Basra

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1,000 Iraqis Deserted Basra Battle

Officers and men fled or balked as government battled militias

(Newser) - Desertions from Iraqi forces during last week's Basra battles have raised fresh doubts about the effectiveness of the country's US-trained security forces, the New York Times reports. Over 1,000 soldiers and policemen—including dozens of officers—either deserted or refused to fight. The US has linked American troop withdrawals...

Iraqi Assault on Basra Was 'Thrown Together'

Americans taken aback by Maliki's hasty, improvised raid

(Newser) - American officials were expecting a gradual, methodical operation when Nouri al-Maliki moved Iraqi troops into Basra to restore order in the city. What they witnessed instead was a rush job: an Iraqi raid that had little forethought and began even before the last of the soldiers had arrived. "He...

Iran Played Key Role in al-Sadr Ceasefire

Iraqi lawmakers met cleric in Iran before deal was struck

(Newser) - Iran played a key role in convincing Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to call a ceasefire in Basra yesterday, CNN reports. Iraqi lawmakers from five Shiite parties traveled to Iran on Friday to meet with al-Sadr, and returned yesterday, right before al-Sadr's injunction to halt violence in Basra, an Iraqi official...

Baghdad Curfew Lifted; Basra Violence Slows

Move comes a day after Sadr ordered militants to stand down

(Newser) - Baghdad authorities lifted a 3-day-old curfew today as violence ebbed and soldiers from Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army began to heed his call yesterday to stand down, reports the AFP. The southern city of Basra also eased its curfew as 6 days of violent clashes wound down, although the BBC reported...

Al-Sadr Orders His Militia Off Streets of Basra
Al-Sadr Orders His Militia Off Streets of Basra
Updated
Mar 30, 2008 5:15 PM CDT

Al-Sadr Orders His Militia Off Streets of Basra

He offers weakened Maliki a truce deal as violence continues

(Newser) - Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his fighters to leave the streets of Basra and other cities, reports the BBC, in an effort to end clashes with security forces. “Anyone carrying a weapon and targeting government institutions will not be one of us,” Sadr said, but minutes after...

Brits Join the Fight in Basra
Brits Join the Fight in Basra
Mar 29, 2008 11:27 AM CDT

Brits Join the Fight in Basra

US widens its airstrikes, and Sadr tells followers to keep their weapons

(Newser) - As the Iraqi army struggles to combat militias in Basra, British troops for the first time directly joined the fight, and American forces expanded their bombing beyond the militia stronghold. The Brits, who had previously provided only logistical and air support to the Iraqis, fired on an insurgent mortar team...

Criticism Dogs Basra Battle
Criticism Dogs Basra Battle
Mar 29, 2008 5:33 AM CDT

Criticism Dogs Basra Battle

US influence limited in potential quagmire, fight likely to drag on: military officials

(Newser) - As US troops are drawn deeper into the four-day-old Iraqi crackdown on militants in Basra,  critics see a long and difficult road ahead. While President Bush praised the operation as a "defining moment in the history of a free Iraq," military officials murmured that the battle "...

US Joins Basra Battle; Maliki Extends Deadline

Maliki extends deadline as fighting continues

(Newser) - Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki today gave Shia militants in Basra 10 more days to turn over their weapons, as fighting continued in Iraq’s third largest city. The US, meanwhile, made its first moves in the fight, bombing Mahdi Army positions, the BBC reports. Muqtada al Sadr, the radical...

Iraqi Lawmakers to Meet as Violence Escalates

Baghdad under curfew as militants in Basra hold their ground

(Newser) - Iraqi lawmakers will hold an emergency session in Baghdad tomorrow to try to find a way to resolve the escalating violence in Basra and the capital, Reuters reports. Baghdad, its Green Zone rocked by steady rocket and mortar fire, is now under a three-day curfew, and the State Department ordered...

Bush Praises Iraqi Offensive
 Bush Praises Iraqi Offensive 
Mar 27, 2008 4:47 PM CDT

Bush Praises Iraqi Offensive

President scolds Congress' calls for withdrawal

(Newser) - President Bush praised the government of Iraq today for the offensive launched three days ago against militias in Basra, painting it as a sign of progress toward the goals of the US war, the AP reports. Bush also criticized Congress for calling for troop withdrawals so the military’s attention...

