provincial elections in October...
...Baitullah Mehsud, head of the Pakistani Taliban and the man accused of assassinating former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has embraced the cause of the Red Mosque and refers to it often in his public condemnations of Musharraf's government. Mullah Fazlullah, the leader of a militant group that took over the once popular tourist destination of Swat valley has sworn to avenge the death of those lost in the raid...
...coalition government in danger of losing power for the first time since Malaysia gained independence, in 1957. The charges, which have sidetracked Anwar's plans to re-enter Parliament, echo those preceding his 1998 imprisonment for sodomy. That conviction--overturned in 2004--came after his falling-out with then Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad over leadership of the ruling umno party. Sodomy is punishable in the Muslim-majority nation by up to 20 years behind bars...
Manekshaw's winning strategy began with patience. As army Chief of Staff, he advised Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to wait rather than intervene after a declaration of martial law in East Pakistan threatened to destabilize the region. He organized a coordinated army, air force and navy offensive that began on Dec. 3, 1971, and repeatedly went on the radio to warn the West Pakistani troops that they were surrounded. Overwhelmed, their commander surrendered within two weeks. The subsequent Simla Accords eventually led to the creation of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Shortly before he retired in January 1973, Manekshaw became field marshal...