Al-Maliki Wants U.S. To Better Arm Iraqi Forces

Nuri al-Maliki (file photo) (epa) January 18, 2007 -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called on the United States to equip Iraqi security forces with sufficient weapons.
In an interview with London's "The Times," al-Maliki said the United States could start making significant cuts in the number of U.S. troops in Iraq within three to six months if it adequately arms and equips Iraqi forces so they can handle security on their own.

Al-Maliki also admitted to the British daily that mistakes were made in the execution of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, but denied that the hanging was a revenge killing.

Meanwhile, five car bombs exploded around Baghdad today, with three of the blasts taking place almost simultaneously. The three coordinated bombs killed at least 10 people and wounded another 30 at a market in southern Baghdad.

Separate blasts on a busy commercial street in central Baghdad and in a southeastern district killed at least seven people in total.

(timesonline.co.uk, Reuters, AFP)

Sharing Iraq's Oil

Sharing Iraq's Oil

The pipeline from Kirkuk to Turkey is one of Iraq's main oil-export lifelines (epa file photo)

THE FUTURE OF THE ECONOMY. The uneven distribution of Iraq's oil resources has long been a source of tension among the country's ethnic and sectarian groups. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, the tangled quest to find an equitable way to share oil revenues has been a major stumbling block on the road to national unity.


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