Sadrists Resist Crackdown, Demand Maliki's Ouster

Intra-Shiite battle pounds on in Basra

(Newser) - Followers of Muqtada al-Sadr marched in Baghdad today, denouncing Nouri al-Maliki's US-backed government as non-representative, while the onslaught in Basra continued for a third day. Explosions were heard in the city every 10 to 15 minutes and more than 100 are already dead, Reuters reports. Residents of Iraq's second-largest city,...

Iraq PM Threatens Sadrists as Basra Explodes

'Moment of truth' as government battles Shiite militias

(Newser) - As Iraqi government forces battle Shia militants for a second day in Basra, the Iraqi prime minister has issued a 72-hour deadline for insurgents to lay down their arms. In a television broadcast, Nouri al-Maliki warned militants, many of them loyal to the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, to stand down...

Iraqi Forces Battle Mahdi Army in Basra

Sadr promises 'civil revolt'

(Newser) - Iraqi security forces fought pitched gun battles through the streets of Basra today, trying to wrest control of the oil-rich city from Mahdi Army militants. An enraged Muqtada al Sadr promised a “civil revolt” if the attacks on his faction didn’t stop and ordered police cleared from the...

Basra Awash in Violence as It Tests Self-Rule

Militia violence doesn't bode well for rest of the nation

(Newser) - Basra is supposed to be a shining example of Iraqi self-rule, but the city remains riven by violence five months after British forces pulled out and left local leaders in control, the New York Times reports. Dozens of Shia militias are competing for power, and murders and kidnappings of prominent...

CBS Journalist to Be Freed 'Within Hours'

Radical Shiite group says it negotiated freedom of 2 hostages

(Newser) - A kidnapped British journalist working for CBS and his translator are to be freed "within hours," according to the office of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Sadrists conducted negotiations with the kidnappers, who took the two hostage at gunpoint from a hotel in Basra, AFP reports. The captives have...

Journalists Kidnapped in Iraq
Journalists Kidnapped
in Iraq
Feb 11, 2008 4:30 PM CST

Journalists Kidnapped in Iraq

CBS photographer, translator snatched from Basra hotel

(Newser) - A CBS photographer and translator have been kidnapped in Iraq, reports the Italian news agency ADN Kronos. Richard Butler, a Briton whose work has appeared in Newsweek and Time, and an Iraqi co-worker were forced out of their Basra hotel and into a car by a group of armed men,...

After 5 Years, Brits Hand Over Basra to Iraqis

Strategic, unstable region to test strength of Baghdad government

(Newser) - Ending five years of British control in southern Iraq, the UK today handed over authority for the wealthy, populous Basra region to the Iraqi government. Residents greeted the handover with jubilation, but the responsibility for Basra—strategically located, an oil export hub and home of Iraq's only port—will prove...

British PM Gives Troops Surprise Visit

Vows Basra pullout in 2 weeks; mum on link to kidnappings

(Newser) - UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown surprised his troops with a visit in Iraq today and declared that Britain will cede control of Basra within two weeks, the Times of London reports. He told 300 soldiers that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki had advised the quick pull-out "so Iraq can...

UK to Slash Iraq Force by More Than Half

PM sees 'overwatch' role after cut from 5,500 to 2,500 troops

(Newser) - British troops will number only 2,500 in Iraq by next spring, Gordon Brown said today. In “two distinct stages,” the PM said, the UK will shrink its presence to 4,000 troops from the current 5,500 and then to 2,500, the Guardian reports. Three of...

Brown Cuts 1,000 Iraq Troops
Brown Cuts 1,000 Iraq Troops
Oct 2, 2007 7:18 AM CDT

Brown Cuts 1,000 Iraq Troops

Brown announces 1,000 troop cut in surprise first visit

(Newser) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a surprise first visit to Iraq today and announced that he'll withdraw 1,000 troops by the end of the year. He spent an hour with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, and was expected to meet with Gen. David Petraeus in advance of addressing...

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