(Reuters) – Iraq has sent army and police reinforcements to the southern city of Amara to prepare for a crackdown on Shi’ite militias. The operation will be the latest in a series of offensives by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that are intended to stamp the government’s authority over areas once …

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The movement of Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will not compete in local elections under its own name but join with other groups and ask its followers to vote for those candidates, Sadr officials said on Sunday.

(Reuters) – A U.S. soldier was killed on Thursday in the Kadhimiya district of northwestern Baghdad, when his vehicle was struck by a bomb, the U.S. military reported.