Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• START THE NEW YEAR WITH HESITANT STEPS TOWARD HOPE
• Qaeda leader held in Lebanon raised funds for anti-Assad militants -experts
• Iraqis battle militant uprising in 2 Sunni cities
• Iraq forces battle jihadists in western cities
• Peter King Calls The New York Times 'A Disgrace,' Which Is Actually Pretty Nice for Him
• Uighurs' release from Guantànamo brings tragic ordeal to an end
• Iraq oil pipeline bombed, pumping halted
• Sunni fighters repel army in western Iraqi cities
• US-Afghan ties hit rocks again over freeing of Taliban
• Bombing in northern Iraq city kills 19
• Suicide car bomber kills at least 12 in Iraq
• Bombing in northern Iraq city kills 16
• Suicide bomber kills 13 near Baquba: Iraq police
• Iraqi security forces arrest Shiite militia leader
• McCain warns Karzai, but confident on Afghan deal
• America's first marijuana stores open in Colorado
• Iraq arrests Shi'ite militia commander: police sources
• Brent edges over $111, but weak China data drags

START THE NEW YEAR WITH HESITANT STEPS TOWARD HOPE Posted: 02 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST More money for Wall Street, in the mistaken Republican idea that the money moguls might just bow to investing in the country that gave them everything? So Happy New Year! Let us fervently hope for an America that will set that example.

Qaeda leader held in Lebanon raised funds for anti-Assad militants -experts Posted: 02 Jan 2014 01:59 PM PST By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Saudi leader of an al-Qaeda spinoff group arrested in Lebanon this week was a key fundraiser in the Gulf for militants fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, official and private experts say. The Lebanese army arrested Muhammad al-Majid, who leads the Lebanon-based Abdullah Azzam Brigades which claimed a double suicide attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut last November. That attack was part of a spiral of sectarian violence in Lebanon that appears to be a spillover from Syria's civil war. Laith Alkhouri of Flashpoint Partners, a private group which monitors militant websites for business and government clients, said Majid had "been behind a great deal of financing to the jihadists fighting in Syria." U.S. and European officials say that the most militant Sunni factions fighting Assad's forces, including the Nusrah Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, both aligned with al-Qaeda, are being financed largely by wealthy families in Saudi Arabia and Gulf states.

Iraqis battle militant uprising in 2 Sunni cities Posted: 02 Jan 2014 01:17 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi security forces and allied tribesmen battled on Thursday to put down al-Qaida-linked gunmen who, in a coordinated surge, ran rampant in two of the country's main Sunni cities, overrunning police stations and sweeping through the streets, emboldened by mounting sectarian tensions between minority Sunnis and the Shiite-led government.

Iraq forces battle jihadists in western cities Posted: 02 Jan 2014 12:37 PM PST Ramadi (Iraq) (AFP) - Iraqi forces backed by tribesmen battled jihadists on Thursday after they seized parts of two Sunni-majority cities following days of violence triggered by the demolition of a year-old protest camp. Militants from the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized half of the city of Fallujah, outside Baghdad, and parts of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi farther west. But security forces backed by loyalists among the province's powerful tribes launched a counter-attack, sparking fierce fighting. "We entered Fallujah with heavy clashes," special forces commander Major General Fadhel al-Barwari said in a statement.

Peter King Calls The New York Times 'A Disgrace,' Which Is Actually Pretty Nice for Him Posted: 02 Jan 2014 12:35 PM PST New York Rep. Peter King told Fox News that The New York Times is "a disgrace" that doesn't "care about American lives being lost" in the wake of the newspaper's editorial supporting Edward Snowden. It's the meanest thing King's said about the paper since he asked the Attorney General to prosecute its editors for treason in 2006 — after it reported on NSA surveillance.

Uighurs' release from Guantànamo brings tragic ordeal to an end Posted: 02 Jan 2014 11:58 AM PST Tuesday's announcement of the release of the final three Uighur detainees at Guantànamo brings to a close the tragic ordeal of a group of Muslims from China held at the controversial terror detention camp for years without any evidence of involvement in terrorism. US law prevents the government from sending them back to China or any other country where they might face brutal treatment. At one time, there were 22 Uighurs at Guantànamo. The following year, they were moved to Guantànamo as suspected terrorists.

Iraq oil pipeline bombed, pumping halted Posted: 02 Jan 2014 11:54 AM PST Kirkuk (Iraq) (AFP) - Militants bombed a major oil pipeline in northern Iraq on Thursday, causing a fire and forcing pumping to be suspended, an official from the North Oil Company said. Militants frequently attack the pipeline, which ferries a significant portion of Iraq's oil exports to international markets. Iraq is heavily dependent on oil exports, and the government is seeking to dramatically ramp up its sales in the coming years to fund the reconstruction of its battered infrastructure.

