IRAQ: This Democracy Could Be Paper Thin

Many Kurds in Northern Iraq are facing new threats - and they do not come from masked Arab terrorists. They come from the two main Kurdish parties doing all they can to gain strength in the election Sunday, independent local journalists and opposition politicians say.

IRAQ: Worried Turkey Keeps Close Watch

The afternoon call to prayer sounds on the final Friday before election on Sunday, and thousands of Kurds across Northern Iraq file into their mosques. At each one of them, imams appointed by the ruling Kurdish factions give the same message: go out and vote.

IRAQ: Hunters Become the Hunted

-Mosul could be the most dangerous city in Iraq on election Sunday. The city is something of a Sunni island in the Kurd-dominated north of Iraq.

IRAQ: One Nation, Divided People

As Iraq's first national election since the fall of Saddam Hussein draws near, the country seems more on the brink of falling apart than of coming together in a celebration of democracy.

POLITICS-U.S.: Losing Feith

The departure by mid-2005 of the number-three man at the Defence Department, announced by the Pentagon Wednesday, marks the latest hint that Pres. George W. Bush is moving foreign policy in a more centrist direction.

IRAQ: The Dollar Campaigns for Allawi

U.S.-appointed interim Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi recently handed out 100- dollar bills to journalists at a press conference. He then gave teachers an unexpected 100-dollar bonus.

POLITICS: Frustration Mixes With Joy For Iraqi-American Voters

It is a moment many Iraqis living in the United States have longed for, and that many thought might never come.

IRAQ: Cracks Surfacing Fast in the North

Tensions in the northern Iraqi city Kirkuk have reached breaking point after Arab parties announced they will boycott the election Jan. 30.

IRAQ: Some See Hope, Others Civil War

Some Iraqis are hoping for a new unity following elections Jan. 30, but others seem convinced that existing divisions will increase, leading possibly to civil war.

IRAQ-UAE: Expatriates Face ‘Devil or Deep Blue Sea’ Election Choice

Democracy in Iraq is in the eye of the beholder. The elections on Jan. 30 may be touted as the first step towards freedom in the strife-torn country, but the chance to vote in their own government has evoked mixed emotions among Iraqi expatriates living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

/UPDATE*/POLITICS-US: Controversial Nominee Squeaks Past First Vote

Riding over opposition from its Democratic members, the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday voted 10-8 to send the nomination of Attorney General-designate Alberto Gonzales to the full Senate for confirmation, possibly as early as next week.

RIGHTS-US: Leading Groups Take Rare Step of Repudiating Nominee

On the eve of a key confirmation vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, two major U.S. human rights groups called for the rejection of Attorney General-designate Alberto Gonzales on the basis of his advice regarding the treatment of detainees in the Bush administration's "war on terror".

IRAQ: Kurdish Parties Eye Independence

Ahmed Khani sips his tea as he reclines in a high-back leather chair, a sepia-toned portrait of the father of Iraqi Kurdish nationalism, the late Mullah Mustafa Barzani behind him.

IRAQ: Vote Where, How, and for Whom?

With elections just four days away, many Iraqis are still uncertain how they will vote, or even where the polling stations are..

RIGHTS-IRAQ: Abuse, Torture by Iraqi Police Called Routine

Despite the millions of dollars spent by the U.S. and other nations to improve their performance, Iraqi police still routinely abuse and often torture detainees, according to a report released Tuesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW)..

IRAQ: How the U.S. Can Attack an Ally

Arbil is normally a quiet place. Capital of the Kurdish autonomous area in Northern Iraq, the city of 800,000 has largely avoided the bloodshed of 22 months of war and occupation.

IRAQ: Some Saddam Men Make It to the Election List

Iraq's two main Kurdish political parties have put aside their differences for the Jan. 30 election. Like the Shias in the South, they have organised a single, sectarian ticket that they hope all Kurds will vote for.

IRAQ: Election Divides a Nation

The elections due Jan. 30 appear to have brought more chaos and division amongst Iraqis than unity and hope. And they have brought greater security fears.

POLITICS-US: Retiree Doggedly Pursues Legal Challenge of Iraq War

His name is Clare Callan. He is a feisty 85-year-old former congressman from rural Nebraska. And he is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that Pres. George W. Bush had no legal authority to go to war in Iraq.

POLITICS-US: War-Weary Public Leery of New Overseas Adventures

President George W. Bush faces a difficult challenge in rallying U.S. public opinion behind his clarion call for spreading freedom and democracy abroad, according to a number of surveys published over the last two years.

IRAQ: Kirkuk Comes to the Crossroads

It is Eid al-Athad, one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar. It marks the day when Abraham saved his son Isaac from sacrifice after a lamb was offered up instead.