British troops began their formal withdrawal from southern Iraq Tuesday, “marking the beginning of the end of the UK’s six-year combat mission in Iraq,” the Ministry of Defence announced.
The remaining 4,000 or so British troops in the sector will leave by summer, a ministry spokesman told CNN.
The spokesman declined to be named in line with MoD policy.
“You won’t now see hundreds of troops coming out of Iraq every day, (but) this is the start of the end for British forces — a period that will take until the end of …

British officials believe all five Britons kidnapped in Iraq almost two years ago are alive, despite claims by the hostage takers last year that one of them had taken his own life.
The revelation comes after the British embassy in Baghdad received a tape of one of the hostages, the first such video in eight months. The tape was handed over to the Embassy by Iraqi security officials last week, and was purportedly filmed nine days ago. Embassy officials declined to reveal the identity of the hostage, while analysts try to …

President Obama announced today his plans for withdrawing US troops from Iraq. He did it from North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune, where thousands of Marines are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. (You can read his speech here.)
This is as much a message to Americans as it is Europeans: We have a new priority.
“America can no longer afford to see Iraq in isolation from other priorities: we face the challenge of refocusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan; of relieving the burden on our military; and of rebuilding our struggling economy and these are …

At least 30 pilgrims have been killed by a female suicide bomber south of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.
At least 25 people were also injured in the attack in Iskandiriya, 40km (25 miles) south of Baghdad.
The blast targeted Shia pilgrims, many of whom have been travelling south to the city of Karbala to take part in an annual religious ceremony.
It is the third day of attacks on Shia pilgrims, with dozens killed in Baghdad and Mosul.
The Iskandiriya attack happened despite increased security along the route.

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s military clamped a vehicle ban Monday on the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar after tribal sheiks sent gunmen into the streets claiming Sunni rivals linked to the Shiite-led government stole votes in last weekend’s elections.
The vehicle curfew was lifted the next morning with no reports of violence, the Iraqi military said, but the ban was an indicator of a brewing crisis threatens to trigger new violence in Anbar. The province is a vast, mostly desert territory that had been center-stage in the Sunni insurgency until tribes there …

BAGHDAD — Iraqis across the country voted Saturday in provincial elections that will help shape their future, but regardless of the outcome it is clear that the Americans are already drifting offstage — and that most Iraqis are ready to see them go.
The signs of mutual disengagement are everywhere. In the days leading up to the elections, it was possible to drive safely from near the Turkish border in the north to Baghdad and on south to Basra, just a few miles from the Persian Gulf — without seeing …

A woman suicide bomber blew herself up among a crowd of Shiite pilgrims, including Iranians, outside a shrine in northern Baghdad on Sunday, killing up to 40 people and wounding 72 others, an Interior Ministry source said.
A powerful explosion occurred before midday when a women detonated an explosive belt at a checkpoint at the entrance of the Bab al-Qeblah gate of Kadhim shrine in the Shiite neighborhood of Kadhimiyah, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
The woman apparently targeted the Iranian group of pilgrims and killed 16 of …

RAFAH, Egypt — As Israeli troops push into Gaza, Egypt has become a flashpoint in the deepening divide between moderate Arab leaders, backed by the West, and their more extreme rivals, including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria.
That has put President Hosni Mubarak in a suddenly precarious position. Widespread protests across the Middle East, as well as condemnation from radical Islamist leaders from Beirut to Tehran, have targeted Mr. Mubarak since Israel launched its aerial attack nine days ago.

British troops have taken a step closer to withdrawing from Iraq with the handover of one of its main airports.
Basra International Airport had been used as a UK military base during the conflict but the Iraqis have now resumed full control.
It came as the UN mandate for US and UK troops – put into place after the invasion in March 2003 – expired.
Iraq will now take greater control of its own security, but US and UK forces will remain under a new deal.
The transfer of the airport at Basra, the …

At least 20 people have been killed and dozens more wounded by a bomb that exploded among a crowd in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, security officials say.
The blast, which occurred around midday on Saturday, was so powerful it could be heard several kilometres away.
Qassim Attam, an army spokesman, said the explosion was in a car park used by commuters near a bus terminal in Kadhimiyah, northwest Baghdad, where people also gather at a Shia shrine on Saturdays.