BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least seven Iraqis were killed and 23 wounded when a bomb exploded near a Shiite holy shrine in northern Baghdad on Wednesday morning, an Interior Ministry official said. The Imam Musa al-Kadhim shrine in Baghdad, Iraq, seen in 2007, is holy to Shiite Muslims. The bomb detonated near the Imam Musa al-Kadhim shrine in the Kadhimiya district, the official said. The Kadhimiya shrine is one of the holiest shrines for Shiite Muslims around the world. On Tuesday, a parked car bomb killed at least nine people and wounded more than a dozen others, also in Kadhimiya. This is the third straight day of deadly attacks in the capital, striking mostly Shiite areas. On Monday, seven bombings in Baghdad left at least 32 people killed and more than 130 wounded. Iraqi officials have warned that they expect a rise in attacks. The country's president and his deputies urged security forces to intensify their efforts to secure the country. The government has blamed the ousted Baath party and al Qaeda in Iraq for Monday's attacks, saying they were meant to create sectarian divisions. The U.S. military also pointed the finger at al Qaeda. "The nature of the attacks and targets are consistent with past al Qaeda in Iraq attacks. We see this as coordinated attack by terrorists against predominantly Shia targets that they gauge as vulnerable to instigate sectarian violence," the U.S. military said.

Question: how many killed monday

Question: How many days of attacks have there been?

Question: What is the number of dead?

Question: Near what revered shrine was the bomb?

Question: When were at least 9 people killed?

Question: when did 32 die

Question: What type of bomb was set on Tuesday?

Question: What was the name of the shrine?

Answer: At least seven Iraqis

Answer: third straight

Answer: 32

Answer: Imam Musa al-Kadhim

Answer: Tuesday,

Answer: On Monday,

Answer: car

Answer: Imam Musa al-Kadhim

Summary:
Three days of attacks in mainly Shiite areas of Baghdad leave dozens dead .
Bomb near revered Shiite shrine of Imam Musa al-Kadhim kills 7 on Wednesday .
Parked car bomb in same area of Baghdad kills at least 9 people on Tuesday .
At least 32 killed on Monday in seven bombings around Iraqi capital .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Attackers launched assaults across Iraq over the past 24 hours, killing 11 police recruits and six civilians, including a 7-year-old. Iraqi and U.S. troops conduct a joint patrol Monday in the northern city of Mosul during a push against insurgents. Also, the U.S. military said it killed an al Qaeda in Iraq leader in northern Iraq. The violence erupted as a peace agreement was taking hold in Baghdad's Sadr City, for weeks the scene of battles between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias. A suicide bomber exploded his vest outside the house of an Awakening Council leader, Sheikh Mutleb al-Nadawi, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Baquba in Diyala province, the military command in Diyala said. Al-Nadawi was in the house and escaped injury, but a 7-year-old was killed and two of al-Nadawi's bodyguards were wounded. Awakening Councils are the U.S.-backed Sunni groups that oppose al Qaeda in Iraq. A mortar round landed on a busy outdoor market in Balad Ruz, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Baquba. Three civilians were killed, and nine were wounded. A bomb exploded Tuesday inside a minibus in southeastern Baghdad's Rustumiya district, killing two passengers and wounding five, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. Insurgents also attacked a minibus filled with police recruits Monday in Baaj, a Nineveh province town near the Syrian border, killing 11 people, according to Mosul police. Iraqi security forces arrested 15 people in connection with the attack. Backed by U.S. soldiers, Iraqi forces have been conducting an offensive against al Qaeda in Iraq in Mosul and the rest of Nineveh province. American-led coalition troops killed a senior al Qaeda in Iraq leader east of Samarra in northern Iraq on Tuesday, the U.S. military said. Meanwhile, the agreement forged to end the weeks of fighting in the capital's Sadr City is taking hold, government officials and witnesses said. Thousands of soldiers and police officers have moved deep inside the restive neighborhood without resistance from Shiite militia members who have been fighting Iraqi and U.S. troops. The troops have been clearing mines and soon will begin the process of confiscating weapons, officials said. No violence has been reported in the area since Monday. Much of the earlier fighting involved the Mehdi Army militia of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and security forces dominated by a rival political party, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. The latter is the leading party in the government's United Iraqi Alliance bloc. The agreement, hammered out between the United Iraqi Alliance and the Sadrists, is intended to clear the neighborhood of weaponry and outlaws and restore stability to the area. Tahseen al-Sheikhly, civilian spokesman for Baghdad's security plan, said there has been great cooperation among residents, Sadrist supporters and government forces. Gen. Qassim Atta, the military spokesman of Baghdad's security plan, said Tuesday that checkpoints and patrols have been established and coalition forces are ready to help Iraqi troops, but they have not entered Sadr City. Elsewhere in Baghdad, the trial of Saddam Hussein-era officials Tariq Aziz, Ali Hassan al-Majeed -- also known as Chemical Ali -- and six others resumed Tuesday. They are facing charges in connection with the executions of 42 Iraqi merchants in 1992. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

