Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• As Obama pushes to punish Syria, lawmakers fear deep U.S. involvement
• Obama starts to build support for Syria strike
• Britain must renegotiate flawed aircraft carrier deals - panel
• Obama Meets With Former Foe John McCain at the White House
• Top Republicans warn Syria no vote would be 'catastrophic'
• Assad warns of 'regional war' if West takes military action: report
• Iraq promises probe into Iranian exile killings
• Talk, don't bomb, former UN officials urge in appeal on Syria
• American Friends of the MEK Respond To Massacre at Camp Ashraf With Telephone Press Conference Today
• Anti-al-Qaida leader escapes assassination in Iraq
• British troops deny mutilating Iraq insurgents' corpses
• UN team visits Iran exile camp hit by killings
• Spate of Iraq attacks kills 17: officials
• Obama seeks Syria support from former foe McCain
• Congress split: Does Syria strike delay make Obama a 'weak president'?
• U.N. team visits Iranian dissident camp in Iraq after killings
• INSIGHT - As Obama blinks on Syria, Israel, Saudis make common cause
• Soldier tells British side of story at Iraq killings inquiry
• Dozens escape from Tunisian prison in sign of insecurity
• Iran frees six Slovak paragliders after spying accusations
• Senior Turkish envoy survives bomb attack in Iraq
• Syria asks the United Nations to stop US strike
• Iran denies ex-president said Assad's forces used poison gas
• Syria asks the United Nations to stop U.S. strike
• Soldiers to give evidence in Iraq inquiry
• Scornful Syria hails 'historic American retreat' as Obama hesitates

As Obama pushes to punish Syria, lawmakers fear deep U.S. involvement Posted: 02 Sep 2013 05:04 PM PDT By Steve Holland and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's efforts to persuade the U.S. Congress to back his plan to attack Syria met with skepticism on Monday from lawmakers in his own Democratic Party who expressed concern the United States would be dragged into a new Middle East conflict. "There is a lot of skepticism," said Representative Jim Moran after taking part in a 70-minute phone briefing for Democratic lawmakers by Obama's top national security aides about the response to a chemical weapons attack that U.S. ...

Obama starts to build support for Syria strike Posted: 02 Sep 2013 04:56 PM PDT The White House battled Monday for congressional authorization to bomb Syria, as two top Republicans warned that a "no" vote after President Barack Obama had threatened action would be catastrophic.

Britain must renegotiate flawed aircraft carrier deals - panel Posted: 02 Sep 2013 04:26 PM PDT By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should negotiate new contracts for two aircraft carriers and fighter jets to avoid the risk of budgets spiralling further out of control at taxpayers' expense, MPs said on Tuesday. The project for the biggest ships ever built for the Royal Navy has fuelled broader criticism of the defence ministry's handling of expensive weapons programmes at a time of spending cuts across the public sector. The programme has been dogged by rising costs, delays and indecision over the choice of aircraft since it was first announced in 2007. ...

Obama Meets With Former Foe John McCain at the White House Posted: 02 Sep 2013 02:45 PM PDT White House Hopes to Turn Former Foe John McCain Into Syria Ally

Top Republicans warn Syria no vote would be 'catastrophic' Posted: 02 Sep 2013 01:33 PM PDT Two top Republicans warned Monday of catastrophic consequences if Congress votes against striking Syria and suggested the White House may be mulling a more robust military intervention.

Assad warns of 'regional war' if West takes military action: report Posted: 02 Sep 2013 01:10 PM PDT Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad warned Monday that Western military strikes risked igniting a "regional war" in the "powder keg" of the Middle East, in an interview with French newspaper Le Figaro.

Iraq promises probe into Iranian exile killings Posted: 02 Sep 2013 12:44 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister ordered an investigation Monday into the slaying of half of the roughly 100 remaining residents at an Iranian dissident camp north of Baghdad, where a U.N. team got its first look at the aftermath of the large-scale bloodshed.

Talk, don't bomb, former UN officials urge in appeal on Syria Posted: 02 Sep 2013 12:29 PM PDT Former high-ranking UN officials urged the United States and others Monday to refrain from bombing Syria over a devastating chemical attack, and instead work harder to broker a political solution in the war-torn country.

American Friends of the MEK Respond To Massacre at Camp Ashraf With Telephone Press Conference Today Posted: 02 Sep 2013 11:35 AM PDT WASHINGTON, Sept. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A telephone press conference will be held today at 3:00 PM EDT with select members of the American Friends of the Mujahadeen-e-Khalq (MEK), a group comprised of thirteen former senior government officials and military officers, in response to yesterday's attack on Camp Ashraf in Iraq (Dial In: 866-212-0875; Passcode: 937-115). Available on this telephone conference will be Hon. Howard Dean, Hon. Louis J. Freeh, Hon. Rudy Giuliani, Hon. Patrick Kennedy, Colonel (Ret.) U.S. Army Wesley M. Martin, Hon. Michael B. Mukasey, Brig. Gen. (Ret. ...

Anti-al-Qaida leader escapes assassination in Iraq Posted: 02 Sep 2013 10:41 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A prominent militia leader opposed to al-Qaida escaped an assassination attempt in Baghdad Monday that killed six of his body guards and one civilian and wounded eight people, authorities said. And a Turkish diplomat avoided injury when a roadside bomb exploded as he traveled in a convoy in the northern city of Mosul.

British troops deny mutilating Iraq insurgents' corpses Posted: 02 Sep 2013 10:36 AM PDT British army officials on Monday dismissed "baseless rumours" that troops mutilated the bodies of dead Iraqi insurgents after a 2004 battle, as a public inquiry heard its first evidence from military witnesses.

UN team visits Iran exile camp hit by killings Posted: 02 Sep 2013 10:15 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A United Nations team on Monday visited a contentious Iranian dissident camp in Iraq where multiple residents were killed the previous day in unclear circumstances, as the Iraqi government pledged to launch a probe into the bloodshed.

Spate of Iraq attacks kills 17: officials Posted: 02 Sep 2013 10:03 AM PDT Attacks in Baghdad and mostly Sunni areas of Iraq killed 17 people Monday, including eight in a coordinated attack on the home of an anti-Qaeda militia chief, officials said.

Obama seeks Syria support from former foe McCain Posted: 02 Sep 2013 08:07 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama is inviting former foe Sen. John McCain to the White House, hoping one of Congress' most intractable foreign policy hawks will help sell the idea of a U.S. military intervention in Syria to a nation deeply scarred by more than a decade of war.

Congress split: Does Syria strike delay make Obama a 'weak president'? Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:48 AM PDT Syria is already tweaking President Obama, hailing his decision to seek Congress's approval before launching a military strike as a "historic American retreat." Meanwhile, the leader of Mr. Obama's seeming ally, the opposition Syrian National Coalition, is calling him a "weak president," according to CNN.

U.N. team visits Iranian dissident camp in Iraq after killings Posted: 02 Sep 2013 07:44 AM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.N. team visited an Iranian dissident camp in Iraq on Monday following violence that killed dozens of people a day earlier in disputed circumstances. The bloodshed, condemned by the United Nations, Britain and the United States, took place hours after a mortar bomb attack on the camp which the dissident Mujahadin-e-Khalq (MEK) group blamed on the Iraqi army. An adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki dismissed the accusations as baseless. ...

INSIGHT - As Obama blinks on Syria, Israel, Saudis make common cause Posted: 02 Sep 2013 06:03 AM PDT By Jeffrey Heller and Angus McDowall JERUSALEM/RIYADH (Reuters) - If President Barack Obama has disappointed Syrian rebels by deferring to Congress before bombing Damascus, he has also dismayed the United States' two main allies in the Middle East. Israel and Saudi Arabia have little love for each other but both are pressing their mutual friend in the White House to hit President Bashar al-Assad hard. And both do so with one eye fixed firmly not on Syria but on their common adversary - Iran. ...

