...Caught in a house fire when he was only 2 years old in the city of Ramadi, once an insurgent hotbed west of Baghdad, Mohammed was severely scarred. Then three years ago, his father was gunned down by insurgents for working as translator for U.S. troops....
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126300944
Tuesday, April 27 2010
Seven Yemenis were among those taken into custody during the raids carried out after Britain's ambassador to Yemen was targeted by a suicide bomber.
All the men, including the bomber, had previously been arrested on suspicion of ties to al-Qaeda following the 9-11 attacks.
Wearing an explosive belt, Othman Ali al-Sulwi threw himself at the convoy that accompanied Ambassador Tim Torlot to work.
Torlot was unharmed, but two security personnel and a bystander were wounded in the attack.
The father of the 22-year-old bomber said he condemned his son's actions and had reported his disappearance about six weeks ago to authorities in Yemen.
Why do I get the idea that the regions of turmoil are coming together in very effective ways? How come? Where is that idea coming from?
Al-Qaida in Iraq Confirms Death of 2 Leaders
VOA News 25 April 2010
Al-Qaida in Iraq has confirmed that two of its leaders were killed one week ago in a joint operation by U.S. and Iraqi forces.
A statement posted Sunday on Islamist websites says Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi were attending a meeting when U.S. and Iraqi troops engaged them in a battle and launched an air strike.
The statement quotes a senior figure in the Islamic State of Iraq militant group as saying the two al-Qaida commanders were steadfast in the pursuit of jihad, or holy war. The militant also urges the group's followers to keep fighting and transform the leaders' blood into "light and fire."
U.S. and Iraqi officials say Masri and Baghdadi were killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid on a hideout near the northern city of Tikrit on April 18.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called the deaths a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq....
A statement posted Sunday on Islamist websites says Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi were attending a meeting when U.S. and Iraqi troops engaged them in a battle and launched an air strike.
The statement quotes a senior figure in the Islamic State of Iraq militant group as saying the two al-Qaida commanders were steadfast in the pursuit of jihad, or holy war. The militant also urges the group's followers to keep fighting and transform the leaders' blood into "light and fire."
U.S. and Iraqi officials say Masri and Baghdadi were killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid on a hideout near the northern city of Tikrit on April 18.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called the deaths a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq....
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Al-Qaida-in-Iraq-Confirms-Death-of-2-Leaders-92039809.html
Iraq oil exports via Turkey resume after sabotage
April 26, 2010, 7:06AM ETBAGHDAD
Iraq's Oil Ministry says it has resumed crude exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan after repairing a key northern pipeline sabotaged last week.
Monday's statement by spokesman Assem Jihad says the damage was repaired in record time and that oil would be pumped at full pressure to make up for the four day interruption in service.
The pipeline to Turkey carried an average of 423,000 barrels per day last month -- nearly a quarter of the country's daily oil exports.
Militants blew the pipeline up in the early hours on Thursday morning in a deserted region 255 miles (400 kilometers) from Baghdad.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9FAN76O0.htm
