Iraqi Army

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi reporter arrested for throwing his shoes at former President George W. Bush has returned to the country for his first public visit since being freed from prison and was forcibly detained for questioning yesterday by the Iraqi Army. Muntadhar al-Zeidi became a celebrity in the Arab world after throwing his shoes at Bush during a news conference in December 2008 and calling him a dog. After he was freed from an Iraqi prison in 2009 at the end of his nine-month sentence, he left the country and had not appeared publicly in Iraq since.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen disguised as police officers seized control of a police station in western Iraq yesterday morning, killing four people and taking dozens of hostages before Iraqi forces swept in and ended the standoff, Iraqi officials said. The three-hour hostage crisis demonstrated the vulnerability of the Iraqi security forces as American troops swiftly draw down their presence after more than eight years of war. Four insurgents wearing explosives vests under police uniforms and armed with grenades and pistols with silencers walked into the police compound in...

WASHINGTON -- Before the war, Pentagon officials expected to quickly turn a defeated Iraqi military into an army of construction workers -- and possibly security guards -- to help rebuild the country. Instead, most of Iraq's 300,000 to 400,000 foot soldiers simply went home after the Americans invaded. Some Iraqis now blame that major miscalculation by US officials for much of the violence in their country. "My expectation was that they would either surrender or capitulate," said Lieutenant General William S. Wallace, who commanded US Army forces in Iraq until June.

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi army raid last week on Camp Ashraf left 34 Iranian exiles dead, according to a UN spokesman who yesterday offered the first independent death toll for the attack that drew sharp rebukes from Baghdad’s Western allies. The April 8 raid targeted the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, which seeks to overthrow Iran’s clerical leaders. The group won refuge at Camp Ashraf years ago during the regime of Saddam Hussein, who saw the organization as a convenient ally against Iran.

BAGHDAD - Gunmen disguised as police officers seized control of a police station in western Iraq yesterday morning, killing four people and taking dozens of hostages before Iraqi forces swept in and ended the standoff, Iraqi officials said. The three-hour hostage crisis demonstrated the vulnerability of the Iraqi security forces as American troops swiftly draw down their presence after more than eight years of war. Four insurgents wearing explosives vests under police uniforms and armed with grenades and pistols with silencers walked into the police compound in...

BAGHDAD -- US and Iraqi troops killed six insurgents and captured 12 as they repelled a series of coordinated attacks, including suicide car bombs, in southern Baghdad, the military said yesterday. In political developments, Sunni Arabs on the committee drafting a new constitution rejected Kurdish demands for federalism as long as foreign forces remain in Iraq. The statement was issued on the eve of a meeting to try to overcome differences on the charter. The fighting erupted about 8 p.m. Friday when guerrillas opened fire on an Iraqi Army position, the...

BAGHDAD - Iraq's government warned yesterday that more violence is likely as Iraqi security forces gear up for the withdrawal of US forces from urban areas by the end of this month. Several high-profile bombings have eroded public faith in Iraqi security forces as the Americans face a June 30 deadline to pull back to bases outside the cities. A car bomb exploded near the mainly Shiite city of Nasiriyah on Wednesday, and hospital officials raised the death toll to 35. Nouri al-Maliki called the blast a "political message" and said it was part of a Sunni insurgent campaign to...

BAGHDAD — An Iraqi army raid last week on Camp Ashraf left 34 Iranian exiles dead, according to a UN spokesman who yesterday offered the first independent death toll for the attack that drew sharp rebukes from Baghdad’s Western allies. The April 8 raid targeted the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, which seeks to overthrow Iran’s clerical leaders. The group won refuge at Camp Ashraf years ago during the regime of Saddam Hussein, who saw the organization as a convenient ally against Iran.

BAGHDAD -- The mayor of Baqouba and 1,500 police officers in Diyala Province have been fired in a bid to end the raging violence in that region northeast of Baghdad, the provincial police chief said yesterday. Ghanim al-Qureyshi, who took command of police operations in the violent province after his predecessor was fired last month, said Mayor Khalid Al-Senjeri, a Sunni Muslim, was dismissed over suspicions he was collaborating with Sunni Arab insurgents. Last week, the mayor was reported kidnapped by insurgents who blew up...

UNITED NATIONS -- Four key nations proposed major changes yesterday to the US-British draft resolution on Iraq, moves that would give the new Iraqi government the right to decide whether the multinational force remains in the country while limiting the force's mandate to January 2005. A three-page proposal by China -- which diplomats said was supported by Russia, France, and Germany -- would give the interim government that takes over on June 30 greater authority than the resolution introduced to the UN Security Council on Monday by Britain and the United...

