Car bombs struck Shiite neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital and a northern city on Thursday, killing 16 people, while gunmen in Baghdad shot dead the brother of a Sunni lawmaker, officials said.
Iraqis cast ballots in regional elections Saturday amid tight security, marking the country's first vote since the U.S. military withdrawal and a key test of its stability.
Even the dead are not spared the campaigning for Iraq's upcoming local elections. Brightly colored placards blanket major streets and hang around the vast cemetery in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, appealing to the hundreds of mourners who stream through each day.
Secretary of State John Kerry is headed home following a busy week of mostly clandestine travels that saw him issuing blunt warnings to Iraqi leaders, trying to bridge disputes with Afghanistan’s president, dining with Pakistani military chiefs and heading a soccer ball.
The United States has made clear that Iraq shouldn't allow Iran to use its airspace to ship weapons and fighters to Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry told reporters Sunday during an unannounced trip to Baghdad.
Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Sunday urged Iraq not to let Iran use its airspace to supply weapons and fighters to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.
The Obama administration said Monday that an Iranian dissident group must immediately accept an offer of asylum from Albania for some its members being housed at a camp in Iraq.
Iranian dissidents in the U.S. are preparing for the Persian New Year with a major push in Washington for the removal of the brutal, theocratic regime in Iran and for the relocation of 3,000 Iranian refugees confined to a squalid camp in Iraq where they are targeted by pro-Iranian terrorists.
An Iranian dissident group says Iraq's government had a hand in a rocket and mortar attack on its refugee camp north of Baghdad where seven people were killed and dozens injured earlier this month.
