Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi won the support of his cabinet on Sunday to eliminate a layer of senior government positions, part of a push to reduce corruption and save money in the face of mounting unrest.After weeks of protests demanding better government and a call by leading Shi'ite Muslim cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for tougher action, Abadi proposed cancelling Iraq's multiple vice president and deputy prime minister positions, currently shared out along sectarian lines.Iraq has three vice presidents,…

By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News Monday, 3 August 2015 Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Affairs, Bahaa al-Aaraji, said the former government of Nouri al-Maliki has wasted around $1 trillion of public funds. “The former government (of Maliki) has wasted around $1 trillion. $800 billion came from Iraq’s oil budget since 2004 till 2014 while $200 billion came from donations and aid,” Aaraji told reporters on Friday according to a report by Asharq al-Awsat. “There are no final…

UN body member says Iraq's criminal law has no adequate definition of torture  BAGHDAD – The Iraqi government has denied allegations that it tortures prisoners after some Iraqi officials were questioned by a UN committee investigating suspected human rights abuses in the country's jails. Iraq's Interior Affairs Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan said that reports by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and other groups about Iraq lack the right facts. He said that Iraq has a strong judicial system…

Iraqi officials were challenged on Wednesday to name a single person the country had jailed for torture by a U.N. committee investigating suspected human rights abuses in a justice system that had "gone astray". "Is there anyone in Iraq in prison, sentenced for torturing another human being? Is there one person? Five? Ten?" the chairman of the U.N. Committee against Torture Claudio Grossman asked the Iraqi delegation. Another committee member, Alessio Bruni, said Iraq's criminal law had no adequate definition…

Thursday, 23 July 2015The head of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has condemned Iraqi Vice President Nuri al-Maliki’s remarks against Saudi Arabia, describing it as “irresponsible, false and heinous accusations that do not help to strengthen the Gulf-Iraqi relations,” the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported Thursday.Maliki accused Saudi Arabia of supporting terrorism during an interview with an Iraqi satellite channel earlier this month. He also called for Saudi Arabia to be placed under the international community’s custody.The GCC’s Secretary…

BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - As Iraqi forces prepare to try to recapture the city of Falluja, tens of thousands of civilians find themselves trapped between Islamic State militants ready to use them as human shields and a government suspicious of their loyalties. With the jihadists coercing them to stay, and a government blockade and shelling closing exit routes and cutting off supplies, there is "a vice, a noose around the neck of the population", Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator…

UN report estimates death toll is in addition to 30,000 wounded and multiple gross human rights abuses during fighting between Islamic State, Iraqi security forces and others  Conflict in Iraq has led to nearly 15,000 civilian deaths and left 30,000 wounded during a 16-month period that ended on 30 April, according to a UN report.The UN’s human rights office and its mission in Iraq said violations of international humanitarian law and gross human rights abuses by the Islamic State group,…

From NCRI  and news agencies:  Despite the scorching heat which has forced the Iraqi government to declare that this coming Thursday all state institutions will be shut down, in an attempt to torment Camp Liberty residents, Iraqi forces at Gate 4 of Baghdad International Airport on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 14-15) prevented the entry of diesel fuel, petrol and septic tankers and food trucks into the camp.Iraqi forces at Gate 4 said they had received orders from the Office of…

Reuters - Iraqi troops and Shi'ite Muslim militia forces attacked Islamic State fighters on several fronts on Monday in Anbar, the country's largest province, at the start of what is likely to be a long and fiercely contested offensive. A spokesman for the joint operations command said the campaign, which began at dawn, brought together the army, mainly Shi'ite Hashid Shaabi militias, special forces, police and local Sunni Muslim tribal fighters. "At 5 o'clock this morning operations to liberate Anbar…

AP - The conflict in Iraq has taken a terrible toll on civilians with nearly 15,000 killed and 30,000 wounded during a 16-month period ending on April 30, by the Islamic State group, Iraqi security forces and others, according to a U.N. report released Monday. The U.N. mission in Iraq and the U.N. human rights office said in the report that violations of international humanitarian law and gross human rights abuses by the Islamic State group, which controls large swaths…