Baghdad

Iraqi cabinet holds emergency meeting to pass security pact with US

Baghdad - The Iraqi cabinet began an emergency meeting Sunday to review the final version of a security pact with the United States, al-Arabiya network reported.

The pact, known as the Status of Forces Agreement, would establish a legal basis for the presence of US soldiers in Iraq after a United Nations mandate expires at end of this year.

The draft agreement includes 31 articles and calls for US troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by June 2009 and from the entire country by the end of 2011.

Iraqi officials close to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki indicated that there was a good chance that the 37-member cabinet would ratify the draft now that the US has agreed on key amendments made by Iraq.

Bomb attack leaves nine dead and dozens injured in northern Iraq

IraqBaghdad - At least nine people were killed and 28 injured in a car bomb blast Saturday in the nort

"Sticky bombs" add new dimension to Iraqi dangers

"Sticky bombs" add new dimension to Iraqi dangersBaghdad - A kind of adhesive bomb has added a new dimension of terror to everyday life in Iraq.

Known by a variety of names - sticky bomb, magnetic bomb or glued bomb - the explosives are generally planted on a car's undercarriage and then detonated remotely. As their use surges, it's more and more common to see Iraqis checking the undersides of their vehicles lest they become the latest victim of this threat.

Hardly a day passes in Iraq without an explosion of a sticky device targeting an official, bus or private vehicle.

Car bomb wounds 11 civilians, soldiers

Iraq receives US reply on troop presence agreementBaghdad - A car bomb went of on Thursday in al-Hamidiya district in eastern Mosul injuring 11 people including Iraqi soldiers, security sources said.

The bomb struck an army patrol injuring 11, including six Iraqi soldiers, the sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

US forces: Iraqi soldier kills 2 US soldiers, injures 6

Opposition grows among Iraqi clerics on US troop agreementBaghdad - US forces in Iraq said Thursday that an Iraqi soldier killed two US soldiers and injured another six in the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday.

An Iraqi soldier opened fire on a group of US soldiers while they were waiting in a courtyard of a building, a US army official said in Baghdad. The US soldiers returned fire and killed the Iraqi soldier.

Iraqi soldier who killed US soldiers was mocked, witnesses say

Iraqi soldier who killed US soldiers was mocked, witnesses sayBaghdad - The Iraqi soldier who killed 4 US soldiers on Wednesday was acting in anger after the Americans mocked him while he was praying, witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Thursday.

Earlier reports about the incident in the northern city of Mosul had said that the Iraqi soldier opened fire on a group of US soldiers after a verbal dispute.

Praying five times a day is a religious obligation for Muslims. Men usually go to mosques to pray.

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