Iraqi authorities have moved a group of more than 1,300 foreign women and children — the family members of suspected ISIS fighters — and a refugee agency is raising the alarm about their precarious situation and the specter of retribution. "The families had been held in a camp in Kurdish-controlled territory while Iraq figures out what to do with them," NPR's Jane Arraf reports. The Norwegian Refugee Council said in a statement that the women and children were transferred Sunday…

IRBIL, Iraq — A coordinated attack on a restaurant and a security checkpoint in southern Iraq killed more than 80 people Thursday, police and health officials said, in a rare spasm of violence targeting a route used by Shiite pilgrims to visit their holiest shrines. Gunmen wearing military uniforms stormed into a restaurant in Nasiriyah, about 200 miles south of Baghdad, around lunchtime and opened fire, the head of the provincial health department said. Patrons in the eatery included Iranian and…

Baghdad- Indicators show a fierce and early electoral struggle in Iraq’s Dawa Party, the ruling party since 2005. This struggle is mainly between Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Vice President Nouri al-Maliki. Suspending party membership of Baghdad’s former governor Salah Abdulrazeq and leaking the internal investigation document reveal the ongoing struggle between the two parties. Sources from Dawa party affirm that the pro-Abadi party deliberately leaked the document to media to defame Maliki due to his tight relation with the…

Iraq’s anti-corruption court has issued 26 jail sentences to high-ranking Iraqi officials in a push to eliminate corruption and fraud in the country. Prime minister Haider Al Abadi announced on Wednesday that his government had taken crucial steps to stem corruption, which has crippled the economy. “We have taken rapid steps to tackle corruption, we have arrested and charged a number of corrupt officials,” Mr Al Abadi said in a tweet. The sentences ranged from six months to 15 years. Among…

The governor of the Iraqi province of Basra has fled to neighbouring Iran, amid a growing corruption scandal allegedly connected to other high ranking officials. Majid al-Nasrawi escaped the country with his son on Thursday through the Shalamjah border crossing hours after he stepped down from his position, which he has held since June 2013. The former governor is facing corruption charges, which also implicate his son, involving contracts for projects to build and improve services in the oil-rich city of…

INU -Prominent Shi’ite clerics from Iraq are calling for the demobilisation of powerful Iran-backed Shi’ite militias. This news comes now that the nation has got back from the Islamic State extremist group Mosul - its second-largest city. Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of a militia, said last week that he wanted Hashed al-Shaabi to demobilise. Al-Sadr is known for being very anti-American and is popular among the poor people in urban Baghdad. He is calling for the dismantling of Hashed al-Shaabi…

Iraq's hardliner Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Thursday called Iraqi people to hold massive demonstrations across Iraq on Friday against wide spread corruption. "I wish the people are aware of what corrupt politicians are engaged with a dirty scheme to restore corruption which will not only control the people's food, but also their necks and blood. So that they would stage demonstration by millions to determine their fate," Sadr was q uoted by Xinhua.  Sadr pointed out that the "sectarian…

The Iraqi Government has moved to strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia, two days after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr in Jeddah. After its regular cabinet meeting, the government decreed establishing a committee, headed by Iraqi minister of interior, and including ministers of trade, industry, minerals and agriculture, dedicated to this effort. Iraq will seek to "strengthen economic and investment relations with Saudi Arabia", according to a statement from the cabinet, explaining that the deputy…

The images of the Iranian regime’s hegemony over all aspects of life in Iraq are clear. From trade to construction and raw material to its control of the banks, government, parliament and political parties. A New York Times report said that the Iranians are controlling everything, from the television stations to the drug trade. Iran is trying to justify its presence and control by saying that Iraq needs it and that without it, it will collapse, even claiming that it…

Former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki’s recent visit to Russia, which his office said was a protocol engagement, sparked controversy in Iraq as it reopened the wounds of what is described as corrupt military deals between the two sides.Parliamentary and partisan sources criticized Maliki, who is the country’s vice president, for not saying anything to Russia’s foreign minister who arrived late for their meeting.Maliki insisted on meeting Russian officials, all the way to President Vladimir Putin, in an attempt to…