Yahoo! News: Iraq

Iraq

• St. Louis to host first major parade for Iraq War vets (Reuters)

  Reuters - At least 1,000 Iraq War veterans and their family members are expected to march in St. Louis on Saturday in the nation's first major homecoming parade honoring U.S. soldiers who served in the war, a coalition of veteran groups, private citizens and local officials said.

• Iraq War veteran accused of posing as Ore. officer (AP)

  AP - Eugene Police Officer Dan Baker drove a blue SUV and set off sirens to clear cars in front of him at traffic lights. He pulled over motorists — though it's unclear if he ever gave out tickets. And when he stopped by a youth shelter as a volunteer, he came in full uniform.

• Mayor Bloomberg: No NYC parade for Iraq War vets (AP)

  AP - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says there will be no city parade for Iraq War veterans in the foreseeable future because of objections voiced by military officials.

• St. Louis hosts 1st big parade on Iraq War's end (AP)

  AP - Since the Iraq War ended there has been little fanfare for the veterans returning home. No ticker-tape parades. No massive, flag-waving public celebrations.

  
  

• Suicide bomber kills 33 at Shiite funeral in Iraq (AP)

  AP - A suicide car bomber struck a Shiite funeral procession Friday, killing 33 people as suspected al-Qaida militants stepped up apparent efforts to provoke a counterattack by Shiite militias on Sunnis that could pave the way toward open sectarian warfare now that U.S. troops have left Iraq.

  
  

• Suicide bomber kills 31 in Baghdad attack (Reuters)

  Reuters - A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-filled taxi near a Shi'ite funeral procession in Baghdad on Friday, killing 31 people and bringing the death toll from violence since an Iraqi political crisis erupted in December to more than 400.

  
  

• (AP)

  AP - Iraqi officials say a suicide attack on a Baghdad Shiite district has killed 26 people.

• Official: Iraq will take legal action over US raid (AP)

  AP - Iraq will take legal action to ensure justice for the families of 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians killed in a U.S. raid in Haditha seven years ago, a government spokesman said Thursday, after the lone U.S. Marine convicted in the killings reached a deal to escape jail time.

  
  

• U.S. to Iraq: don't "blow this opportunity" (Reuters)

  Reuters - The United States has warned Iraq not to "blow this opportunity" to become a prosperous, unified nation, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday, saying it must start to act like a democracy and embrace compromise.

• Iraq says to take legal action for Haditha victims (Reuters)

  Reuters - Iraq plans legal action on behalf of families of victims killed by U.S. troops in a 2005 massacre after the last soldier involved was spared jail time by a guilty plea with military authorities, a government spokesman said Thursday.

• Shiite leader urges end to Iraqi political crisis (AP)

  AP - A top Iraqi Shiite official said Thursday that the political crisis pitting Shiite officials against his country's largest Sunni-backed bloc must end.

  
  

• Marine spared from jail time in Iraq killings (Reuters)

  Reuters - A U.S. Marine accused of leading a 2005 massacre of 24 civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha was spared jail time when he was sentenced on Tuesday for his role in killings that brought international condemnation on U.S. troops.

  
  

• U.S. Marine tells court he is sorry for Iraq killings (Reuters)

  Reuters - A U.S. Marine accused of leading a 2005 massacre of 24 civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha was spared jail time when he was sentenced on Tuesday for his role in killings that brought international condemnation on U.S. troops.

• Convicted Marine apologizes to Iraqi civilians (AP)

  AP - When Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich finally spoke in court, he did not address the judge but instead directed his words at the Iraqi family members who survived his squad's attacks in 2005 that left 24 unarmed civilians dead.

  
  

• Turkey warns Iraqi PM over sectarian conflict (Reuters)

  Reuters - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned his Iraqi counterpart, Nuri al-Maliki, on Tuesday that Ankara would not remain silent if he pursued a sectarian conflict in his country.

• Iraqi killing cases at a glance (AP)

  AP - A look at the resolution of charges filed against Marines after the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians, including women and children, in Haditha in 2005, and in other cases in Hamdania and Fallujah.

• Kuwait: Envoy to US during Iraq invasion dies (AP)

  AP - Sheik Saud Al Nasser Al Sabah, who served as Kuwait's ambassador to the U.S. during Iraq's 1990 invasion of the oil-rich country and the American-led war to oust Saddam Hussein's forces, has died, a government-backed newspaper reported Sunday. He was 68.

  
  

• Iraq risks slipping into authoritarianism: rights group (Reuters)

  Reuters - Iraq risks sliding back towards authoritarian rule with Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's security forces cracking down on protests, harassing opponents and torturing detainees, a U.S.-based human rights monitor said on Sunday.

• Trial of accused Haditha ringleader resumes without plea deal (Reuters)

  Reuters - The court-martial of a U.S. Marine sergeant accused of leading a 2005 massacre of civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha resumed on Friday without a plea deal, suggesting that court-sanctioned negotiations toward such an agreement had stalled.

• Body of UK hostage turned over to embassy in Iraq (AP)

  AP - The body of a British hostage kidnapped in Iraq in 2007 has been turned over to the U.K. Embassy in Baghdad, officials said Friday.