Question:
When did the attack happen?
Where is the trial being held?
What age was the boy killed?
What kind of vehicle  attacked Bagdad?
what happened in the attack
Who is the Leader?
What part of Bagdad was attacked?

Answer: over the past 24 hours,

Answer: Baghdad,

Answer: 7-year-old.

Answer: minibus

Answer: killing 11 police

Answer: Sheikh Mutleb al-Nadawi,

Answer: Sadr City,

Summary:
Attack on Awakening Council official leaves 7-year-old dead .
Al Qaeda in Iraq leader is killed, U.S. military says .
Minibuses attacked in Baghdad, Nineveh province .
Trial of Saddam Hussein-era officials resumes .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Bombs in Baghdad and Baquba killed four people, two police officers among them, and wounded seven others Sunday morning, an Interior Ministry official said. A wounded Iraqi woman cries at a Baquba hospital after being caught in a blast Sunday at a police building. One death came about 9 a.m. when a parked car bomb detonated near the Buratha Shiite mosque in northwestern Baghdad. The blast apparently targeted a convoy belonging to an endowment that manages Shiite mosques in the war-ravaged nation. Three people were wounded in the explosion. A roadside bomb attack an hour earlier struck a police patrol in western Baghdad's Mansour district, the Interior Ministry official said. Two police officers were killed and four others were wounded, he said. In another attack targeting authorities, a suicide car bomber slammed into the emergency police headquarters in central Baquba about 9:30 a.m., a Baquba police official said. Twelve people were hurt in the blast, including three police officers. The blast also damaged the police headquarters and three civilian automobiles, the police official said. The suicide bomber was the only person killed in the blast. The U.S. military told CNN it has no evidence of a reported attack by al Qaeda in Iraq militants on an Iraqi village near Baquba on Saturday. A Baquba police official said at least 10 people were killed when the AQI insurgents raided the village of Adwaila -- home to both Sunni and Shiite Iraqis -- who have opposed al Qaeda, making the village a target. "CF [coalition forces] and IA [Iraqi army] searched the area by air and by ground for several hours and found no evidence of this attack," Task Force Iron spokeswoman Maj. Peggy Kageleiry told CNN in an e-mail sent on Sunday. "An IA team that was called to investigate the alleged incident was attacked by small arms fire and not anywhere on the scale described in the original report from the media." The police official said al Qaeda in Iraq insurgents launched mortars into the village north of Baquba and then sent in dozens of fighters with small arms to storm the village. The police officials aid at least five homes were burned and destroyed. E-mail to a friend CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.

Question: Who was killed in roadside bomb attack in Baghdad's Mansour district?

Question: Where did the car bomber die?

Question: Who was killed?

Question: What explodes outside an organization that manages mosques?

Question: Who dies after slamming into Baquba police building?

Question: What has exploded?

Question: Where were two police officers killed?

Question: Where was the bomb?

Answer: four people,

Answer: emergency police headquarters in central Baquba

Answer: four people, two police officers

Answer: a parked car bomb

Answer: The suicide bomber was the only person killed in the blast.

