Justifying his decision on Iraq, former US President George W Bush said on Friday said dislodging of the "brutal dictator" Saddam Hussain was a necessity after 9/11 attacks but regretted that military had to be used to do so as there was no other "choice".
There are about 50 Indians, including embassy staff, in Iraq, External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha said.
South Korea moved a step closer to burying their 55-year Asian Cup hoodoo when they grabbed a goal in each half to beat Iraq 2-0 on Monday and set up a final against Australia or United Arab Emirates.
"The president is going on the last mile for diplomacy. We shall see if the other nations on the Security Council are\n\nwilling to entertain the last mile," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said.
'The principle guiding my decisions on troop levels in Iraq is: return on success. The more successful we are, the more American troops can return home,' he said in a televised speech to the nation on Thursday night.
Islamabad also summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires here and issued a strongly worded condemnation of Iran's "violation of its airspace", the Foreign Office said.
He also told interrogators that Abu Omar al Baghdadi, who is identified as the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, is a fictional role created by al Masri and that an actor is used for audio recordings of speeches posted on the Internet.
India's imports from Russia rose by about 67 per cent to $30.42 billion during the April-September period this fiscal on higher shipments of crude oil and fertiliser, according to the commerce ministry data. With this, Russia has become India's second-largest import source during the first half of this fiscal. The imports were $18.24 billion during April-September 2022.
As many as 94 Indians on Monday left Iraq after a "pro-active approach" initiated by the Indian officials there that would see nearly 600 nationals leaving the war-hit country to safety this week.
The new executive order, which will come into force on March 16, covers people from Sudan, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen.
The insurgents are pushing Iraq towards the brink of a civil war but the Iraqi government and the military could still prevent it with strong international backing, the generals said.
United States President Barack Obama has marked the end of the Iraq War by lauding the "extraordinary achievement" of his country's troops. He paid tribute to the slain soldiers and their families in a speech at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. "Tomorrow, the colours of the United States Forces Iraq, the colours you fought under, will be formally cased in a ceremony in Baghdad. Then they will begin their journey across an ocean back home," the BBC quoted Obama as saying.
The United States is deploying up to 275 military personnel in Iraq to protect its citizens and property as the war-torn country battles a dramatic sweep by insurgents there.
This is the first time President Bush has gone on record saying that US forces were `stressed' in Iraq.
India is expected to ramp up its purchase of crude oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the coming months following discussions between the two countries on the sidelines of the ongoing COP28 summit in Dubai, multiple sources in the know said. The UAE has historically been India's third-largest source of crude. It has suffered the largest drop in shipments since Indian refiners began to binge on Russian crude in 2022.
The claim's authenticity could not immediately be confirmed.
Qatar returns to the spotlight on Friday little more than a year after the first World Cup held in the Arab world when the relocated and delayed 2023 Asian Cup gets underway amid a seismic shift in football's global order.
Striking a strident posture, the US defence secretary said disarmament is not an issue between Iraq and the United Nations, but between Iraq and the US.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The Indian Embassy in Baghdad is "proactively liaising" with the authorities in Iraq to facilitate the return of about 28 Indins who are subjected to long working hours with poor salaries there after being reportedly duped by unscrupulous travel agents.
The location of the 40 Indian construction workers kidnapped in Mosul town of strife-torn Iraq has been identified by Iraqi authorities, the government said on Thursday.
NIA's sleuths carried out these searches at 21 locations in Coimbatore, three in Chennai, and one location in Tenkasi -- all in Tamil Nadu.
Around 5,000 Shia Muslims and 162 Hindus have agreed and are ready to go to Iraq.
"In view of the seriousness of the current security situation in Iraq, Government of India advises its citizens to defer visits to the country for the time being," an official release said.
Many nurses hailing from Kerala are stranded in conflict-torn Iraq. Their families reveal their horror stories to Vicky Nanjappa.
Saddam would continue to inspire Sunni Arabs to not only oppose the US but also other governments that are perceived to be US puppets.
Making their second Under-17 World Cup appearance, Iraq have been the surprise package of the proverbial 'group of death' as they are well placed to advance to the knockout stage following a spirited 1-1 draw against two-time champions Mexico, and a 3-0 rout of Latin American giants Chile.
The process will involve a four-stage disengagement that is scheduled to begin this spring, or at the latest by the end of the summer.
Iraqi Sunnis have been outraged by the executions and international human rights groups have also expressed concern.
Delivering a speech at Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio on Thursday, McCain said: 'By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension.'
United States Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the new Iraqi constitution will not end all violence in Iraq.
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Salih said that the Iraqi security forces will have assumed direct control over many provinces of the country.
The US is incredibly dependent on oil and it feared that the competition on the world market could become 'too hard', he told a security seminar in Stockholm.
Indian imports of Russian crude oil may stabilise or even decline in 2024 from record 2023 levels amid shrinking discounts, lower output, and a rebound in West Asian supplies, according to the ship-tracking data and industry executives. This may impact the billions of dollars in annual savings that India made last year. Imports of Russian oil jumped by a record 140 per cent in calendar 2023 to 1.79 million barrels a day (b/d) from 740,400 b/d in 2022, when Russia marched into Ukraine in February, and from just 102,000 b/d in 2021, according to the data from Paris-based market intelligence agency Kpler.
A division bench of Justices SS Sundar and Sunder Mohan observed while hearing the bail plea of an alleged Islamic State of Iraq and Syria sympathiser, and also set him on liberty with a string of conditions, recently.
Britain has some 9,000 troops in Iraq, mostly based in the south of the country.
