The New York Times, quoting unnamed officials, said the United States, in the wake of the departure of US combat troops in late 2011, planned to slash its 16,000-strong staff by up to half.

But Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Tom Nides said this was not the case and vowed that the United States would maintain a "robust diplomatic presence" in the country.

"Contrary to some of the news reports we are not reducing our operations by 50 percent," Nides said in a conference call with reporters. "Most of the programs that we are offering we will continue to offer."

Fleshing out State Department plans to "right-size" the diplomatic mission in Iraq, Nides did say they hoped to reduce the number of expensive foreign contractors in the coming months and employ more local Iraqis.

"My hope is that we'll conclude over a period of time that we can consolidate some of the locations and space," he said. "And that will allow us to rely more on local Iraqi contractors."

The cuts represent a major U-turn in planning by the State Department.

US Ambassador James Jeffrey less than a year ago outlined plans to boost the size of the embassy in preparation for the departure of troops and the expected growing influence of neighboring Iran.

President Barack Obama, an opponent of the controversial 2003 invasion that ousted strongman Saddam Hussein, removed the last US troops at the end of last year after Iraq did not agree to plans to keep a residual force.

The New York Times said US diplomats have since been facing lengthy delays in approval for visas and have been struggling to arrange appointments with officials in Iraq, which has been mired in political crisis.

The newspaper also said that diplomats' living conditions had deteriorated without the troops, with the embassy running short of sugar for coffee and being forced to ration chicken wings enjoyed by some staff.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Washington (AFP) Feb 7, 2012 - The United States said Tuesday that it planned to downsize its embassy in Iraq, the largest US diplomatic mission in the world, in hopes of saving money after the end of the war.

The New York Times, quoting unnamed officials, said the United States would slash the 16,000-strong staff by up to half in a sign of declining influence and quality of life after US troops left in late 2011.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland declined comment on the article's specifics but confirmed that the United States was looking to "right-size" the enormous embassy in Baghdad.

"I think what we have here is an embassy structure that was built for a different time and that relied a lot on extensive contracting for a whole range of reasons, some of them historic, some of them security-related," Nuland told reporters.

"Our judgment now is that we can adapt that for today's Iraq, do our diplomatic business just as well and just as rigorously, but far more efficiently," she said.

Nuland said the United States would look at hiring more Iraqi employees at the embassy and using fewer contractors, who can be "very expensive."

The move marks a major change in planning for the State Department. US Ambassador James Jeffrey less than a year ago outlined plans to boost the size of the embassy in preparation for the departure of troops and the expected growing influence of neighboring Iran.

President Barack Obama, an opponent of the controversial 2003 invasion that ousted strongman Saddam Hussein, removed the last US troops after Iraq did not agree to plans to keep a residual force.

The New York Times said US diplomats have since been facing lengthy delays in approval for visas and have been struggling to arrange appointments with officials in Iraq, which has been mired in political crisis.

The newspaper also said that diplomats' living conditions had deteriorated without the troops, with the embassy running short of sugar for coffee and being forced to ration chicken wings enjoyed by some staff.

Asked about the newspaper's account of food conditions, Nuland criticized "whinging that was inappropriate" by some diplomats posted in Baghdad.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Brussels (AFP) Feb 7, 2012 - The EU and United States must take in ailing and wounded inmates from a camp in Iraq housing thousands of Iranian dissidents, the leader of an Iranian opposition group said Tuesday.

"I urge the European Union and the United States to immediately accept a certain number of sick and wounded residents" from Camp Ashraf," Maryam Rajavi, who heads the National Council of Resistance of Iran, said on the sidelines of a meeting at the European parliament in Brussels.

"Any delay in this regard is unacceptable and unjustifiable," she told AFP.

There are some 3,400 Iranians living in Ashraf, home for the past 30 years to Iranian dissidents, who are now facing expulsion as Baghdad wants to close down the camp.

The camp was set up when Iraq and Iran were at war in the 1980s by the then Iranian People's Mujahedeen, which joined forces with the Iraqis to fight the Tehran government.

The camp came under US control until January 2009, when US forces transferred security for the camp to Iraq.

The camp's residents are being assessed individually by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees after applying for refugee status, to allow them to resettle elsewhere, but fears are that the process cannot be completed within the time-frame set by Baghdad.

Under a pact signed on December 25 between the United Nations and the Iraqi government, the residents of camp Ashraf will be transferred to Camp Liberty, another site near Baghdad.

The People's Mujahedeen has said it will only accept a move to Camp Liberty if this did not involve prison-like conditions.