Answer: a parked car bomb

Answer: Baghdad and Baquba

Answer: parked car

Summary:
A parked car bomb explodes outside an organization that manages mosques .
Two police officers killed in roadside bomb attack in Baghdad's Mansour district .
Suicide car bomber dies after slamming into Baquba police building, injuring 12 .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Coalition troops on Monday formally handed over security control of Iraq's Anbar province -- once the hub of the country's Sunni insurgency, to Iraqis on Monday. A U.S. soldier on patrol in Ramadi's market earlier this year. U.S. troops will remain in the province to support Iraqi forces. President George W. Bush described the transfer as a major victory against al-Qaeda extremists who once held sway in the area. "Today, Anbar is no longer lost to al Qaeda -- it is al Qaeda that lost Anbar," he said in a statement. Once dominated by Sunni insurgents, Anbar has been the scene of many attacks on U.S.-led troops in Iraq. Now a bastion of tribal opposition, it is also the scene of an internal Sunni political struggle between the Iraqi Islamic Party, one of Iraq's main Sunni parties, and the Awakening movement, the first anti-al Qaeda in Iraq movement established in the country. More than 25,000 U.S. troops serve in the sprawling Anbar province west of Baghdad; most of them Marines. They will remain for the time being but will shift their mission to supporting Iraqi forces, when needed The transfer is a "major progress" for all of Iraq, said Brigadier Gen. David Perkins, the spokesman for the Multi-National Force in Iraq. The transfer ceremony took place in Ramadi, the capital of the western province, and was attended by Iraqi officials and U.S. military brass.  Watch U.S., Iraqi officials perform transfer » "We are all well aware of what the security situation was in Anbar even a year ago," Perkins said. "And the fact that that has been able to be turned around, that the Iraqi citizens that live there want to stand up on their own, [that] they want to take control of the province on their own ... it's a major progress not only for Anbar, but for all of Iraq." Anbar is the 11th of Iraq's 18 provinces to revert to local security control, but is the first Sunni-dominated one. The move comes amid a big drop in violence in Iraq and calls from Iraqis for the United States to come up with a troop withdrawal timetable. The other provinces that have transitioned to Iraqi security control are Duhuk, Irbil and Sulaimaniya in the Kurdish region, and Karbala, Najaf, Qadisiya, Muthanna, Thiqar, Basra, and Maysan in the Shiite south. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh and Arwa Damon in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Question: What was once the hub of the country's Sunni insurgency?

Question: What country is this in?

Question: What number of troops serve in Anbar?

Question: Where is Anbar located?

Question: Who is in control now?

Question: Where is Anbar?

Question: Who handed over security to Iraqis?

Question: Where did 25.000 US troops serve in?

Question: What province do coalition troops hand over to Iraqis?

Answer: Iraq's Anbar

Answer: Iraq

Answer: More than 25,000 U.S.

