Iraq lifts curbs on Saddam allies
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Iraqi MPs approve a bill to allow officials from ex-leader Saddam Hussein's Baath party to return to public life.
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President Bush intensified diplomatic efforts on Monday to quell rising violence in Iraq and Afghanistan, turning to allies as his national security adviser said the conflict in Iraq had entered "a new phase" requiring changes.
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BAGHDAD, Aug. 26 -- Iraq's top five political leaders announced an agreement Sunday night to release thousands of prisoners being held without charge and to reform the law that has kept thousands of members of Saddam Hussein's political party out of government jobs.
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WASHINGTON -- The United States agreed yesterday to join high-level talks with Iran and Syria on the future of Iraq, an abrupt shift in policy that opens the door to diplomatic dealings the White House had shunned in recent months despite mounting criticism.
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Iraq and Syria restored full diplomatic relations on Tuesday after a 24-year rift in a move Iraq hopes can help stem what it says is Syrian support for militants and encourage other Arab states to rally to its aid.
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Iraq's cabinet approved changes to a draft oil law on Tuesday, taking a big step towards meeting a key political target for national reconciliation set by the United States.
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Both Iraqi unity and global engagement may get a boost.
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Developments in Iraq on Tuesday:
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Iraq's president turned to Iran on Monday for help to stem the bloodshed, and Iraqi officials said talks this week between President Bush and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will focus on giving Iraqis more control so U.S. forces can withdraw.
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Iraq's government said on Tuesday it had closed its borders with Syria and Iran and extended the hours of a night curfew in Baghdad under a U.S.- backed security plan to rein in violence in the capital.
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A new law allowing former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to return to public life in Iraq is enacted.
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BAGHDAD -- The Iraqi commander of the Baghdad security crackdown announced yesterday that Iraq will close its borders with Syria and Iran and ordered the return of unlawfully seized homes, as part of the drive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital along sectarian lines.
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Authorities in the Iraqi capital Baghdad lift a curfew imposed after intelligence revealed a planned series of attacks.
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Iraq's parliament passed a law on Saturday to let members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party return to public life, winning Washington's swift praise for meeting a benchmark aimed at reconciling warring sects.
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The Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein issued millions of dollars in lucrative oil export vouchers to leading French, Russian and other foreign politicians as part of a concerted effort to win their assistance in lifting UN sanctions against Iraq, a US weapons inspector said in a report made public here.
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Britain put Iraqis in command of the  main Iraqi army unit in Basra on Tuesday, a move billed as  paving the way for Washington's main ally to formally announce  major cutbacks in troops.
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Iraqi lawmakers reconvened on Tuesday after a month-long summer recess, under mounting pressure to get legislation passed that Washington believes will help heal deep sectarian rifts in the country.