"The EU, the US and the UN must intervene actively and immediately to prevent Camp Liberty from being transformed into a prison," said Rajavi, adding that residents there must be free to come and go freely.

Her organisation says there is no potable water in the camp and that residents are not allowed to leave freely or have access to lawyers and doctors.

Daniel Fried, the US diplomat in charge of the Camp Ashraf issue, called on the People's Mujahedeen to move to the new temporary home in accordance with the December 25 agreement.

Fried said that the United States was informed that an Iraqi representative held "businesslike and productive" discussions with the People's Mujahedeen on Monday about the move.

"The United States welcomes this progress and we look forward to the first residents moving from Camp Ashraf to Camp Hurriya (Liberty) in the immediate future," Fried told reporters on a conference call from Washington.

"The residents of Camp Ashraf must make the decision to start this relocation process. Camp Ashraf is no longer a viable home for them. They have no secure future there," he said.

"The government of Iraq has committed itself to the security of the people at Camp Hurriya and is aware that the United States expects it to fulfill its responsibility," he said.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Baghdad (AFP) Feb 7, 2012 - Ministers from the secular Iraqiya bloc on Tuesday ended a cabinet boycott that began in December amid a crisis with the Shiite-led government, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's spokesman said.

"The prime minister welcomed the return of the ministers to accomplish the work of the government," Ali Mussawi told AFP.

Iraqiya's MPs returned to parliament on January 31.

The bloc began a boycott of parliament and the cabinet in protest at Maliki's alleged centralisation of power. It has since called for Maliki to either respect a power-sharing deal or quit.

Authorities have charged Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, an Iraqiya member, with running a death squad.

He has been hiding out in the autonomous Kurdistan region in north Iraq, and authorities there have so far declined to have them over.

The prime minister, a Shiite, has also said his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlak should be sacked after the latter said that Maliki was "worse than Saddam Hussein."

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Washington (AFP) Feb 7, 2012 - The US military's top general believes it is too soon to hold a parade in New York City honoring troops who fought in the Iraq war while fellow soldiers are still on the battlefield in Afghanistan, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg had offered to stage a ticker-tape parade down the streets of New York City but the Pentagon recommended waiting for the right moment.

"We simply don't think a national-level parade is appropriate while we continue to have America's sons and daughters in harm's way," said Colonel Dave Lapan, spokesman for General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

"While we are very appreciative of the offer to host such a parade to recognize the significant accomplishments of those who have served in Iraq, Gen. Dempsey has expressed the view that he doesn't think it is appropriate while we still have forces engaged in combat operations in Afghanistan," Lapan said an email to reporters.

The city of St. Louis, Missouri decided to go ahead with a parade honoring veterans on January 28 and some activists and commentators have called on New York to host a parade anyway.

New York does plan a parade for its football team, the Giants, who will make their way down the "Canyon of Heroes" on lower Broadway after their triumph in the Super Bowl on Sunday against the New England Patriots.

"If the Giants or Pats get a parade, shouldn't Iraq vets?" asked Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

"Getting Super Bowl-champ football players a parade in their hometowns is never an issue. But Iraq War veterans? They deserve a little praise, too," he wrote on the group's website.

Instead of a parade, US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle plan to host a special White House dinner later this month to honor Iraq veterans, two months after the last American troops returned from the country.

"While US military operations in Iraq ended on Dec 31, 2011, we still have tens of thousands of service members and civilians engaged in combat and support operations in Afghanistan," Lapan said.

He added that New York City hosted a parade to mark the end of the first Gulf war in 1991, but "there were no other large scale combat operations underway" at the time."

"The circumstances are different today," he said.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Baghdad (AFP) Feb 6, 2012 - Al-Qaeda front organisation, the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), on Sunday claimed the assassination last month of a former senior leader of the jihadist group who defected and sided with US forces.

"One of the (ISI) security patrols followed the criminal in the Awakening of Hypocrisy, known as Mullah Nadhim al-Juburi, when he went out from the Green Zone," a post on the Honein jihadist Internet forum attributed to ISI said, referring to the Sahwa (Awakening) anti-Qaeda militia Juburi joined.

"One of the heroes swooped down on him with a silenced gun" and shot him dead, the post said.

Juburi was the leader of ISI's fighters in Duluiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab town 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Baghdad, before cutting ties with the group in May 2008 and siding with US forces.

He then became a leader of the Sahwa, a US-backed militia formed from Sunni tribesmen and former insurgents who turned away from Al-Qaeda from late 2006 onwards, helping turn the tide against Iraq's insurgency.

Juburi, 34, who worked with the national reconciliation commission, was killed after he made remarks on Iraqi television about how ISI had made key changes to its leadership.

