In brief: Iraq OKs Shiite militias in Anbar province
IRBIL, Iraq – The Iraqi government has agreed to a limited – and as yet undefined – deployment of Shiite Muslim militias in the primarily Sunni Muslim province of Anbar in a last-ditch effort to stabilize an area that’s been primarily under the control of the Islamic State group since early last year, according to Iraqi and Kurdish officials.
The decision by Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi came after a weeklong stalemate between his government and militia commanders over what role in the fight against the Islamic State should be assigned to the so-called “Popular Committees,” the name given to the alliance of Shiite militias aligned with the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad.
The militias’ actions embarrassed the Iraqi government and military command in recent fighting in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown, where they were accused of looting and of abusing Sunnis. News reporters say they have witnessed many such incidents.
Anbar, along with its main cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, has been a potent symbol of Sunni nationalism in the past decade. It represented a key area of Sunni resistance to U.S. troops during the occupation of Iraq and to the Shiite-dominated governments that have ruled the country since Saddam was toppled in 2003.
10 sentenced for attack on Malala
MINGORA, Pakistan – A Pakistani court on Thursday sentenced 10 militants to life in prison for their involvement in the 2012 attack on teenage activist Malala Yousafzai, a public prosecutor said.
“Each militant got 25 years in jail. It is life in prison for the 10 militants who were tried by an anti-terrorist court,” said Sayed Naeem. In Pakistan 25 years is considered a life sentence.
Malala was shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban when she was returning from school. The militants targeted her because she advocated education for women. Malala was initially treated in Pakistan, but was later flown to a hospital in Britain, where she now lives with her family.
Malala, now 17, won world acclaim for her campaign and last year was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Mullah Fazlullah, the Taliban leader who ordered the attack, is still at large, as are other militants who took part in it. The 10 who were sentenced on Thursday were detained by the military last year.
Pakistan drops case against ex-CIA chief
ISLAMABAD – Pakistani police dropped a case that was recently registered against a former CIA station chief and a former agency lawyer over a 2009 drone strike that killed two people in a tribal region, police said Thursday.
The case against former acting general counsel John A. Rizzo and ex-station chief Jonathan Bank was dropped because the drone attack did not happen in the jurisdiction of the Islamabad police station where the complaint was filed, police officer Mohammad Nawaz said.
“We registered this case on orders from the court but on Wednesday night we dropped it because that drone attack did not take place in our jurisdiction in Islamabad,” Nawaz said.
Bank left Pakistan in 2010 after his cover was blown when a Pakistani man threatened to sue the CIA and others for $500 million over the deaths of his 18-year-old son and his brother in a purported Dec. 31, 2009, drone strike.