Deaths in Iraq hostage drama

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

At least 19 people have been killed and 65 injured after armed men stormed a government building in the northern Iraqi city of Tikrit immediately after a suicide bomber detonated explosives that cleared the way for the attack.

"A suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt outside the provincial council building in Tikrit, and immediately after gunmen stormed into the building," a police official told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.

Another provincial official said the men who wore security forces' uniforms threw hand grenades and opened fire at a checkpoint of the Salahuddin provincial council building before they managed to storm it.

"All the employees are still in the building, and police cannot approach because the gunmen are shooting from inside," he said.

Violence

Rawya Rageh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the capital Baghdad, said there has not been this kind of attack since the siege on a Baghdad church in November.

Anti-government fighters are still capable of carrying out lethal attacks eight years after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, though overall violence in the country has fallen sharply since the peak in 2006-7 of sectarian violence that was triggered after the invasion.

Bombings and attacks remain a daily occurrence.

US military: 1 US soldier killed in southern Iraq

The U.S. military says an American soldier has died in southern Iraq.

In a statement issued Monday, the military said the soldier died from wounds sustained from a roadside bomb attack during operations in southern Iraq.

The statement gave no further details.

The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The death raises to at least 4,441 the number of U.S. military personnel who have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. That's according to an Associated Press count.

The U.S. ended combat operations in 2010, but almost 50,000 American troops remain, assisting and training Iraqi security forces. The U.S. plans to withdraw all its troops by the end of this year.

Latest developments in Arab world's unrest

Latest developments in the unrest sweeping the Arab world from North Africa to the Persian Gulf:

LIBYA:

Libyan rebels shoot down at least two fighter planes from the regime of Moammar Gadhafi that attacked the airport in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. But Gadhafi's forces remain entrenched around the strategic, rebel-held cities of Misrata and Ajdabia, where clashes continue.

The administration of President Barack Obama and other supporters of action against Gadhafi push for a vote on a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to impose a no-fly zone over Libya. Russia and China, permanent council members with veto power, express reservations about foreign intervention.

BAHRAIN:

Bahrain's Sunni monarchy detains at least seven prominent opposition activists, and Iran recalls its ambassador to protest martial law-style rule to suppress the Shiite protests that have riled the strategic island nation.

Iraqis eyeing Bahrain protests with anger, caution

Concerns over clashes in Bahrain between Shiite protesters and security forces from Sunni Arab states spilled over into Iraq on Thursday, as thousands of Shiite protesters converged on holy shrines to show support for their brethren in Bahrain.

The Shiite-led uprising in Bahrain has galvanized Iraq's Shiite population. The decision by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states to send forces into Bahrain also threatens to worsen relations between Baghdad and Riyadh, which already views Iraq's Shiite-dominated government as a pawn of Iran.

About 3,000 people in Karbala, 55 miles (90 kilometers) south of Baghdad, gathered between the city's two main Shiite mosques in a demonstration that local councilman Hussein Shadhan al-Aboudi predicted will be dwarfed by much larger crowds after prayers on Friday. About 200 people took to the streets in downtown Baghdad, many of them spontaneously joining the demonstration in a busy shopping area.

"I saw the demo and decided to ... march with the demonstrators in solidarity with our brothers in Bahrain, with whom we are linked in religion and Arab ethnicity," said Amir al-Asaadi, 35, a businessman from Basra.

Parliament discussed sending $5 million in aid to Shiites in Bahrain and demanded that the Arab League and the United Nations immediately intervene.

Marine in Iraq war crime case seeks clemency

A lawyer for a Camp Pendleton Marine convicted of murder in a major Iraq war crime case has asked the Navy to grant him clemency.

Maj. Babu Kaza argued during a hearing Wednesday before the Naval Clemency and Parole Board that Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins should be granted his freedom because of an error at his 2007 trial that led to a lower court overturning his conviction last year.

A higher court then reinstated the conviction and sent Hutchins back to jail last month for the 2006 murder of an Iraqi man.

Hutchins led a squad accused of kidnapping Hashim Ibrahim Awad from his home in April 2006.

Kaza says Hutchins proved to be an outstanding Marine after he was released and allowed to work at Camp Pendleton.

