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. ...more

June 9, 2008

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki traveled Saturday to Iran on a mission to improve relations with the country that U.S. officials have accused of arming Shiite militia groups fighting U.S. troops and Iraqi security forces. ...more

June 8, 2008

Tens of thousands rallied in several cities Friday against a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, raising doubts that negotiators can meet July's target to finalize a pact to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after the current U.N. mandate expires. ...more

May 31, 2008

The Iraqi government and representatives of radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced Saturday that they had struck a deal to halt weeks of fighting in a Baghdad slum. But disagreements over the content of the accord cast doubt on whether it would end the bloodshed. ...more

May 11, 2008

The Iraqi government backed away Sunday from accusations of Iranian interference, saying it has appointed a committee to determine whether there is merit to U.S. charges that Iran is arming and training Shiite Muslim militants in Iraq. ...more

May 5, 2008

It is a central argument of the Bush administration that the outcome in Iraq is essential to the broader war on terror - which is plainly true. ...more

May 5, 2008

Note to world leaders: Next time you need instant access to foreign dignitaries and top military brass, forget the usual protocols. Just send in Angelina Jolie. ...more

February 8, 2008

In a daring ambush, insurgents blasted a U.S. patrol with a roadside bomb Monday and showered survivors with gunfire from a mosque in increasingly lawless Mosul. Five U.S. soldiers were killed in the blast - even as Iraqi troops entered the northern city to challenge al-Qaida in Iraq. ...more

January 29, 2008

A provincial police chief was killed by a suicide bomber in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday while inspecting the scene of a massive attack that killed 38 people a day earlier, signs that the city has become a crucial hub for the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq. ...more

January 25, 2008

The Iraqi parliament passed a bill Saturday to allow some former officials from Saddam Hussein's party to apply for government positions in the first of the so-called political benchmark measures to pass after months of U.S. pressure for progress. ...more

January 13, 2008