The U.S. ambassador to Iraq outlined twin challenges Monday to the unsteady democracy's elections next month: assuring that voters and rival factions accept the result and then making sure the losers step aside quietly. Christopher Hill said the March 7 parliamentary balloting will ...

In what could be seen as a new front in cyber diplomacy or a naive gesture, depending on your point of view, the US embassy in Baghdad launched a Facebook page on Thursday to "reach out to Iraqis." The page opened with a video posting by ambassador Christopher Hill, who spoke of his high hopes for the forum where "fans ...

Iraqi leaders called on Monday for fundamental changes to be made to a huge public administration riddled with corruption, and for this to be accompanied by broader economic reforms. Now that the "challenges of security and restoring stability have been identified," the new priority was state sector reforms with recruitment based on "professionalism," said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Speaking at ...

Iraqi MPs on Sunday approved a law to govern the country's general election due in early 2010, paving the way to agree a date for the vote, said the parliament's vice president. Khaled al-Attiya said on state television 141 of the 195 members present voted for the document. The election is viewed as crucial to consolidating the war-torn ...