Soldier tells British side of story at Iraq killings inquiry Posted: 02 Sep 2013 05:10 AM PDT By Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - A British army officer told a public inquiry on Monday that allegations that soldiers in his company tortured and executed Iraqis after a battle in 2004 were baseless rumors spread by insurgents who wanted to discredit U.S.-led coalition forces. Adam Griffiths was the first British military witness to give oral evidence about the allegations made by dozens of Iraqis, which if confirmed by the Al-Sweady Inquiry would go down as one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq war. ...

Dozens escape from Tunisian prison in sign of insecurity Posted: 02 Sep 2013 04:26 AM PDT TUNIS (Reuters) - Forty-nine inmates escaped from a Tunisian prison after overpowering guards, a senior official said on Monday, in a further sign of faltering security as a political crisis over popular discontent with Islamist rule festers. The North African state, fount of the Arab uprisings of 2011, is locked in a standoff between its Islamist-led government and secular opposition that could be decisive for the success of its experiment in democracy. ...

Iran frees six Slovak paragliders after spying accusations Posted: 02 Sep 2013 03:00 AM PDT PRAGUE (Reuters) - Six out of eight Slovak citizens detained in Iran since May on suspicion of spying after taking photographs while paragliding have been released and returned home, Prime Minister Robert Fico said. Iran media said they were detained on suspicion of taking photographs of restricted areas. Slovak news website www.sme.sk said the group was detained near the central Iranian city of Isfahan, where there is uranium conversion facility. ...

Senior Turkish envoy survives bomb attack in Iraq Posted: 02 Sep 2013 02:59 AM PDT ANKARA (Reuters) - A roadside bomb struck the convoy of Turkey's consul general in Iraq on Monday, a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman said, but there were no casualties. The convoy was en route to Arbil from Mosul in the north of the country when the bomb went off. "The Foreign Minister has spoken to the consul general who is in good health," the spokesman said. "We are still investigating as to who carried out the attack and whether the consul general had been the target. ...

Syria asks the United Nations to stop US strike Posted: 02 Sep 2013 02:48 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has asked the United Nations to prevent "any aggression" against Syria following a call over the weekend by U.S. President Barack Obama for punitive strikes against the Syrian military for last month's chemical weapons attack. Washington says more than 1,400 people, many of them children, were killed in the world's worst use of chemical arms since Iraq's Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Kurds in 1988. U.S. ...

Iran denies ex-president said Assad's forces used poison gas Posted: 02 Sep 2013 02:41 AM PDT DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's foreign ministry on Monday denied reported comments by ex-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani accusing the Syrian government of using poison gas in the country's civil war, saying the remarks had been "distorted". On Sunday, the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) quoted Rafsanjani as saying Syrian authorities had fired chemical weapons at their own people - a striking assertion given Tehran's close alliance with Damascus. Hours later ILNA replaced the report with one that did not attribute blame for the attack. ...

Syria asks the United Nations to stop U.S. strike Posted: 02 Sep 2013 01:46 AM PDT BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria has asked the United Nations to prevent "any aggression" against Syria following a call over the weekend by U.S. President Barack Obama for punitive strikes against the Syrian military for last month's chemical weapons attack. Washington says more than 1,400 people, many of them children, were killed in the world's worst use of chemical arms since Iraq's Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Kurds in 1988. U.S. ...

Soldiers to give evidence in Iraq inquiry Posted: 02 Sep 2013 12:18 AM PDT Soldiers involved in a bloody battle during the Iraq War will on Monday give evidence in an inquiry called after it was claimed Iraqi detainees were unlawfully killed and mistreated.

Scornful Syria hails 'historic American retreat' as Obama hesitates Posted: 01 Sep 2013 06:41 PM PDT By Yara Bayoumy and Rachelle Younglai BEIRUT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Syria hailed a "historic American retreat" on Sunday, mockingly accusing President Barack Obama of hesitation and confusion after he delayed a military response to last month's chemical weapons attack near Damascus until after a congressional vote. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said tests had shown sarin nerve gas was fired on rebel-held areas on August 21, and expressed confidence that U.S. lawmakers would do "what is right" in response. ...

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