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This is translated from Arabic. Crocker has done such an excellence service to the US. His great command in the Arabic language provides him with a talent rarely matched by other diplomats. BAGHDAD / VoI: U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on Monday announced the end of his mission in the country after two years of service there. Crocker said during a meeting with some heads of local newspaper editors, that “his mission as ambassador to the United States ended after two years of work with the Iraqi government,” adding that “ what has been achieved by joint action for...

I just found this printed in Arabic on Asharq Al-Awsat daily today: Asharq Al-Awsat, picture includedSo I did a rough translation as below. I thought it might help us understand the thinking of these people. ======================= Security sources in Diyala province confirmed that they reached the main woman recruiter who is responsible for recruiting women suicide bombers using explosive belts. The woman is the aunt of Rania Al-Ankabi who was arrested in Baquba recently following a failed suicide bombing attempt. The aunt, called Wijdan Salma Al-Khazradgi, is still being pursued by the security forces. She is responsible for recruiting young...

BAGHDAD -- -- Habib Sadr was sitting at his desk when the shots rang out. A sniper had just shot three security guards outside his office at the government-run Iraqi Media Network. With the fatally wounded guards lying by their checkpoint, a security convoy rolled into the neighboring Justice Ministry compound. Sadr believed the sniper was with them. The incident, he said, was a brutal introduction into the world of private security contractors. An internal investigation by Sadr's department found that Blackwater USA was responsible. But seven months after the Feb. 7 shootings no one has been charged. "We discovered...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Civilian casualties remain high, sectarian groups can't get along, al Qaeda in Iraq is still pulling off high-profile attacks and "to date, Iraqi leaders remain unable to govern effectively," said the declassified version of the National Intelligence Estimate released Thursday. The intelligence community briefed the media on the assessment hours after senior Bush administration officials told CNN the classified version of the report expressed doubts that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is able to lead the war-torn country. The report concluded that al-Maliki may not have the ability or capacity to "push forward" legislative reforms, according to...

Interpol issues arrest warrant against Saddam's daughter Baghdad - Voices of Iraq Friday , 17 /08 /2007 Time 6:00:51 Baghdad, Aug 17, (VOI) – Interpol issued an arrest warrant against Raghad, former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's daughter, upon a request from the Iraqi government. "Raghad Saddam Hussein al-Majid, 38, is wanted by the Iraqi government on several charges of terrorism and crimes against innocent people," according to a statement published on Interpol's official web site and received by the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). The site called on anyone who has information about Raghad's whereabouts to report to...

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq Thursday , 26 /07 /2007 Time 5:08:02 Baghdad, July 26, (VOI)- The commander of the Baghdad's law-imposing plan "Fardh al-Qanoon" said on Thursday that possibilities for a sectarian civil war in Iraq have come to an end after five months of implementing the plan, as indicators assert the end of sectarian congestion. Speaking at a joint press conference with a U.S. senior officer in Baghdad, the Lieutenant General Aboud Qunbur said "crimes and bombs declined by 90 percent and 45 percent respectively, while casualties decreased by 40 percent and car bombs by 15 percent." "Normal...