Free Republic

Americans were stunned on October 11 when the Justice Department unsealed its complaint against Mansour Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old used-car dealer from Corpus Christi now in federal custody, and Ali Gholam Shakuri, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. Shakuri remains inside Iran. The pair have been charged with conspiring to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir. As disclosed by the Treasury Department, the plot was coordinated by Arbabsiar’s cousin, Abdul Reza Shahlai, a top Quds Force functionary whom the Treasury designated in 2008 as one of several “individuals and entities fueling violence in Iraq.” Shahlai was...

Someone get Diane Sawyer a crash course in indirect fire. Discussing this morning the recent flurry of rocket and mortar attacks landing inside the Green Zone in Baghdad, Sawyer supposed that the insurgents had somehow breached the perimeter themselves and fired from inside the US embassy compound! Sawyer spoke with Jonathan Karl during the opening minutes of today’s Good Morning America. DIANE SAWYER: But let’s begin with this breaking news from Iraq, reports that mortars have landed inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad. ABC national security correspondent Jonathan Karl has been working this story. Jonathan, good morning to you....

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 9 - Fighters loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, the rebel Shiite cleric, will begin handing over their heavy weapons to the Iraqi police next week from their stronghold in Sadr City, as part of an agreement to disband the militia and end weeks of fighting with American forces, Iraqi and American officials and aides to Mr. Sadr said Saturday. As part of the deal, American forces have agreed to cease offensive operations in Sadr City, the vast Shiite slum in eastern Baghdad that forms the core of Mr. Sadr's support. Iraqi and American officials expressed some caution over...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 5 — The radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr called for a national uprising against American and coalition forces today as a two-month truce between Mr. Sadr and the United States military appeared to collapse. As night fell, heavy fighting appeared to be confined mainly around Najaf, a Shiite holy city and Sadr stronghold 100 miles south of Baghdad. In Baghdad and Basra, the largest city in southern Iraq, insurgents loyal to Mr. Sadr prepared for clashes with American and British troops. But fighting was sporadic and Baghdad was mostly quiet until 11:15 p.m., when three large explosions,...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 4 — A coordinated Shiite militia uprising against the American-led occupation rippled across Iraq on Sunday, reaching into Baghdad and the sprawling Shiite slum of Sadr City on the capital's outskirts and roiling the holy city of Najaf and at least two other cities in southern Iraq. Seven American soldiers were killed in Sadr City, one of the worst single losses for the American forces in any firefight since Baghdad was captured a year ago. An Iraqi health official in Najaf said 24 people had been killed and about 200 wounded in clashes that ensued when armed...

An Anti-American Iraqi Cleric Declares His Own Government An anti-American cleric, whose forces clashed on Thursday with American soldiers and killed two of them, has proclaimed his own government in Iraq. The move failed to produce any signs of popular support on Saturday but did appear to notch up his defiance of the American-led occupation. Mainstream Iraqi leaders roundly condemned the announcement by the cleric, Moktada al-Sadr. The Baghdad City Council denounced it, as did members of the Iraqi Governing Council, the overall leadership body appointed by the United States. Mr. Sadr, 30, is evidently challenging the authority of the...