Gunmen in four cars yesterday opened fire on a convoy of buses carrying Iranian pilgrims through Iraq, killing five of them, Iraqi police said as the war-wracked country’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki headed to the White House for talks with US President Barack Obama.
Thirty-five people were wounded in the attack, which took place near the village of Kebasi north of the capital. The convoy was part of the movement of millions pilgrims — many of them from Iran — visiting the holy Shiite cities of Najaf and Karbala throughout the year.
At least 18 people died in bomb blasts around Iraq on Tuesday.
Children, shoppers and men looking for a day’s work were among the dead in attacks in Baghdad, Ramadi and Baqubah, cities that saw some of the most intense fighting of Iraq’s long war.
There was no indication that insurgents timed the attacks to coincide with the US meeting, though they have in the past carried out operations around election days and other politically significant dates.
Maliki was to have his first meeting with Obama yesterday since US troops withdrew from Iraqi cities at the end of last month, a milestone in Iraq’s rehabilitation after the 2003 US-led invasion.
Maliki arrived in Washington having overseen a considerable transformation in his country since he took office three years ago, at a time of sprawling interfaith violence.
The two leaders, who met in Baghdad in April, “will have frank conversations and we will have discussions on the need to keep the political process going [to avoid] any back-sliding or deterioration,” a senior US official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The US “will not dictate the solutions to the Iraqi government,” the official said, but will offer to support Baghdad’s “efforts to address political issues and build national unity.”
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a