Sunni fighters repel army in western Iraqi cities Posted: 02 Jan 2014 11:12 AM PST By Suadad al-Salhy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunni Muslim fighters clashed on Thursday with Iraqi troops trying to regain control of two western cities, in a serious escalation of their confrontation with the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Tension has been running high in the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar since Iraqi police broke up a Sunni protest camp on Monday, leaving at least 13 people dead. Thousands of anti-government tribal fighters took over local government buildings in the two main cities, Falluja and Ramadi, on Wednesday after the army pulled back in an attempt to calm the situation. Fighting broke out on Thursday, tribal leaders and security officials said, when the army tried to re-enter the cities.

US-Afghan ties hit rocks again over freeing of Taliban Posted: 02 Jan 2014 11:11 AM PST A decision to release jailed Taliban militants further aggravated US-Afghan relations on Thursday as pressure mounts for the two countries to sign a deal allowing some American soldiers to stay after 2014. The plan to free 88 suspected insurgents from Bagram jail has outraged US military officials and senators as final negotiations are underway on the long-delayed Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA). Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential voice on US military issues, tore into the proposed release of militants who he said had "blood on their hands". "If this release goes forward, it... would have an unbelievably negative impact on the future relationship between the American people and the Afghan government," Graham said on a visit to Kabul.

Bombing in northern Iraq city kills 19 Posted: 02 Jan 2014 10:11 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A truck packed with explosives blew up in a city north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 19 people, as security forces and allied tribesman battled to put down an uprising by al-Qaida-linked militants who overran police stations in several Sunni cities.

Suicide car bomber kills at least 12 in Iraq Posted: 02 Jan 2014 09:22 AM PST A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives killed at least 12 people who had gathered to buy and sell cars in Iraq on Thursday, local officials said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place near the car markets in the town of Balad Ruz, in northeastern Iraq, injuring another 25 people. However, suicide bombings are the hallmark of al Qaeda, whose Iraq affiliate has re-emerged, invigorated by the civil war in Syria and growing resentment among the country's Sunni Muslim minority towards the Shi'ite-led government. Two years after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, violence is at its highest levels since the sectarian bloodshed of 2006-7, when tens of thousands of people were killed.

Bombing in northern Iraq city kills 16 Posted: 02 Jan 2014 09:08 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Authorities in Iraq say a vehicle bomb targeting a street full of shoppers in a city north of Baghdad has killed 16 people and wounded 31 others.

Suicide bomber kills 13 near Baquba: Iraq police Posted: 02 Jan 2014 08:08 AM PST Baquba (Iraq) (AFP) - A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle on Thursday near car dealerships in Baladruz, close to the Iraqi city of Baquba, killing 13 people, police and a doctor said. The blast in Baladruz, north of Baghdad, also wounded 25 people, the sources said. The bombing comes as security forces and tribesmen battled Al-Qaeda-linked militants who took control of parts of two cities in Anbar province, west of the capital. Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal period of sectarian killings.

Iraqi security forces arrest Shiite militia leader Posted: 02 Jan 2014 07:09 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi security forces arrested a controversial Shiite cleric who leads an Iranian-backed militia, a move apparently aimed at bolstering Sunni support as the Shiite-led government and allied tribes on Thursday battled Islamic militants who rose up in multiple Sunni-dominated cities.

McCain warns Karzai, but confident on Afghan deal Posted: 02 Jan 2014 06:51 AM PST KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Arizona Republican John McCain and several other U.S. senators said Thursday they've warned the Afghan president that a failure to sign a key Afghan-U.S. security deal would pose a threat to the country and the region.

America's first marijuana stores open in Colorado Posted: 02 Jan 2014 05:53 AM PST Marijuana users celebrated Wednesday as Colorado became the first US state to allow retail cannabis sales, putting it in the vanguard of efforts across the country to legalize the drug. Washington state on the Pacific Coast will follow Colorado several months from now, when it also allows stores to begin selling cannabis. Iraq war veteran Sean Azzariti was the first person to legally purchase cannabis for recreational use in the United States. Azzariti, who has campaigned to legalize weed, said marijuana helps alleviate his post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

Iraq arrests Shi'ite militia commander: police sources Posted: 02 Jan 2014 04:04 AM PST Iraq has arrested an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia leader whose group claimed responsibility for a mortar bomb attack near a border post in Saudi Arabia in November, police sources said on Thursday. Wathiq al-Batat, commander of Iraq's al-Mukhtar Army militia, was arrested at a check point in northeastern Baghdad, a police source told Reuters. The Al-Mukhtar Army is a relatively new Shi'ite militia, which has said it is supported and funded by Iran. Batat is a former leader of Iraq's better known Kata'ib Hezbollah militia.

Brent edges over $111, but weak China data drags Posted: 01 Jan 2014 10:44 PM PST By Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Brent crude rose past $111 a barrel on Thursday on a drop in U.S. inventories and output cuts in Libya and South Sudan, but slowing economic expansion in China may hold back further gains. Growth in factory activity in second largest oil consumer China slowed in late 2013, according to purchasing managers' indexes published by the government and HSBC, weighed down by shrinking export orders. China's factory activity expanded at its slowest in three months in December, according to the HSBC survey, consistent with views that the economy's growth rate has moderated. "The Chinese PMI data were not exactly bullish," IHS oil consultant Victor Shum said.

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