APS Diplomat Fate of the Arabian Peninsula articles from October 2007

APS Diplomat Fate of the Arabian Peninsula archives from October 2007

Pax Americana In Iraq Is Changing - Part 16 - Decentralisation.
October 8, 2007... Iraq's much neglected local governments are receiving a boost through measures which are part of an inter-agency effort known as the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). These measures represent a philosophy of development which differs from...

The Babel Example.
October 8, 2007... Hilla, Babel Province's mostly easy-going capital where the Euphrates River winds around, holds a sign that power in Iraq is leaving its historical home in Baghdad for outlying regions. Its local government seems to know how to spend money....

Biden Denies Advocating Partition - Sunnis & Shi'ites Denounce Senate Move.
October 8, 2007... Senator Joseph Biden, the ranking Democrat in the US Senate and one of the candidates to the 2008 presidential elections, on Oct. 2 issued a statement clarifying what he said were misconceptions about a non-binding Senate resolution on Iraq...

The Arab Reaction.(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... Commenting on the Senate resolution, Kuwaiti Emir Shaikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on Oct. 4 told al-Arabiya TV: "We will not accept the partition of Iraq; we consider this to be dangerous to us. It will be dangerous for the whole region. We are...

Al-Qaeda Financier Held.
October 8, 2007... US and Iraqi forces on Oct. 2 arrested a financier for al-Qaeda who had received $100m from donors outside Iraq to fund Neo-Salafi operations. US military officials have long attributed al-Qaeda's expansion in Iraq to its access to external...

Casualties Drop 50%.
October 8, 2007... The government on Oct. 1 said civilian casualties fell more than 50% in September, during which US casualties dropped to their lowest level in 14 months. A tally provided by the health, interior and defence ministries noted 884 civilians killed...

Anbar Model To Shi'ites.
October 8, 2007... US commanders say violence in towns surrounding their base in the north of Babel has dropped sharply. In May four IEDs hit the battalion; none in August, said Maj. Craig Whiteside, executive officer of the 1st Battalion of the 501st Infantry...

Shi'ites Raps US-Sunni Co-operation.
October 8, 2007... The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the country's largest Shi'ite bloc in parliament, on Oct. 2 criticised the US effort to co-operate with Sunni tribes, stating that Sunnis from militant backgrounds should not be allowed into the official police...

US Rules For Blackwater.(Blackwater Security Consulting)(Brief article)
October 8, 2007... US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Oct. 5 ordered new security procedures for American diplomatic convoys in Iraq. She ordered that special agents from the department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security (BDS) now ride with the security...

Brown Visits.(Gordon Brown)
October 8, 2007... In Baghdad on a surprise visit, British PM Gordon Brown on Oct. 2 announced that 750 more UK soldiers would be home from Iraq by end-2007, fuelling speculation he may soon call a national election. On his first visit to Iraq as premier, Brown...

Iran Ready To Help.
October 8, 2007... The FT on Oct. 1 quoted the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, as saying Tehran will help the US stabilise Iraq if Washington set out a timetable for a withdrawal of its...