Foreigners stir trouble in Iraq: Maliki

Fri Nov 4, 2011 6:2PM

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has blamed foreign countries for fueling trouble, saying some nations are 'spending money and [making] efforts' to destabilize Iraq.


This is not the first time Maliki accuses foreign countries of meddling in Iraq. Leaked US State Department cables show the prime minister has long criticized Iraq's Arab neighbors, particularly Saudi Arabia, for conspiring against Baghdad.

''These countries believe that Iraq's growth and stability will be at their expense,” Iraqi PM told a rally in the province of Dhi Qar in southern Iraq.

''The Iraqis do not want to build an aggressive country that will replace others. They want a country that will help in achieving local and regional stability,'' Maliki added.

Maliki's remarks come after Iraq's Salahuddin Province sought autonomy. Iraqi premier accuses supporters of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, known as Baathists, of seeking a safe haven in the province.

Iraq has recently seen an upsurge in attacks targeting army and police personnel. Bombings and other forms of violence escalated in Iraq soon after the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

All US troops are preparing to leave Iraq by the end of 2011 after Baghdad refused to grant legal immunity to US soldiers remaining in the country.

The recent bombings in Baghdad appear to be an attempt by terrorists to undermine public trust in Iraqi security forces and question their ability to maintain security after US forces leave by the end of the year.

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Bombs target Iraq Sunni militia, four killed

05 Nov 2011 11:22
Source: Reuters // Reuters

* Sahwa militiamen frequent targets of insurgency

* Remaining 33,000 US troops to be gone by year-end

BAGHDAD, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Four bombs exploded near the home of a local leader of a government-supported Sunni militia north of Iraq's capital on Saturday, killing four people and wounding eight others, police and health sources said.

The attack follows a major assault on Thursday on the Sahwa militia, which helped turn the tide of the war by taking up arms against al Qaeda. Six people were killed and dozens wounded when bombs exploded near a group of fighters as they lined up to receive their pay in the city of Baquba.

Iraqi security forces and Sahwa members have been frequent targets in recent weeks as militants try to destabilise Iraq's fragile, cross-sectarian government while the United States withdraw its remaining 33,000 troops.

The four bombs exploded near a house in Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, a mixed area of Shi'ites and Sunnis that was once a battlefield for al Qaeda and the Mehdi Army Shi'ite militia.

"Two bombs went off near the house of Isa Kadhim, a Sahwa leader in Taji town, killing his brother, his wife and two of his children," a police source said.

"A few minutes later, another two bombs went off close to the first explosions, wounding eight people in the area."

A source at Kadhimiya Hospital in northwestern Baghdad confirmed the death toll.

The sectarian slaughter of 2006-07 has ebbed but al Qaeda-linked Sunni insurgents and Shi'ite militias still carry out scores of bombings and other attacks each month, more than eight years after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

U.S. troops are scheduled to withdraw completely by the end of the year. (Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Writing by Waleed Ibrahim; Editing by Jim Loney and Sophie Hares)