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi reporter arrested for throwing his shoes at former President George W. Bush has returned to the country for his first public visit since being freed from prison and was forcibly detained for questioning yesterday by the Iraqi Army. Muntadhar al-Zeidi became a celebrity in the Arab world after throwing his shoes at Bush during a news conference in December 2008 and calling him a dog. After he was freed from an Iraqi prison in 2009 at the end of his nine-month sentence, he left the country and had not appeared publicly in Iraq since.

BAGHDAD — Militants flew an Al Qaeda flag over a Baghdad neighborhood yesterday after killing 16 security officials and burning some of their bodies in a brazen afternoon attack that served as a grim reminder of continued insurgent strength in Iraq’s capital. It was the bloodiest attack in a day that included the deaths of 23 Iraqi soldiers, police officers, and other security forces across the country who were targeted by shootings and roadside bombs. The mayhem serves as a stark warning that insurgents are trying to make a comeback three months after...

BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded yesterday near a church as worshippers left Mass, killing at least four civilians and injuring 18 in one of several attacks on Iraq’s beleaguered Christian minority. The coordinated assault came as the Iraqi military predicted that insurgent attacks, though declining, could continue for a few years, raising the prospect of militant violence after the scheduled withdrawal of all US troops by the end of 2011. Three Christians and one Muslim died in the bombing at around 7 p.m. near a church on Palestine Street in eastern...

BAGHDAD - Iraq's government warned yesterday that more violence is likely as Iraqi security forces gear up for the withdrawal of US forces from urban areas by the end of this month. Several high-profile bombings have eroded public faith in Iraqi security forces as the Americans face a June 30 deadline to pull back to bases outside the cities. A car bomb exploded near the mainly Shiite city of Nasiriyah on Wednesday, and hospital officials raised the death toll to 35. Nouri al-Maliki called the blast a "political message" and said it was part of a Sunni...

BAGHDAD - A gunman wearing an Iraqi Army uniform opened fire on a US military team yesterday, killing two American soldiers and wounding three, the US military said, in an attack that could sharpen worries about militant infiltration in Iraq's security forces. Iraqi officials described the attacker - who was killed in the gun battle - as a soldier who was also a Sunni Muslim preacher for his unit near Mosul, one of the last urban strongholds for Sunni insurgents. The ambush could increase pressure on the Shi'ite-led government to root out possible turncoats and slow...

BAGHDAD - Shi'ite groups brokered a reported cease-fire yesterday with militants fighting US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad's Sadr City as the country's army launched an offensive in Mosul against Al Qaeda's main bastion in Iraq. Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, an aide to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said the cease-fire will go into effect today. The cease-fire may not necessarily end the seven-week-old clashes in Sadr City, the stronghold of Sadr's Mahdi Army, as US military has attributed clashes to breakaway groups.

LONDON -- Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawer warned in an interview published yesterday that long-term instability and violence in his country could create the conditions for an "Iraqi Hitler" to emerge. "If the situation in Iraq will continue like this, it will create within the Iraqi people feelings of bitterness, rage, and humiliation which will provide, in the long run, an appropriate environment for an Iraqi Hitler to appear similar to the German Hitler who emerged after Germany's defeat and the humiliation of the German people in World War I," Yawer was quoted as saying in...

BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded yesterday near a church as worshippers left Mass, killing at least four civilians and injuring 18 in one of several attacks on Iraq’s beleaguered Christian minority. The coordinated assault came as the Iraqi military predicted that insurgent attacks, though declining, could continue for a few years, raising the prospect of militant violence after the scheduled withdrawal of all US troops by the end of 2011. Three Christians and one Muslim died in the bombing at around 7 p.m. near a church on Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad, said a...

BAGHDAD - Former Sunni insurgents asked the United States to stay away, and then ambushed members of Al Qaeda in Iraq, killing 18 in a battle that raged for hours north of Baghdad, an ex-insurgent leader and Iraqi police said yesterday. The Islamic Army in Iraq sent advance word to Iraqi police requesting that US helicopters keep out of the area because its fighters had no uniforms and were indistinguishable from Al Qaeda, according to the police and a top Islamic Army leader known as Abu Ibrahim.

BAGHDAD -- The mayor of Baqouba and 1,500 police officers in Diyala Province have been fired in a bid to end the raging violence in that region northeast of Baghdad, the provincial police chief said yesterday. Ghanim al-Qureyshi, who took command of police operations in the violent province after his predecessor was fired last month, said Mayor Khalid Al-Senjeri, a Sunni Muslim, was dismissed over suspicions he was collaborating with Sunni Arab insurgents. Last week, the mayor was reported kidnapped by insurgents who blew up his office and stole...