Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Media ID: 55332383
Caption:

Kurdish Regional Government President Masoud Barzani speaks during an interview with Reuters in Arbil, in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, May 12, 2014. (REUTERS/Azad Lashkari)

Iraq: Kurds seek unity ahead of election results

by Mohamed Zangeneh | May 18, 2014 | Middle East

Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Massoud Barzani, met with representatives of several Kurdish parties on Saturday in a bid to unify Kurdish ranks two days before Iraq’s general election results are set to be...

Media ID: 55330959
Caption:

A man rides his motor bike past a large election campaign banner showing Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki (R) along a street in the central Shiite Muslim shrine city of Karbala, on April 6, 2014. (AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED SAWAF)

Debate: A third Maliki premiership would be disastrous for Iraq

by Samir Shakir Sumaydee | May 18, 2014 | Debate

Iraq is a devastated country whose people are exhausted. The country was destroyed by its leader, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, who is ignorant and backwards. He tightened his grip on the country and made a mockery of everything in order to maintain his stranglehold....

Media ID: 55330877
Caption:

A man walks past an election campaign poster of Mohammed Abed Al-Kazem Aqeeli (C) of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition in Baghdad April 3, 2014. (REUTERS/Ahmed Saad)

Debate: A third Maliki premiership would not necessarily spell disaster for Iraq

by Amin Hattit | May 18, 2014 | Debate

As in the previous Iraqi elections, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki was the strongest contender this time around, with a vast distance reportedly opening up between him and his opponents. Sectarian, ethnic and religious divisions have allowed Shi’ites the right to head...

Media ID: 55332322
Caption:

Iraqi electoral workers count ballots at a counting center in Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday, May 14, 2014. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim)

Iraq: Former PM accuses electoral commission of bias

by Hamza Mustafa | May 16, 2014 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi launched a fierce attack on the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Thursday, accusing its members of being biased in favor of certain political trends. “The IHEC is not qualified to run the...

Media ID: 55332302
Caption:

In this Monday, April 28, 2014 file photo, masked anti-government gunmen move with their weapons as they patrol in Fallujah, Iraq. (AP Photo, File)

Iraq: Maliki calls on army and police to continue efforts in Anbar

by Hamza Mustafa | May 15, 2014 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has called on the security forces to stand firm in battles with militants in Anbar, amid criticism of the government’s handling of the crisis in Iraq’s largest province. In his weekly address on Wednesday,...