Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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An Iraqi man holds up a portrait of Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani during a demonstration in the central Shiite Muslim shrine city of Najaf on June 14, 2014. (AFP/Haider Hamdani)

Iraq PM-designate facing tough task despite Sistani’s call

by Hamza Mustafa | Aug 23, 2014 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric called on the country’s political players to overcome their sectarian and ethnic differences and work together to form a new government, with Prime Minister-designate Haider Al-Abadi facing the increasingly difficult...

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In this July 15, 2014 file photo, Haider Al-Abadi speaks to the media after an Iraqi parliament session in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

Iraq: Abadi rejects Maliki’s advice on government formation

by Hamza Mustafa | Aug 22, 2014 | Middle East

Amman, Asharq Al-Awsat—Prime Minister-designate Haider Al-Abadi rejected a call made by his predecessor Nuri Al-Maliki not to entertain “preconditions” from Iraq’s Sunnis, stressing that he is committed to forming a national unity government that includes all Iraqi...

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Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) speaks with Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (L) during their meeting in Baghdad August 20, 2014. (REUTERS/Mahmoud Raouf Mahmoud)

Iraq: Maliki urges Abadi to reject Sunni and Kurdish preconditions

by Hamza Mustafa | Aug 21, 2014 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraq’s outgoing Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki on Wednesday called on his successor to reject any “preconditions” in his attempt to form a government, prompting criticism from the political factions vying for positions in Iraq’s next cabinet....

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Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga fighters head to the Mosul dam that they recaptured from the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) on August 17, 2014. (AFP Photo/Ahmad Al-Rubaye)

Haditha Dam under threat from ISIS, warns official

by Hamza Mustafa | Aug 19, 2014 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—An official in Iraq’s Anbar province warned that another key dam was under threat from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Monday, and called for US airstrikes on militants to protect it. Falih Al-Issawi, the deputy head of Anbar’s...

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Fuad Masoum, the new president of Iraq and a veteran Kurdish politician, speaks during a press conference in Baghdad on July 24, 2014. (AFP PHOTO / ALI AL-SAADI)

Fuad Masoum: My decision was constitutional

by Hamza Mustafa | Aug 17, 2014 | Interviews

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—The recent struggle to form a new Iraqi government has refocused attention on the country’s presidency, and its new occupant, the veteran Kurdish leader Fuad Masoum, elected to the job by the Iraqi parliament at the end of July. Though largely...