Basra – Four Iraqi protesters were killed and three others were after security forces opened fire at them to restore security in the unrest-plagued southern governorate of Basra, a security source was quoted as saying. According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the Iraqi troops “opened fire at a group of protesters who gathered outside the headquarters of Basra provincial council in a bid to storm it, leaving four demonstrators dead and three others injured.” The source…

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As violent protests continue to rage in Iraq’s southern provinces, some airlines in the region have suspended flights to the country for security reasons. Royal Jordanian Airline, Flydubai, and Kuwait Airways have all suspended flights to the Iraqi city of Najaf while flights from Iran have been diverted to the capital Baghdad. On Friday, air traffic was put on hold as protestors demanding an end to unemployment and corruption in the government stormed the Najaf International Airport. Since…

People took to the streets of Basra on Sunday, the center Iraq’s oil industry, to protest the lack of services and job opportunities in the region. Protesters blocked roads, preventing oil company employees from going to work while chanting slogans calling for jobs and the improvement of public services, notably government-supplied electricity. Witnesses told Kurdistan 24 security forces fired warning shots into the air to disperse crowds of disgruntled civilians gathered on the streets of Bahala, north of Basra city.…

BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi police opened fire to disperse dozens of protesters near the southern oil hub of Basra on Sunday as they demonstrated against a shortage of jobs, electricity, water and other basic services, police and local officials said. Police sources said eight protesters were wounded in the shooting while a local mayor said one demonstrator was killed and three were wounded.  “Protesters were only making fair demands for jobs and better basic services but police opened fire…

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi called for a re-election, saying that a manual recount of the votes in Kirkuk province revealed a discrepency exceeding 50 percent."The percentage of discrepancies revealed by the manual recount in Kirkuk exceeded 50 percent affirming the farce of the elections," tweeted Allawi.Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission ended manual counting of ballots on Thursday, but they are yet to be released. Smaller Kurdistani parties have accused the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan…

Rushed Proceedings, Lack of Due Process, Disproportionate Sentences (Beirut) – Iraq’s judiciary should change its approach to dealing with detained foreign women and children who are accused of affiliation with the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), Human Rights Watch said today. Since January, Iraq has proceeded with rushed trials against foreigners on charges of illegal entry and membership in or assistance to ISIS without sufficiently taking into account the individual circumstances of each case or guaranteeing suspects a fair trial. Most foreign women…

Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on Friday for a nationwide disarmament campaign and announced his Baghdad stronghold would be first to disarm just two days after an ammunitions cache exploded there and killed 18 people. Sadr, whose political bloc won Iraq’s parliamentary election in May, called on all armed groups to hand in their weapons to the government and declared Baghdad’s Sadr City district would be a weapons-free area later this month. “Everyone must obey the orders and not stand in…

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Two homemade bombs targeted the headquarters of the Iraqi Communist Party, which is part of an alliance with cleric Moqtada al-Sadr that won Iraq’s parliamentary election, a party official and security sources said. The explosive devices were hurled into the garden of the building in Baghdad on Friday and did not cause any casualties, said Jassim Helfi, a senior member of the party. He described the incident as a message from those opposed to the Sairoon bloc’s calls…

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States has contacted members of a political bloc headed by former foe Moqtada al-Sadr after his parliamentary election victory put the Shi’ite cleric in a strong position to influence the formation of a new government, a top aide said. Sadr’s surprise win puts Washington in an awkward position. His Mehdi Army militia staged violent uprisings against U.S. troops after Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. If Sadr has a strong say in picking a new…

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi met with Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the Shi’ite cleric’s bloc was declared winner of Iraq’s parliamentary election, the clearest sign yet they could work together to form a coalition. “During our meeting, we agreed to work together and with other parties to expedite the process of forming a new Iraqi government,” Abadi said at a joint press conference. “It will be a strong government, capable of providing…