Iraq withdrawals to freeze in July: Bush
Agence France Presse
US President George W. Bush on Thursday ordered an open-ended halt to US troop withdrawals from Iraq come July, warning that the strife-torn country remains too fragile five years after Baghdad fell.
With his fellow Republicans despairing over the vastly unpopular conflict's cost in November elections, Bush said he was also shortening troop deployments and promised that "while this war is difficult, it is not endless."
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Is now the time to pull British troops out of Iraq?
Daily Telegraph
Britain's policy in Iraq has come under intense scrutiny [2] during Gordon Brown's visit to America, with critics arguing that London's mishandling of troop withdrawals has damaged Anglo-American relations.
Mr Brown faced questions over the refusal of British ground troops to help Iraqi forces who were being overwhelmed in Basra. The New York Times reported that the situation in Basra was "deeply embarrassing for Britain" and added that it left Britain "without a clear Iraq policy".
Has Britain pulled her weight in Iraq? Do you agree with Col Jorge Mendonca, who commanded the only battle group in Basra as the insurgency began in 2003, that the Government has tried to fight the Iraq war "on the cheap"?
Has the war in Iraq damaged Britain's relations with America? If so, does this matter? Is the New York Times right that Britain's handling of Basra is an embarrassment?
Is now the time to pull British troops out of Iraq?
Sadr not US enemy if he sticks to politics: Gates
Reuters
Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will not be treated as an enemy of the United States if he plays a peaceful role in Iraqi politics, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday.
Gates also insisted he and top U.S. military chiefs agreed with President George W. Bush's policy of indefinitely freezing troop reductions from Iraq starting this summer, despite some differences in their public comments.
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Upcoming Ministerial Iraq Conference in Kuwait "very important" - Ban Ki-Moon
Kuwait News Agency
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday described the upcoming Ministerial International Conference on Iraq, scheduled to be held in Kuwait on April 21-22 as "very important" and expressed regret that he will not be able to attend in person.
"This is going to be a very important meeting. Unfortunately for me, I will not be able to participate in person because of scheduling problem. I will be visiting African countries exactly on that day," Ban told reporters after the monthly working luncheon with Security Council members in answer to a question by KUNA on what his message to the gathering in Kuwait would be.
However, he added, he will dispatch Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe to represent him at the Kuwait conference.
He added that he would preside over an international meeting of the Iraq Compact scheduled on May 29th in Stockholm, Sweden.
Iraq’s neighbours to step up security cooperation
Reuters
Iraq's neighbours agreed yesterday to step up security cooperation at a meeting attended by the United States, but delegates said political divisions undermined the regional effort to stop an influx of militants.
The two-day conference on ways to prevent threats to the US-backed Iraqi government from abroad concluded as fighting resumed in Baghdad after a day's lull between US and government forces and fighters loyal to Shia cleric Muqtada Al Sadr, who has ties with Iran.
The meeting, attended by officials from Iraq's six neighbours plus the United States, Russia and the European Union, recommended adopting international standards in combating terrorism and exchange of security information on groups fighting the elected government.
The US embassy in Damascus said in a statement Washington hoped the conference would translate into "serious commitment" to halting infiltration into Iraq.
Dozens dead in Iraq bombings
Al Jazeera
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Several bombs have gone off in cities across Iraq, killing more than 60 people.
In Diyala, 60km north of Baghdad, province a car bomb exploded near a crowd of people outside a courthouse killing at least 40 people and wounding 80, according to Iraqi officials.
Women and children were present "when a car bomb exploded outside the main courthouse in Baquba at around 11.30am 0830 GMT]," a police official said on Tuesday.
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Zawahiri: 'Iraq war a failure'
Al Jazeera
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Ayman al-Zawahiri, al-Qaeda's deputy leader, has in a new audiotape said that the US occupation of Iraq has brought only "failure and defeat".
The authenticity of the recording posted on a website late on Thursday could not be independently verified, but it appears to be the second recording in April by al-Zawahiri - considered to be the network's chief strategist.
He said that building Iraq as a "fortress of Islam" is the "most important duty" for Muslims.
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Jane Swann