Several messages on the Honein forum posted shortly before his death had warned that Juburi's "days are numbered."

Iraq condemns man to hang for kidnapping Frenchmen
Baghdad (AFP) Feb 6, 2012 - An Iraqi court on Monday condemned a man to death for murder and for kidnapping French citizens and an Iranian consul, the Higher Judicial Council said.

The Central Criminal Court sentenced the man identified only by his initials SKh to hang for "belonging to the so-called Islamic Army and carrying out kidnapping and killing operations, including kidnapping an Iranian consul and two French citizens," the council said in a statement.

The death sentence can be appealed.

The two journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, were kidnapped together with their Syrian guide, Mohammed al-Jundi, in August 2004 on their way to the Shiite shrine city of Najaf and held hostage for 124 days.

Contacted by AFP, the two journalists declined to comment on Monday.

Also in 2004, Iran's mission in Baghdad said Fereydun Jahani, its consul in Karbala, disappeared after the Islamic Army said it had "detained" him for "stirring sectarian strife" and "activities outside his diplomatic duties."

Jahani was released after a 55-day hostage ordeal.

Iraq saw a wave of kidnappings as part of sectarian violence, and also targeting foreigners and wealthy Iraqis, in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion.

Embassies in the capital warn that the threat of kidnapping for foreigners remains high.

The man convicted on Monday was arrested in an army raid on Al-Yarmuk in west Baghdad, and admitted to being the Islamic Army's leader in the south of Baghdad province -- an area known as the Triangle of Death -- the council statement said.

He confessed to a judge to kidnapping two brothers as they travelled to the centre of Baghdad province and killing one of them, while the fate of the other is unknown, it said.

The man also admitted to a number of operations including attacking Iraqi officials, kidnapping the French citizens, targeting and kidnapping the Iranian consul and taking part in the killing of an Iraqi army colonel, it said.

A court in 2010 sentenced two Iraqis who admitted to being members of the Islamic Army to life in jail for the kidnapping of the French journalists and for taking part in the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

The August 19 bombing killed UN special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his colleagues, and marked the start of an escalating wave of attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups.

The Islamic Army in Iraq is a Sunni Salafist group that includes former army officers in the regime of executed dictator Saddam Hussein. The group first appeared in 2004, a year after the invasion.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Sulaimaniyah, Iraq (AFP) Feb 4, 2012 - President Jalal Talabani's tribe has called for Iraq's fugitive vice president to be handed over to the Baghdad government to face trial, a member of the tribe said on Saturday.

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, has been charged with running a death squad and has taken shelter since December in Talabani's native Kurdistan, an autonomous region in northern Iraq.

The region's government has so far declined to turn him over.

On Friday, 120 members of the Talabani tribe met in Sulaimaniyah province and "agreed to call on officials in Baghdad and Kurdistan to hand Hashemi over to justice," Abdul Aziz Abdul Wahid Talabani told journalists by telephone.

Abdul Aziz said a delegation from the tribe met with Hashemi's bodyguards who had confessed to killing his brother, Judge Najim Talabani, and recounted how they carried out the 2010 assassination.

"We demand that Hashemi be handed over to the court, and the tribe is now convinced that Hashemi's bodyguards are involved in the assassination of the judge," said Abdul Aziz.

The interior ministry said 16 of Hashemi's guards had been arrested following confessions from some of their colleagues, and that they had also confessed after being detained.

The accusations against Hashemi come amid a wider row between the secular Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, of which he is a member, and the Shiite-led government.

Iraqiya began a boycott of parliament and the cabinet in December in protest at Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's alleged centralisation of power. It has since called for Maliki to either respect a power-sharing deal or quit.

The prime minister, a Shiite, has also said that his Sunni deputy Saleh al-Mutlak should be sacked after the latter said that Maliki was "worse than Saddam Hussein."

Iraqiya's MPs returned to parliament on Tuesday, easing the crisis, but it has not yet decided on a return of its ministers to the cabinet.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Baghdad (AFP) Feb 4, 2012 - The Iraqi central bank has enacted measures to identify those who buy dollars, as some are believed to be front men at a time when Iran and Syria are facing foreign currency shortages due to sanctions.

Both Iran and Syria have been hit by sanctions from the United States and Europe, the former over its controversial nuclear programme and the latter due to its bloody attempts to suppress a revolt that began last March.

"We have put in place new procedures since February 1," Mudher Mohammed Saleh, the deputy governor of the Iraqi central bank, told AFP on Saturday.

Banks that buy dollars from the central bank must now provide the identity of whoever placed the order and "prove that they have an account in the bank and the origin of their income," Saleh said.