Answer: Iraq

Answer: Iraqis

Answer: Iraq

Answer: Coalition troops

Answer: Anbar province

Answer: Anbar

Summary:
Coalition troops hand over security control of Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqis .
Anbar was once the hub of the country's Sunni insurgency .
More than 25,000 U.S. troops serve in Anbar, west of Baghdad .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Court proceedings in the trial against Tariq Aziz, one of the best-known faces of Saddam Hussein's former regime in Iraq, and several co-defendants have ended after being in session only briefly Tuesday. The trial of Tariq Aziz, pictured here in a Baghdad courtroom in July 2004, has begun. The trial, which is to resume May 20, was delayed because one of the defendants, Ali Hassan al-Majeed, also known as "Chemical Ali," was not present because he was ill. Iraqi procedural codes require that all defendants be in court for the first session. Chief Judge Raouf Abdul Rahman read a U.S. medical report signed by three doctors that said al-Majeed is in critical condition after suffering a heart attack two weeks ago. He has been released from the hospital but still requires daily treatment and doctor visits. The report said that traveling to court from his detention facility could worsen his health. He cannot walk up stairs or sit in court for long hours, it said. He will need three weeks to recover and may need some sort of surgery, the report said. It added he is diabetic and suffers from "acute heart failure." Treatment includes clearing of the arteries followed by either open heart surgery or stents in the arteries, but neither option is available at this time, the report said. Ali Hasan al-Majeed, who was a top Baathist official during the Saddam Hussein era, is awaiting execution after being convicted of genocide in connection with the killing of Kurds during the Anfal campaign in the late 1980s. Aziz, al-Majeed and six others are now facing trial for having a role in the execution of 42 Iraqi merchants in 1992. A former deputy prime minister, Aziz was the first to be called into court, followed by six other defendants. Aziz appeared frail, walked slowly with a cane, and was coughing and blowing his nose. He was sitting in the seat Saddam Hussein used during his appearances in court and was represented by a private attorney. The court was sorting out which defendants did not have attorneys present. This is the fourth major trial of former Hussein regime officials since his government was overthrown. The most prominent was the 2006 trial that led to the execution of Hussein and three lieutenants for a crackdown in the Shiite town of Dujail in which more than 140 men allegedly plotting Hussein's assassination were executed. Aziz's lead attorney, Badie Aref -- who was an attorney for Hussein in that trial -- is charged with contempt of court in Iraq and has been in Jordan since a warrant for his arrest was issued last year. He said he would return to Baghdad for this trial only if he were assured he would not be arrested. Meanwhile, amid a swirling, blanketing sandstorm, fierce fighting in Baghdad Tuesday saw U.S. troops kill 32 "enemy forces" in a gunbattle, according to the U.S. military. Iraqi authorities reported 16 people were killed in a residential area in the same clash. The Iraqi Interior Ministry said the fighting was in the predominantly Shiite Sadr City neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. Five suspected insurgents dressed in Iraqi army uniforms attacked the home of a human rights worker in Diyala on Tuesday, killing the resident of the home and an Iraqi soldier who lived in the neighborhood, according to the U.S. military. Two Iraqi civilians also were injured in the small-arms attack. "Attacking civilians in their homes is both criminal and barbaric," said Major Peggy Kageleiry, spokeswoman for the military's Multi-National Division - North. Insurgents have been attempting to exploit the harsh conditions, which have curtailed flights coming into Baghdad International Airport. Sandstorms make it easier for militants to screen their activities and harder for U.S. air power to be deployed effectively. A U.S. military spokesman said fighting began around 9:30 a.m. when militants fired at a U.S. patrol and wounded an American soldier. When the soldier was being evacuated, a U.S. vehicle was struck by two roadside bombs and peppered with small-arms fire and rocket propelled grenades. That left two more soldiers

Question: Who appeared in court over executions?

Question: Who appears in court?

Question: He and five others were charged with what?

Question: Who are they charged with executing?

Question: Who is Tariq Aziz?

Question: What is Tariq Aziz charged with?

Answer: Aziz, al-Majeed and six others

Answer: Tariq Aziz,

Answer: having a role in the execution of 42 Iraqi merchants in 1992.

Answer: 42 Iraqi merchants

Answer: of Saddam Hussein's former regime in Iraq,

Answer: execution of 42 Iraqi merchants

Summary:
Tariq Aziz, former Iraqi deputy PM, appears in court over executions .
He and five others charged with execution of 42 merchants .
This is the fourth major trial of ex-Hussein officials since invasion .
Violence continues in Baghdad as U.S. troops kill insurgents in gunbattle .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Darryl Mathis waits in his Pensacola, Florida, home for the body of his 24-year-old son to return home from Iraq. Mathis, a military veteran himself, was seething with anger Thursday as he spoke about the death of Army Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson. An unnamed U.S. soldier is accused of killing Army Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson in Iraq on Sunday. Dawson, and Sgt. Wesley Durbin, 26, are said to have been shot and killed by another U.S. soldier on Sunday at a base south of Baghdad. Darryl and his wife, Maxine (Dawson's stepmother), say the military has told them nothing about the incident: no details on his death, no information at all. His voice shakes as he says he believes that the military has let him down. "I'm very disappointed -- very," he said. "If I would get a straight answer, if they would actually tell me what's going on, I would have something to work on; but right now, I have nothing to work on. Everything I'm getting, I'm getting from the media." His wife sobs as she says her stepson's death was foreshadowed by a phone call he made to her from Iraq. "He said that he was more shaky sometimes of the soldiers than of the enemy, because of the young guys over there." She said she asked him, "What in the world do you mean? You're afraid of your own soldiers?" " 'These kids are trying to fight a war they know nothing about. ... They're jumpy. ... They're more scary than the enemy,' " she said he told her. "And I said, 'Oh, God,' " said Maxine Mathis. On any given day, CNN receives dozens of detailed news releases from the U.S. military, including those announcing U.S. military casualties. In the cases of Dawson and Durbin, there was no mention of their names, and the releases were terse. "A multi-national division center soldier died this morning of non-combat related causes," the first release read. "The cause of death is under investigation." A second release came later in the day. "A second multi-national division center soldier died this morning of non-combat related causes. The solider died of wounds September 14 at a coalition forces combat Army support hospital," it read. "The incident is under investigation." Inquiries Thursday from CNN were met with a news release that a press officer said had been drafted Wednesday. However, the release had not been e-mailed to reporters Wednesday, as is customary. After naming the two soldiers and giving their rank and unit, it reads, "A U.S. soldier is in custody in connection with the shooting deaths. He is being held in custody pending review by a military magistrate. The incident continues under investigation." The release gives no other details. The U.S. military is classifying the death of Sgt. Dawson as "non-hostile," something Dawson's father finds puzzling. "I don't know. I really don't know," he said. "I just can't get it together with that. I had never heard that before. 'Non-hostile' in a war zone?" Lt. Col. Paul Swiergosz is a public affairs officer for the area in Iraq where the incident took place. He says the "non-hostile" death classification was given "because the deaths were not the result of hostile enemy action." But details on what happened remain scarce. After asking, CNN received an e-mail press release from Gen. Tony Cucolo, commanding general of the Third Infantry Division that a press officer said had been drafted on Wednesday. The release, however, had not been e-mailed to reporters, as is customary.  "We do know one soldier, a fellow noncommissioned officer, allegedly opened fire and mortally wounded his squad leader

