Headlines 2/26/08

Iraqi refugees stuck in financial limbo in Syria
Maktoob Business News (Arab World)
February 25, 2008
Four months after he fled the violence of Iraq for safety in Syria and nearly five years after the US-led invasion, Ibrim is mired in financial problems and dreaming of a new life in the United States.

Kurdish Soldiers in Iraq Caught Between Competing Allegiances
Washington Post
February 24, 2008
The Iraqi Kurdish soldiers stood at the edge of the collapsed steel bridge and looked down into the teal waters rushing below. The last sign of the Iraqi government, a small border checkpoint, was far behind them down in the river valley.

Iraq militia on truce not target: U.S. general
Reuters
February 23, 2008
A senior U.S. commander promised on Saturday that U.S. and Iraqi forces would not attack Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army if it stuck to a ceasefire, after militia members expressed fears it was being exploited to target them.

Ominous Signs Remain in City Run by Iraqis
New York Times
February 23, 2008
This southern port city has been, in effect, on its own since September, when British forces here moved to the outskirts, yielding authority to local leaders. British and American officials say Basra’s experiment in self-rule could serve as a model for Iraq’s future, but if so — many locals and outside advisers say — that future remains dark.

Some progress in Iraq's powder keg a year after 'surge'
CNN
February 22, 2008
A year after President Bush ordered nearly 30,000 additional U.S. troops into Iraq, American and Iraqi officials said there has been a drop in violence and some baby steps toward political reconciliation, but they see no cause for celebration.

UNHCR hails Lebanon move to legalise Iraqi refugees
Reuters
February 21, 2008
Lebanon has moved to regularise the status of Iraqi refugees residing illegally in the country, a decision the top U.N. refugee agency says will benefit thousands of Iraqis and help release hundreds in detention.

Iraqi family copes with new life as refugees in Illinois
Medill Reports (Northwestern University)
February 21, 2008
One day, kidnappers waited for Mustafa at his dental clinic in Baghdad. He wasn't there, so they took his brother instead. When the kidnappers demanded a ransom, Mustafa and his wife, Reem, gave most of the money they had to try to get him released.

Exiled Iraqi clowns cheer refugees
BBC News
February 21, 2008
Rahman, Ali and Safi are members of Happy Family Clowns group, established in 2004 to put smiles on the faces of Iraqi children. A few months ago the group started receiving death threats warning them against continuing their show, entitled A Child is as Scared as a Country.

Sweden Home to More Iraqi Refugees Than Other European Countries
Voice of America News
February 20, 2008
Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, more than four million Iraqis have fled their homes. About half of them left the country, altogether. Most of these refugees remain in neighboring countries, in particular Syria and Jordan, but others have sought sanctuary farther afield. Sweden has long been a haven for Iraqis and is home to more than 80,000 of them, including some 9,000 who have sought refuge since the war began. Mandy Clark reports from the Swedish city, Sodertalje, which has taken in more Iraqi refugees than the entire United States.