"We are concerned that some people buy dollars on behalf of others," he said, without elaborating.

Asked if Iranian and Syrian traders were trying to buy dollars, Saleh said: "This increase in demand for dollars, while the region has serious problems, led us to put the new procedures in place."

In 2010, the Iraqi central bank sold about $100 million per day. That increased to between $150 and $160 million in the first 10 months of 2011, and reached around $200 million in the last three months, peaking at $300 million.

Saleh added that transactions had experienced a dramatic fall in the first two days of February, ranging from $3-$4 million.

Saleh said the new measures were not adopted at the request of the United States.

"This is an international issue, and we are implementing international procedures," he said.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Baghdad (AFP) Feb 6, 2012 - An Iraqi court has sentenced a man to death for murder and for kidnapping French citizens and an Iranian consul, a statement released on Monday by the Higher Judicial Council said.

The Central Criminal Court sentenced the man identified only by his initials SKh for "belonging to the so-called Islamic Army and carrying out kidnapping and killing operations, including kidnapping an Iranian consul and two French citizens," the statement said.

The death sentence can be appealed.

Two French journalists were kidnapped in 2004 south of Baghdad by the Islamic Army in Iraq, but were later released.

Also in 2004, Iran's mission in Baghdad said Fereydun Jahani, its consul in Karbala, disappeared after the Islamic Army said it had "detained" him for "stirring sectarian strife" and "activities outside his diplomatic duties."

His fate is unknown.

The man was arrested in an army raid on Al-Yarmuk in west Baghdad, and admitted to being the Islamic Army's leader in the south of Baghdad province -- an area known as the Triangle of Death -- the statement said.

The man confessed to a judge to kidnapping two brothers as they travelled to the centre of Baghdad province and killing one of them, while the fate of the other is unknown, it said.

He also admitted to a number of operations including attacking Iraqi officials, kidnapping the French citizens, targeting and kidnapping the Iranian consul and taking part in the killing of an Iraqi army colonel, it said.

A court in 2010 sentenced two Iraqis who admitted to being members of the Islamic Army to life in jail the kidnap of the two French journalists and for taking part in the 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad.

The August 19 bombing killed UN special representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and 21 of his colleagues, and marked the start of an escalating wave of attacks blamed on Al-Qaeda and other insurgent groups.

The Islamic Army in Iraq is a Sunni Salafist group that includes former army officers in the regime of executed dictator Saddam Hussein. The group first appeared in 2004, a year after the US-led invasion that toppled Saddam.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:07:13 AEST Baghdad (AFP) Feb 5, 2012 - A judge has called for parliament to lift the immunity of an MP with the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, the deputy and a judicial spokesman said Sunday, at a time of crisis with Iraq's Shiite-led government.

Two other MPs who are opponents of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki also face arrest warrants and requests for their immunity to be lifted. Parliament is to vote on the three cases "soon", according to a parliamentary source.

"I received a request on Thursday to have my immunity lifted," MP Haidar al-Mullah, spokesman for the bloc, told AFP.

"I am accused of offending the judiciary and saying that the judicial system is politicised," Mullah said. "This is a new attack against Iraqiya and part of the continuous attacks against us."

Iraqiya began a boycott of parliament and the cabinet in December in protest at Maliki's alleged centralisation of power. The parliament boycott was ended last week.

It has called for Maliki to either respect a power-sharing deal or quit.

Maliki, a Shiite, has said he wants his Sunni deputy sacked after the latter said he was "worse than Saddam Hussein," while the country's Sunni vice president has been charged with running a death squad and has been hiding out in the autonomous Kurdish region of north Iraq.

Abdelsattar Birakdar, spokesman of the Higher Judicial Council, said Mullah was accused of having offended Judge Saad al-Lami in a late November interview.

Lami filed a complaint, after which a court "studied the case and then issued an arrest warrant against him and sent a request to parliament to lift his immunity in order to prosecute him," Birakdar said.

Mullah said Lami was "influenced by Maliki."

Another deputy in the case, independent MP Sabah al-Saadi said it was not the first time that he risked losing his immunity.

"Five months ago, there was a request to lift my immunity. I had been accused of offending the government, but nothing happened, and I do not know if there is a new request," he said.

"We know that the Iraqi judicial system is not completely independent, and I think that offending the government is not a crime, but rather a part of the political process," he said.

Saadi has criticised Maliki, including charging that he was acting like the late dictator Saddam Hussein.

Birakdar said his case was based on a request filed by the premier.

According to local media reports, MP Salim al-Juburi of the Iraqiya bloc also faces having his immunity lifted. He has been charged with terrorism, a charge he denies.

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