Question: who is being held in connection with the killings?

Question: Who was killed in Iraq this week?

Question: who were killed in Iraq this week?

Question: What is the U.S. military's classification of the death?

Question: what Dawson's father says?

Answer: An unnamed U.S. soldier

Answer: Sgt. Wesley Durbin,

Answer: Dawson, and Sgt. Wesley Durbin,

Answer: non-combat related causes,"

Answer: "I just can't get it together with that. I had never heard that before. 'Non-hostile' in a war zone?"

Summary:
Army Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson and another soldier were killed in Iraq this week .
Another U.S. soldier is being held in connection with the killings .
Dawson's father says he can't get a "straight answer" from the U.S. military .
The U.S. military has classified the death as "non-hostile"


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Dressed in a Superman shirt, 5-year-old Youssif held his sister's hand Friday, seemingly unaware that millions of people across the world have been touched by his story. Nearby, his parents talked about the new future and hope they have for their boy -- and the potential for recovery from his severe burns.

Youssif holds his sister's hand Friday. He's wearing a facial mask often used to help burn victims.

It's the best birthday present the Iraqi family could ever have imagined for their boy: Youssif turns 6 next Friday.

"I was so happy I didn't know what to do with myself," his mother, Zainab, told CNN, a broad smile across her face. "I didn't think the reaction would be this big."

His father said he was on the roof of his house when CNN called him with the news about the outpouring of support for his son.

"We just want to thank everyone who has come forward," he said. "We knew there was kindness out there."

Like his wife, he couldn't stop smiling. He talked about how he tried in vain to get help for his son in Baghdad, leaving "no stone unturned" on a mission to help his boy. There were many trips to the Ministry of Health. He says he even put in a request to Iraq's parliament for help.

The family eventually told CNN their story -- that Youssif was grabbed by masked men outside their home on January 15, doused in gasoline and set on fire. Simply by coming forward, his parents put themselves in incredible danger. No one has been arrested or held accountable in Youssif's case.  Watch CNN's Arwa Damon describe 'truly phenomenal' outpouring »

Shortly after Youssif's story aired Wednesday, the Children's Burn Foundation -- a nonprofit organization based in Sherman Oaks, California, that provides support for burn victims locally, nationally and internationally -- agreed to pay for the transportation for Youssif and his family to come to the United States and to set up a fund for donations.

You can make a donation at the foundation's site by clicking here. There's a drop-down menu under the "general donation" area that is marked "Youssif's fund."

The foundation says it will cover all medical costs -- from surgeries for Youssif to housing costs to any social rehabilitation that might be needed for him. Surgeries will be performed by Dr. Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon with the affiliated Grossman Burn Center who is donating his services for Youssif's cause.

Officials are still trying to get the appropriate visas for the family's travels.

"We are prepared to have them come here, set them up in a housing situation, provide support for them and begin treatment," said Barbara Friedman, executive director of the Children's Burn Foundation. "We expect that the treatment will be from between six months to a year with many surgeries."

