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Iraq’s Al Maliki continues to insist bogus device detects IEDs

The fake bomb detectors being sold by millionaire businessman James McCormick.  /Avon and Somerset Police

Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Iraq, in wake of a British court ruling, still insists that the thousands of British-origin fake bomb detectors remain effective. The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki continues to claim that the ADE-651 hand-held device can actually detect bombs. The claims have come from Al Maliki as well [...]

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Energy firms mapping Kurdistan’s topography by satellite

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Special to WorldTribune.com WASHINGTON — Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan has undergone satellite topography mapping in the search for energy. Canada’s WesternZagros Resources has overseen the completion of satellite topography mapping of an energy block in Kurdistan. The target was the Garmian block, which encompasses 1,780 square kilometers. and also includes Russia’s Gazprom. WesternZagros, which [...]

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Turkish intel monitoring exit of Kurdish fighters to northern Iraq

A Kurdish party leader said on May 8 rebels have started to move out of Turkey to bases in northern Iraq.  /Firat News Agency/AP

Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — The Kurdish Workers Party has begun its withdrawal from Turkey. Officials said the PKK has been pulling out fighters from Turkey as part of a ceasefire agreement. “They [PKK] surely know the routes from which they have entered Turkey and can use the same routes to leave,” Turkish Prime Minister [...]

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Counterinsurgency and the ‘Sunni Awakening’ in Iraq

Iraqi Sunnis in an anti-government protest in Baghdad, in February.  /AP

Special to WorldTribune.com By Brian M Downing Most accounts of the Second Iraq War (2003-11) attach great importance to counterinsurgency programs in ending the conflict there. The shift from using heavy firepower to winning hearts and minds is said to have created a “Sunni Awakening,” which changed the course of the war and brought a [...]

Posted in BB Middle East,Exclusives,Iraq,Mideast,Newsletter,Stateside,Terrorism,Top Stories,U.S. Military | Read More »

Brit who sold golf ball finders as bomb detectors to Iraq, sentenced to 10 years

James McCormick.  /Central News

Special to WorldTribune.com LONDON — A British supplier of detectors of improvised explosive devices to Iraq has been sentenced to 10 years. A British court determined that the supplier, James McCormick sold more than $50 million worth of fake bomb detectors to the Iraq Interior Ministry amid an Al Qaida bombing campaign from 2007 through [...]

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Iraq leader: ‘Evil’ Al Qaida forces cross border from Syria

During a February interview in Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki warned that a rebel victory in Syria might lead to sectarian conflict in his own country.  AP/Khalid Mohammed

Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — The Sunni revolt in Syria is said to have spilled into neighboring Iraq. Officials said the U.S.-trained Iraq Army and security forces have faced the worst violence since the pullout of the U.S. military in 2011. They said the violence, including attacks on soldiers and police, stemmed from Al Qaida [...]

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Al Qaida merges with top anti-Assad rebel force in Syria

Rebels from Al Nusra Front with their brigade flag.

Special to WorldTribune.com NICOSIA — Al Qaida has formally merged with the leading Islamist rebel militia in Syria. Al Qaida in Iraq has reported the merger with Syria’s Al Nusra Front for the Protection of the Levant, deemed the leading rebel militia in the war against President Bashar Assad. AQI said its Islamic State of [...]

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Iraq blocks Iran transport plane carrying no weapons following U.S. warning

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Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Iraq has intercepted an Iranian plane believed to contain weapons for Syria. Officials said the Iraq Air Force forced down an Iranian aircraft on April 8. They said the Iranian plane was searched for weapons, but none were found. Iraq has been regarded by Arab and Western states as an [...]

Posted in Exclusives,Iran,Iraq,Mideast,Newsletter,Stateside,Syria,Top Stories,U.S. Intelligence | Read More »

Al Qaida fighters suspected in attack on Iraqi gas field, S. Korean firm

Akkas gas field in Anbar province.  /Reuters

Special to WorldTribune.com BAGHDAD — Sunni insurgents, including Al Qaida, have begun targeting oil and gas fields in Iraq. Officials said Al Qaida-aligned fighters attacked a camp near a natural gas field in the Iraqi province of Anbar. The officials said at least two Iraqi engineers were killed and another was injured in an attack [...]

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Kurdish rebels reportedly withdrawing from Turkey

Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rebels walking along a ridge during military exercises.  /David Furst/AFP/Getty Images

Special to WorldTribune.com ANKARA — The Turkish intelligence community has determined that up to 2,000 Kurdish rebels were operating in the country. Security sources said the intelligence community was ordered to issue an assessment of how many operatives of the Kurdish Workers Party were deployed in Turkey. They said the community estimated the number at [...]

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