The United States on Tuesday suspended all land travel by U.S. diplomats and other civilian officials in Iraq outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, amid mounting public outrage over the alleged killing of civilians by the U.S. Embassy's security provider Blackwater USA.
Iraq will review the status of all security companies after this week's "flagrant assault" by contractors from the U.S. firm Blackwater in which 11 people were shot dead, the government said on Tuesday.
After weeks of suggesting Democrats would temper their approach to Iraq legislation in a bid to attract more Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid declared abruptly Tuesday that he had no plans to do so.
A vast internal migration is radically reshaping Iraq's ethnic and sectarian landscape, according to new data collected by thousands of relief workers.
The top two American military and diplomatic officials in Iraq sought to play down differences over Iraq policy as they met with senior British officials on Tuesday.
Unable to garner enough Republican support, Senate Democratic leaders said yesterday that they are abandoning a bipartisan effort to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq by next spring.
Iraq's government said Tuesday it would review the operations of all foreign security contractors following a firefight that involved Blackwater, a firm that protects U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The government wants to hold contractors liable for their actions, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said.
Differences have emerged between the U.S. and British views of how to operate in southern Iraq, with U.S. officials encouraging the British to be more aggressive for as long as they keep troops there, said an American official closely familiar with Iraq policy.
BAGHDAD, Sept. 18 -- The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday suspended all ground travel for its diplomats across Iraq following a deadly shootout over the weekend involving its private security guards from Blackwater USA.
The United States has barred diplomats and civilians from leaving Baghdad's heavily fortified "Green Zone" after a shooting involving the Blackwater security firm that drew protests from Iraq and prompted investigations, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.