She added, "He will be getting the absolute best care that's available."

Youssif's parents said they know it's going to be a lengthy and difficult process and that adjusting to their stay in America may not be easy. But none of that matters -- getting help for their boy is first and foremost.

"I will do anything for Youssif," his father said, pulling his son closer to him. "Our child is everything."

His mother tried to coax Youssif to talk to us on this day. But he didn't want to; his mother says he's shy outside of their home.

The biggest obstacle now is getting the visas to leave, and the serious security risks they face every day and hour they remain in Iraq.

But this family -- which saw the very worst in humanity on that January day -- has new hope in the world. That is partly due to the tens of thousands of CNN.com users who were so moved by the story and wanted to act.

CNN Iraqi staff central to bringing this story together were also overwhelmed with

Question: Where will treatment be administered?

Question: what did parents feel?

Question: Where is the Burn center located?

Question: Where is the burn center?

Question: What is the name of the burn center that offered treatment?

Question: What is Burn centre U.S. famous for?

Question: What did the mother say?

Question: what did mom say?

Question: What kind of surgety was offered?

Question: Which country is the burn center in?

Question: What was mom happy about?

Question: What is the son's name?

Question: What was the reaction from the parents?

Question: Who is Youssif?

Question: Which burn center in the US has offered reatment for reconstructive surgeries?

Question: What made parents feel pride?

Question: Do we know the name of the young burn victim?

Question: From whom was the outpouring of support?

Answer: Grossman Burn Center

Answer: happy

Answer: Sherman Oaks, California,

Answer: Sherman Oaks, California,

Answer: Foundation

Answer: provides support

Answer: "I didn't think the reaction would be this big."

Answer: "I was so happy I didn't know what to do with myself,"

Answer: plastic

Answer: Sherman Oaks, California,

Answer: birthday

Answer: Youssif

Answer: couldn't stop smiling.

Answer: 5-year-old

Answer: Foundation

Answer: potential for recovery from his severe burns.

Answer: Youssif

Answer: Children's Burn Foundation

Summary:
Parents beam with pride, can't stop from smiling from outpouring of support .
Mom: "I was so happy I didn't know what to do"
Burn center in U.S. has offered to provide treatment for reconstructive surgeries .
Dad says, "Anything for Youssif"


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Edwin Salau knew coming back would be hard. But he had to do it. The retired U.S. Army first lieutenant needed to know that his sacrifice was worth it. Retired Army 1st Lt. Edwin Salau says he sees progress in Iraq since he left five years ago. "I wanted to make sure I didn't bleed in vain for the Iraqi people," Salau said. "And what I found is I did not. I see the progress over five years. I see free Iraqis doing what Iraqis want to do in their country, and I see the U.S. taking a back seat." Salau left the battlefield in November 2004, after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire during an ambush close to the town of Tuz. Those injuries cost him most of his left leg; it was amputated above the knee and he now wears a prosthesis. Recently, he and seven other wounded American veterans returned to Iraq so they could heal emotionally. It was part of a nonprofit pilot program called Operation Proper Exit, an initiative started a little over a year ago by the Troops First Foundation, based in Maryland. The USO supports the mission.  Watch Salau describe his feelings on returning » Rick Kell, head of Troops First, traveled to Iraq with the soldiers and said the idea came from American troops. "After spending much time at Walter Reed and Brooke Army medical centers, inevitably in any conversation, something reminds somebody that they want to go back. And the soldiers don't hesitate to tell you that," Kell said. "They are soldiers and they want to come back primarily for several reasons, but they want to come back and let the troops here on the ground know that they are still part of them, they support them, and they would very much like to be with them, although they can't." It's an emotional journey for the returning veterans, a chance to visit bases where they were stationed, and, in some cases, the sites where they were wounded. Though other programs have allowed wounded American soldiers to return to the scene of their service and sacrifice, this is the first to allow them to do so while a war is still being waged. All in all, 13 soldiers have participated in the program so far -- eight this trip and five on a previous trip, which took place in June. The earlier trip was kept quiet because of fears that the experience would be too overwhelming for the participants. According to Kell, he encounters many soldiers who would like to return, but those who are selected are chosen carefully. "Well, first of all, when we come in contact with someone who wants to come back -- and that's somebody who is thriving, that is mentally and physically moving forward in their life, they've demonstrated that they have a plan for what's next and they've begun to implement that plan," he said. "So we feel pretty good about this person being squared away. And there are concerns, but it's a very personal decision. We only ask for one of three answers: yes, no or not now." Salau, who now works with other wounded soldiers at Camp Lejeune, in North Carolina, thinks he's become an ambassador for them. When Salau departed Iraq the first time, he couldn't do it on his own. That's why this trip was so important to him. "My purpose for this trip was for my soldiers to have that last memory of me in Iraq walking out of here on my own power," he said. "And I achieved that and it was closure." Salau and Kell think the program has been a success so far. According to them, the main reason for that is the support they've gotten from the military command in Iraq, particularly Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. commander there. Odierno's experiences with his son, who lost his arm in Iraq, helped the general better understand these soldiers' plight,

