Reuters: The Iraq that U.S. soldiers are leaving behind as they end a 7-1/2-year combat mission and prepare to withdraw fully by end-2011 is far from stable or secure.
Factbox: Iraq after U.S. troops end combat operations
Leaving Iraq
New York Times – Editorial: On Tuesday the American combat mission in Iraq — a war that should never have been fought — officially ends. President Obama deserves credit for promising the withdrawal and for sticking to it. But America’s responsibilities in Iraq will not end now.
Hardliners split over appointment of Presidential envoys
Iran Focus: Tehran, Aug. 28 – From the Grapevine… Members of the Motalefeh Party, close to former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, have criticised the appointment of special envoys by the government of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
IRAN: Three aviation incidents in 24 hours highlight hazards of flying
Los Angeles Times: As many as 600 people aboard three different planes owned by Iranian airline companies were endangered when two of the aircraft made emergency landings after the engines caught fire and another ran off the runway, all within a 24-hour period.
Iran sentences opposition leader’s aide to 5 years
AP: An Iranian reformist website says a top aide to the country’s opposition leader has been convicted and sentenced to five years in prison.
UN anti-racism panel calls on Iran to counter hatred
AFP: The UN anti-racism panel Friday called on Iran to counter racism and ethnic discrimination, including incitement to hatred by officials and “double discrimination suffered by women from minorities.
3 1/2-year sentence ordered in Iran missile part case
AP: A Taiwanese businessman has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in U.S. prison for illegal exports of banned missile, drone and other military-grade parts to Iran.
IRAN: Hardliners push for family-law bill that activists say further erodes women’s rights
Los Angeles Times: Women’s-rights activists and reformist politicians are alarmed over the push by some hardliners to reintroduce a family-law bill that not only moderates but also some staunch conservatives find discriminatory against women.
Tiger cub found in luggage in Thai airport
AFP: A two-month-old tiger cub was discovered hidden with a stuffed tiger toys in the baggage of a woman heading to Iran from Thailand, wildlife protection officials said Friday.
Quarter of US Iraq deaths due to Iran groups-envoy
Reuters: The new U.S. ambassador to Iraq said on Thursday he believed groups backed by Iran were responsible for a quarter of U.S. casualties in the Iraq war but that Tehran was not as influential in Iraq as thought.