2 Kurdish officials resign in volatile Iraqi city

Two top Kurdish politicians resigned Tuesday from local government in northern Iraq in what appears to be a political maneuver to challenge Arabs for control of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, one of the nation's most volatile fault lines.

The city is home to a mix of Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen, who all have competing claims to it. Kurds are seeking to incorporate Kirkuk into their autonomous region in Iraq's north - and out from under control of the Arab-dominated central government in Baghdad.

It is one of Iraq's most explosive disputes, and Kirkuk's Arabs and Turkomen have long opposed the Kurds' goal.

On Tuesday, officials said resigning provincial Governor Abdul-Rahman Mustafa, a Kurd, would be replaced with a Turkoman, raising speculation that a deal was struck to strengthen ties between the two groups against the area's Arabs.

"I hope the man elected for this job will work for the best of Kirkuk, and keep friendly living conditions among all, and be representative of all people living in Kirkuk," Mustafa said in an interview.

He said he resigned for personal reasons after eight years on the job. He is being replaced by Najmuddin Karim, a doctor who has dual Iraqi-U.S. citizenship.

A Turkoman politician said was the move is hoped to "lead to a closer approach between Turkomen and Kurds." He said the minority Turkomen, which are believed to make up about 12 percent of Kirkuk, have long felt sidelined by the city's Kurds. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate political situation.

The other resigning official is provincial council chairman Rizkar Aziz. Both stepped down during a public meeting in Kirkuk, said councilman Rebwar Talabani.

Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa -- country by country

Demonstrations have spread across parts of the Middle East and North Africa. Here is the latest from each country and the roots of the unrest.

Friday developments:

BAHRAIN

Hundreds of people were injured in Bahrain Friday, when rival groups clashed over an attempted march in the town of Riffa, a residential area where the ruling Al-Khalifa family lives.

The national health ministry said 774 people were injured and 107 were hospitalized in the wake of the fighting.

Roots of unrest:

Protesters initially took to the streets of Manama to demand reform and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. But some are now calling for the removal of the royal family, which has led the Persian Gulf state since the 18th century. Young members of the country's Shiite Muslim majority have staged protests in recent years to complain about discrimination, unemployment and corruption, issues they say the country's Sunni rulers have done little to address. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights said authorities launched a clampdown on dissent in 2010. It accused the government of torturing some human rights activists.

Iraq, Afghanistan veterans struggle to find jobs

More than 1 in 5 young Iraq and Afghanistan veterans was unemployed last year, the Labor Department said Friday.

Concerns that Guard and Reserve troops will be gone for long stretches and that veterans might have mental health issues or lack civilian work skills appear to be factors keeping the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at 20.9 percent, a slight drop from the year before, but still well over the 17.3 percent rate for non-veterans of the same age group, 18-24.

"The employers out there, they are military-friendly and veteran-friendly, and they love us and thank us and everything, but when you go apply for a job, it's almost like they are scared to take a risk for you. I don't get it. It doesn't make sense," said Iraq veteran Christopher Kurz, 28, who just moved back in with his parents in Arizona after spending two years looking for law enforcement work in New York.

Kurz said his time as a military police officer in Iraq and aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier didn't seem to translate into a job.

Iraqi PM defends performance in wake of protests

Iraq's prime minister is defending his performance in the wake of protests across the country demanding more jobs, better government services and less corruption.

In a rare appearance in front of parliament, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Thursday told lawmakers that they were just as much to blame for the government's failures.

Specifically, he says they have failed to pass badly needed laws that would encourage development and economic growth.

Like other countries in the Middle East, Iraq has been buffeted by protests. Demonstrations here have focused on improving government services instead of toppling the government entirely.

Al-Maliki has vowed to give his newly elected government 100 days to improve the situation or risk losing their jobs.

Kurdish unrest continues in Iraq

Masked attackers burned tents of protesters overnight in the main city of Iraq's Kurdistan region, police said Sunday.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered later in the day in Sulaimaniya for another protest against Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan regional government, witnesses told CNN.

The unrest in northern Iraq that erupted three weeks ago has killed five people and injured 158 so far, the head of the emergency health department, Dr. Nozad Ahmed, said.

According to police officials, several empty tents erected by protesters at Bardagi-Sara central square of Sulaimaniya were set on fire before dawn. The attack was under investigation, the police officials said.

Some protesters blamed the attack on Kurdish security forces, who denied any involvement.