Question: On what date did the "Operation Proper Exit" program start?

Question: What is the retired lieutenants name?

Question: What is the reason why the eight wounded U.S. veterans returned to Iraq, instead of being sent home?

Question: Which program is run by the troops and backed by the USO?

Question: What number of U.S. veterans return to Iraq through "Operation Proper Exit"?

Answer: over a year ago

Answer: Edwin Salau

Answer: so they could heal emotionally.

Answer: Operation Proper Exit,

Answer: 13 soldiers

Summary:
Eight wounded U.S. veterans return to Iraq through "Operation Proper Exit" program .
Veterans want troops on the ground to know they're still part of them, organizer says .
Retired lieutenant says progress in Iraq shows he didn't "bleed in vain"
Program is run by Troops First Foundation, backed by USO .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Five American security contractors were detained in connection with the killing of another American contractor last month inside Baghdad's Green Zone, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Saturday. The body of James Kitterman was found in a car in Baghdad's heavily protected Green Zone. Iraqi and U.S. personnel took the five into custody in an operation inside the Green Zone before dawn on Friday, according to an Iraqi official involved in the investigation into the killing of James Kitterman. The five, who have not yet been charged, were being held by Iraqi security forces Saturday at a jail inside the heavily protected zone, he said. The troops also confiscated weapons during the raid on the suspects' firm at about 4 a.m. (11 a.m. ET), said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The names of the suspects and the company they work for were not released. The U.S. military declined comment and referred questions to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Embassy officials did not immediately respond to request for comments. Kitterman was found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed in a car in the district, formally known as the International Zone, on May 22. The 60-year-old Houston, Texas, resident owned a construction company that operated in Iraq. The five suspects knew the victim, a source inside the Green Zone familiar with the investigation said. Both the Iraqi and the Green Zone sources noted that the FBI has been involved in the investigation from the start. Once the suspects are charged and referred to trial, the case would be sent to Iraq's Central Criminal Court, the Iraqi official said. If that happens, it would be the first time U.S. citizens were tried in Iraq since the United States returned the country's government to the Iraqis. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Alan Duke contributed to this report.

Question: What was confiscated in the raid of the firm?

Question: What kind of company did the victim own?

Question: How many were arrested in death of James Kitterman?

Question: What confiscated in raid of suspects' firm?

Question: How many people were arrested in connection with the death?

Question: Where was James Kitterman's construction company located?

Question: What was confiscated in the raid?

Question: How many arrested in death of fellow contractor James Kitterman?

Question: Who found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed?

Answer: weapons

Answer: construction

Answer: Five

Answer: weapons

Answer: Five

Answer: Iraq.

Answer: weapons

Answer: Five

Answer: James Kitterman

Summary:
NEW: Weapons confiscated in raid of suspects' firm, official says .
Five arrested in death of fellow contractor James Kitterman .
Kitterman found bound, blindfolded and fatally stabbed .
Victim owned a construction company that operated in Iraq .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Five U.S. soldiers were killed Friday in a suicide bombing in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul -- the single deadliest attack on U.S. troops in more than a year, the U.S. military said.

A suicide truck bomber breached the outer security barrier of Iraqi National Police headquarters in southern Mosul, and detonated his explosives, killing eight people and wounding 60 others, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. A U.S. soldier was also among the wounded, the U.S. military said.

