TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Iraq Stakes Out Position Between U.S., Iran

ADVERTISEMENT

Los Angeles Times

Published: June 9, 2008

BAGHDAD - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in a visit to Iran where he met Sunday with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, pledged closer ties between the two neighbors at the same time Baghdad is negotiating a long-term security pact with the United States.

The agreement has become a center of contention as Baghdad tries to balance its close ties to both Washington and Tehran. Iran fiercely opposes the deal, fearing it will lead to permanent U.S. bases on its doorstep that could be the platform for an eventual American attack.

Iranian officials repeatedly have expressed concerns that the agreement simply will formalize the presence of dozens of American military bases.

In a public affairs broadcast on Iranian television, one panelist compared American bases in Iraq to Russian missiles in Cuba during the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union.

But al-Maliki, after meeting with Ahmadinejad, said the agreement would help maintain and enhance Iraq's still-fragile security situation.

SUICIDE ATTACKS KILL U.S., BRITISH SOLDIERS

AFGHANISTAN

•Three British soldiers were killed in a suicide attack and a reporter for the BBC was found dead Sunday. A fourth soldier was wounded.

The British Broadcasting Corp. said one of its reporters, Abdul Samad Rohani, was found with a gunshot wound to the head in a cemetery Sunday.

IRAQ

•A suicide truck bomber who concealed his explosives under tanned animal hides struck a U.S. patrol base Sunday in northern Iraq, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding 18 other Americans, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

•Eight former members of Saddam Hussein's regime have been transferred from U.S. to Iraqi control. They included Iraq's former director of military intelligence, Sabir Azizi al-Douri, who was sentenced to life in prison during the Anfal trial in June 2007; Saddam's secretary, Abed Hmoud; and senior Baath Party official, Abdul-Ghani Abdul-Ghafour.

Source: The Associated Press

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT