- Latest Popular Stories, Instablogs Community by A_khaled

A Relative Unknown Leads Election Challenge to Ahmadinejad

Khaled — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:54:49 +0000

The main challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Friday’s presidential election is a relatively unknown candidate who says he joined the race to save Iran from his opponent’s “destructive” policies.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, 67, who served as prime minister in the early years of the Islamic revolution, had stayed away from politics for the past 20 years. But he entered the race on a main promise to stand up to Ahmadinejad, which has earned him the support of influential clerics, politicians and young people alike.

Iraq faces the mother of all corruption scandals

Khaled — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:48:44 +0000

Iraq plans to arrest 1,000 officials for corruption after a scandal which has forced the resignation of the Trade Minister and is threatening the food supply of millions of Iraqis.

Corruption at the Trade Ministry is an important issue in Iraq because the ministry is in charge of the food rationing system on which 60 per cent of Iraqis depend. Officials at the ministry, which spends billions of dollars buying rice, sugar, flour and other items, are notorious among Iraqis for importing food that is unfit for human consumption, for which they charge the state the full international price.

The scandal first erupted in April when police, entering the Trade Ministry in Baghdad to arrest 10 senior officials accused of corruption and embezzlement, were greeted with gunfire by the ministry’s own guards. The shoot-out allowed several officials, including two brothers of the Trade Minister, Abdul Falah al-Sudany, time to escape out the back gate.

Iraqi Casualties At Highest Since August

Khaled — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:12:48 +0000

Fighting between security forces and Shi’ite militiamen last month has driven civilian deaths in Iraq to their highest level in more than six months, government figures showed on Tuesday.

Britain responded to renewed violence in the southern city of Basra by delaying plans to bring home 1,500 of its 4,000 troops in Iraq.

A total of 923 civilians were killed in March, up 31 percent from February and the deadliest month since August 2007, according to data compiled by Iraq’s interior, defense and health ministries and obtained by Reuters.

Iraq UK troop reduction delayed

Khaled — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:27:06 +0000

There are no current plans to reduce the number of British troops based in Iraq, Defence Secretary Des Browne is expected to tell MPs.

Hopes to reduce the number of soldiers from the current total of 4,100 may have been dashed by recent fighting in Basra, said the BBC’s Caroline Wyatt.

The southern Iraqi city was policed by British troops until their withdrawal to a nearby airbase in September.

Gordon Brown had said he hoped to cut troops in Basra to 2,500 by spring.