 House Democratic leaders have coalesced around legislation that would require troops to come home from Iraq within six months if that country's leaders fail to meet promises to help reduce violence there, party officials said Thursday.The plan would retain a Democratic proposal prohibiting the deployment to Iraq of troops with insufficient rest or training or who already have served there for more than a year. Under the plan, such troops could only be sent to Iraq if President Bush waives those standards and reports to Congress each time.The proposal is the latest attempt by Democrats to resolve deep divisions within the party on how far to go to scale back U.S. involvement in Iraq. Rep. James Moran said the latest version has the support of party leadership and said he believes it is final and has the best chance at attracting broad support....
http://www.cnn.com
censor News |
Editor - 09:06:00 03-02-07
|
 Sunni group kidnaps 18 Iraqis in retaliation for alleged rape; 14 bodies found |
An al-Qaeda-linked Sunni group said Friday that it kidnapped 18 government workers and soldiers in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman by members of the Shiite-dominated police force. Hours later, the government said the bodies of 14 security officers had been found.The Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni group linked to al-Qaeda, posted a statement on the Internet earlier Friday saying 18 men were kidnapped in retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman by members of Iraq's Shiite-dominated police force.Photos accompanied the claim, showing up to 18 blindfolded men. Seven were wearing Iraqi military uniforms, and all had their hands tied behind their backs.Brig. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said the 14 bodies were found Friday afternoon in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad....
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-02-kidnapping_x.htm?csp=34
full News |
Editor - 09:04:00 03-02-07
|
| Liechtenstein: no retaliation for Swiss 'invasion' |
The Swiss army is not renowned for its aggressive expeditionary adventures - but it does appear to have accidentally invaded Liechtenstein.According to the Swiss daily Blick, around 170 infantry soldiers from the famously neutral country wandered more than a mile across the unmarked border with the tiny principality.The incident happened yesterday morning and the Swiss troops turned back - probably slightly sheepishly - after they realised their mistake.A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story, but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion, the Associated Press reported....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2025383,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
full News |
Editor - 09:03:00 03-02-07
|
| Fears for missing Iraqi policemen |
At least 14 Iraqi policemen have gone missing after leaving their base north of Baghdad to go on leave, Iraqi security officials have said. Earlier, an alliance of Islamist militant groups said in an internet statement it had kidnapped 18 interior ministry employees in the same area. This was retaliation for the alleged rape of a Sunni woman by members of the mainly Shia police, it said. The statement could not be verified. The government denies a rape occurred. The government is currently pushing a new security plan that will see mainly-Shia police units being deployed in predominantly Sunni districts. Sunni politicians have accused the police of perpetrating a series of human rights abuses on their community and of turning a blind eye to attacks on them by Shia militants. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6411757.stm
full News |
Editor - 08:59:00 03-02-07
|
| Deadly US tornadoes damage south |
Tornadoes have killed at least 20 people in the southern US states of Alabama, Georgia and Missouri. Victims included at least eight people killed when a tornado ripped through an Alabama school building, and two dead when a hospital was hit in Georgia. The US federal government has said it is ready to help any areas affected by the storms. Parts of Alabama and Georgia remain under tornado warnings, the National Weather Service has said. The US Storm Prediction Center (SPC) had earlier issued a rare "major severe weather outbreak" warning for the eastern third of the US. Meanwhile further north, several mid-western states were hit by heavy snow and blizzards, which closed hundreds of miles of major roads...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6409659.stm
full News |
Editor - 08:58:00 03-02-07
|
| Morocco to Present Autonomy Plan to U.N. to Break Deadlock Over Western Sahara |
Morocco will present an autonomy plan for Western Sahara to the United Nations next month in hopes of ending a three-decade conflict that has stranded 160,000 refugees in the Sahara, a top Moroccan official said Friday. The plan would give the disputed region a parliament, a chief of state, Cabinet ministries and a judiciary that would oversee day-to-day life, said Khalihenna Ould Errachid, King Mohamed VI's chief adviser on the territory. Morocco, which took control of Western Sahara in the 1970s after Spain pulled out, says autonomy is the only way to end a conflict with the Polisario Front, an Algerian-backed independence movement. It first proposed autonomy in 2000. The Polisario Front, though, insists on holding a referendum on independence. Morocco says a vote would be unworkable. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2918522
full News |
Editor - 08:46:00 03-02-07
|
|
| post The Good, The Bad and The Ugly |
|
|
