Free Republic

RAMADI, Iraq - The deputy commander of the Iraqi army in western Al-Anbar province was shot dead by US troops at a checkpoint Tuesday night, a police officer said. "The US forces opened fire at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) on Brigadier General Ismail Swayed al-Obeid, who had left his base in Baghdadi to head home," police Captain Amin al-Hitti said. "They spotted him on the road after the curfew, which goes into effect at 6 pm," the officer said in Baghdadi, 185 kilometres (142 miles) west of the capital. No immediate reaction was available from the US military. US...

Egyptian Prime Minister, Cabinet Resigns Fri Jul 9, MAGGIE MICHAEL,/ Associated Press CAIRO, Egypt - President Hosni Mubarak (news - web sites)'s cabinet resigned Friday and the longtime leader appointed a relative outsider as prime minister, further consolidating his power at a time of growing calls for political, social and economic change. State-run television interrupted its programming to report that Mubarak named Ahmed Nazief, a 52-year-old former state minister for communications and information, to replace the prime minister of the past four years, Atef Obeid, 72. Mubarak's choice follows a pattern of appointing technocrats — rather than more politically inclined...