Iraq PM says security forces control holy city
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KERBALA, Iraq  - Iraq's prime minister flew to the holy city of Kerbala on Wednesday and declared order had been restored after gunbattles among Shi'ite factions killed 52 people and forced hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to flee.
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Iraqi forces will take over security in a southern province from coalition troops next month, state-run television quoted the prime minister as saying Thursday.
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U.S. and Iraqi troops took control  of government and police buildings in Samarra early on Friday  after insurgents had undermined security in the Iraqi city, the  U.S. military said.
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BASRA, Iraq  - Iraqi soldiers and police fought running battles with gunmen from a Shi'ite cult in two southern cities on Friday ahead of the climax of a holy festival for Shi'ite Muslims, security officials said.
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Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told lawmakers Monday that Iraqi forces were not ready to take over security from the U.S. military across the country.
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KERBALA, Iraq  - Iraqi forces imposed tight security on the city of Kerbala as 2.5 million pilgrims marked the climax of a major Shi'ite rite on Saturday, a day after gunmen attacked worshippers and police in other southern cities.
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President Jalal Talabani said Wednesday that Iraqi forces will take over security in all provinces in the country by the end of the year. U.S. forces currently are responsible for security in 17 of Iraq's 18 provinces.
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Gunmen still patrol the centre of Iraq's holy city of Najaf  after 16 days of fighting and delicate talks.
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A military operation is under way in Baghdad's Sadr City, as Iraq's PM offers an olive branch to insurgents.
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KERBALA, Iraq  - Iraqi forces imposed tight security on the city of Kerbala on Saturday for the climax of a major Shi'ite ceremony after gunmen from a Shi'ite cult attacked pilgrims and police in two other southern cities.
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NAJAF, Iraq - Followers loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Friday they were prepared to hand control of the revered Imam Ali Shrine to top Shiite religious authorities, and Iraq's interim prime minister said he would not storm the holy site.    The moves came after a day and night of fighting in Najaf that killed 77 people and wounded 70 others, as al-Sadr militiamen mortared a police station and U.S...
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BAGHDAD -- Iraq's interim prime minister warned yesterday that insurgents are trying to foment sectarian civil war as well as derail elections, while thousands of mourners turned out for funerals in the Shi'ite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala a day after car bombs killed 67 people.
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KERBALA, Iraq  - Police reinforcements and  National Guards were deployed to the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala  on Thursday, a day after a bomb blast killed 10 and wounded  more than 30, including a senior Shi'ite cleric.
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Flanked by machine gun-toting guards, Iraq's prime minister ventured out of the Green Zone to tour parts of Baghdad on Friday, chatting on the streets with bystanders and police to demonstrate the U.S.-led crackdown is making progress in restoring order.
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U.S. and Iraqi forces have killed around 400 suspected militants since the start of a major security crackdown in Baghdad, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Saturday.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - Iraqi police took control of the  Imam Ali Mosque in the holy city of Najaf on Friday after  entering the shrine and arrested some hundreds of militiamen,  Interior Ministry and an Iraqi government source said.
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Iraq's interim prime minister warned Monday that insurgents are trying to foment sectarian civil war as well as derail elections, while thousands of mourners turned out for funerals in the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala a day after car bombs killed 67 people.