Latest Iraq government News

FILE - In this Sept. 25, 2007 file photo, an Iraqi traffic policeman inspects a car destroyed by a Blackwater security detail in al-Nisoor Square in Baghdad, Iraq. On Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020, the Trump administration pardoned four military contractors convicted of killing 14 Iraqi civilians in a public square 13 years ago. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

Relative of Blackwater victim in Iraq says pardons 'unfair'

Dec. 24, 2020 11:44 AM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Faris Fadel had just one word to describe the recent pardoning by the Trump administration of four private security contractors convicted of killing Iraqi civilians — including his brother — in a public square 13 years ago: Unfair. Fadel's brother, Osama Abbas, had been on his...

A view of deserted ruins in the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar, where the Iraqi army recently moved in to restore federal government control. Friday, Dec. 4, 2020. A new agreement aims to bring order to Iraq's northern region of Sinjar, home to the Yazidi religious minority brutalized by the Islamic State group. Since IS's fall, a tangled web of militia forces have run the area, near the Syrian border. Now their flags are coming down, and the Iraqi military has deployed in Sinjar for the first time in nearly 20 years. (AP Photo/Samya Kullab)

In a northern town brutalized by IS, Iraq tests its power

Dec. 24, 2020 6:04 AM EST

SINJAR, Iraq (AP) — One by one, the flags belonging to a patchwork of armed forces were lowered in a northern Iraqi town once brutalized by the Islamic State group. The territorial claims symbolized by each were replaced by the fluttering of just one: The Iraqi state’s. The hoisting of the national...

FILE - In this Jan. 3, 2020 file photo, the U.S. Embassy is seen from across the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq. At least three rockets targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Sunday, Dec. 20 Iraqi security officials said, sparking fears of renewed unrest as next month's anniversary of the slaying of an Iranian general draws near. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed, File)

Iraqi army: 8 rockets target US Embassy in Baghdad

Dec. 20, 2020 3:05 PM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Eight rockets targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone late Sunday, Iraq's military and Iraqi officials said, sparking fears of renewed unrest as next month's anniversary of the U.S. slaying of an Iranian general draws near. An Iraqi military statement said an...

FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2020 file photo, people shop at old Basra market, Iraq. A leaked draft of Iraq's state budget has spurred panic as it confirmed the government's intentions to devalue the national currency, the Iraqi dinar, and cut salaries to cope with a severe economic crisis. Multiple officials confirmed the authenticity of the 2021 draft budget law that was making the rounds on social media on Thursday, Dec. 17. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani, File)

Iraq's central bank devalues dinar by 22% amid public anger

Dec. 19, 2020 11:12 AM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Central Bank on Saturday announced it will devalue the Iraqi dinar by over 20 percent in response to a severe liquidity crisis brought on by low oil prices, a measure that has sparked public outrage as the government struggles to cover its expenses. Riot police were dispatched...

Children stand outside the ruins of their home, in the Hay Tanak slum of Mosul, Iraq, Nov. 28, 2020. A push by the Iraqi government to close displacement camps by the end of the year threatens to leave tens of thousands of people homeless and without aid during a pandemic and at the onset of winter. The displaced were driven from their homes during the war against the Islamic State group and many say they cannot return because their homes were destroyed or they fear reprisal by tribes and militias. Aid groups say the haphazard implementation of the policy is fueling more displacement and resentment. (AP Photo/Samya Kullab)

Camp closures force Iraqi families back to shattered homes

Dec. 16, 2020 1:05 AM EST

DEBAJA, Iraq (AP) — After living in a camp for three years, 70-year-old Merhi Hamed Abdullah returned to his village west of the city of Mosul to find it in ruins — his first glimpse of home since Iraq defeated the Islamic State group. To shelter his family of seven, Abdullah resurrected the tent...

File - In this June 2, 2020 file photo, journalist Ruhollah Zam speaks during his trial at the Revolutionary Court, in Tehran, Iran. Iran. Tranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency say Ruhollah Zam was hanged early Saturday, Dec. 11, 2020, just months after he returned to Tehran under mysterious circumstances. (Ali Shirband/Mizan News Agency via AP, File)

Iran executes exiled journalist who encouraged 2017 protests

Dec. 12, 2020 9:19 PM EST

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Saturday executed an exiled journalist over his online work that helped inspire nationwide economic protests in 2017, a little more than a year after authorities tricked him into traveling to Iraq where he was abducted. Ruhollah Zam, 47, was one of several...

Kurdish leader blames Baghdad over wages as protests rage

Dec. 9, 2020 1:07 PM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — The prime minister of Iraq's northern Kurdish-run region on Wednesday blamed the federal government in Baghdad for delaying crucial budget transfers as violent protests over salary payments left eight dead in the past week. Also on Wednesday, two explosions targeted an oil field in northern...

ICC closes probe into abuse of Iraqis by British troops

Dec. 9, 2020 11:48 AM EST

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor said Wednesday she is closing a preliminary probe into allegations of killings and torture of Iraqi prisoners by British troops from 2003-2008 and will not open a full-scale investigation because U.K. authorities have...

FILE - In this Sept. 16, 2015, photo, U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. Lloyd Austin III, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Biden will nominate retired four-star Army general Lloyd J. Austin to be secretary of defense. That's according to three people familiar with the decision who spoke on condition of anonymity because the selection hadn't been formally announced. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Biden makes pitch for retired general to be Pentagon chief

Dec. 8, 2020 6:06 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday made his case for retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be secretary of defense, urging Congress to waive a legal prohibition against a recently serving military officer running the Pentagon. With concern rising in Congress about maintaining civilian...

FILE - In this Jan. 1, 2020 file photo, Iraqi army soldiers are deployed in front of the U.S. embassy, in Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. and Iraqi officials on Thursday, Dec. 3, say the U.S. is withdrawing some staff from its embassy in Baghdad, temporarily reducing personnel amid regional security concerns. U.S. Ambassador Mathew Tueller said the reduction of staff members will not affect the mission’s work, adding that he will continue to carry out his duties from the embassy for the “foreseeable future.”(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser, File)

US to reduce staff at Baghdad embassy amid regional tensions

Dec. 3, 2020 12:39 PM EST

BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. is withdrawing some staff from its embassy in Baghdad, Iraqi and U.S. officials said Thursday, temporarily reducing personnel amid regional security concerns. U.S. Ambassador Mathew Tueller said the reduction would not affect the mission's work, adding that he will continue to...

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