The ministry said those killed include five Americans, two Iraqi policemen and an Iraqi soldier. At least two individuals suspected of being involved in the attack were detained, the U.S. military said.

It is the deadliest attack on U.S. forces since March 10, 2008, when five U.S. soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Baghdad.

Despite a number of military operations in this volatile city during the past year, Mosul remains one of the most violent places in Iraq. Last year the U.S. military said Mosul was the last urban stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Mosul is the provincial capital of Nineveh and is about 260 miles, or 420 kilometers, north of Baghdad.  Watch a suicide bomb attack kills 5 U.S. soldiers »

U.S. and Iraqi military forces plan to pull out of Mosul  to allow Iraqi police to control security in the city. But police are not quite ready yet, according to an Iraqi general.

"We need to bring the police to the required level. The deadline is the end of July, and it's not enough time to prepare the police," said Gen. Hassan Karim, commander of Nineveh operations for the Iraqi army. "(That) means we'll need U.S. forces to stay in Mosul."

CNN's Nic Robertson contributed to this report

Question:
how many were killed?
Where did the truck explode?
what does this mean for the soliders?
What is significant about the attack?
Where is Mosul?
what is deadliest to US forces?

Answer: eight people

Answer: Mosul

Answer: we'll need U.S. forces to stay in Mosul."

Answer: It is the deadliest attack on U.S. forces since March 10, 2008,

Answer: northern Iraqi

Answer: suicide bombing

Summary:
NEW: Attack is deadliest on U.S. forces in more than a year .
Suicide bomber explodes truck at national police headquarters in Mosul .
Five Americans among eight dead; 60 others wounded .
Mosul, 260 miles north of Baghdad, called last urban stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Four Americans -- two soldiers and two civilians from the Defense and State departments -- were killed Tuesday in a blast that rocked a municipal building in Baghdad's Sadr City, the U.S. Embassy said. The attack also killed six Iraqis and wounded 10 others, an Iraqi Interior Ministry official said. A second employee from the U.S. Defense Department also died, but that person wasn't an American. The employee was a dual Italian-Iraqi national, the Italian Foreign Ministry said. The U.S. military said the blast struck a meeting of a district advisory council, a neighborhood group that looks at local needs and passes on its assessments to the provincial government. The deputy head of the council was seriously injured, the Interior Ministry official said. The U.S. military blamed Iranian-backed militants it calls Special Groups for the blast and detained three people in connection with the attack, including a suspect "fleeing the scene [who] tested positive for explosive residue." "We believe the target of the attack was a high-ranking [district advisory council] member as well as the U.S. soldiers," said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a U.S. military spokesman. "We believe the Special Groups criminals were upset that the DAC member was working with coalition forces to improve the quality of life for the southern Sadr City residents." A statement from Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, identified the slain State Department employee as Steve Farley. "Mr. Farley was a member of our embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team for the Sadr City and Adhamiya districts of Baghdad City," the statement said. "We extend our deepest condolences to their families and friends, and our profound appreciation for the ultimate sacrifice that they made in service to their country and for the people of Iraq. This is a tragic loss and one we all mourn." The U.S. Embassy statement didn't identify the other victims. The blast dramatizes the perils the war still poses for Americans despite a Pentagon report Monday that touted a sharp decrease in violence in Iraq in recent months. The explosion also marked the third strike in two days involving local politicians and political institutions in Baghdad. A city councilman on Monday fired on U.S. forces at a municipal building southeast of the capital in the Salman Pak area and killed two soldiers. Separately, the head of Abu Dsheer City Council in Baghdad's southern Dora area was gunned down at his home later Monday. Last week, a bomb ripped through Baghdad's Hurriya district near a neighborhood advisory council meeting where U.S. troops were stationed, killing 63 people and wounding 71 others. The U.S. military also blamed that attack on a Special Groups cell, but Stover couldn't say whether it was connected to Tuesday's blast. "Last week's event was an attempt to incite sectarian violence and hatred against the Iraqi Sunni population in an effort to keep them from returning to Hurriya," Stover said. Sadr City, the scene of Tuesday's deadly blast, is a stronghold of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and where some of the capital's most intense fighting in recent months has occurred between Shiite militia members and Iraqi security forces. A truce deal was reached last month between the Iraqi government and al-Sadr's followers, ending weeks of fighting and allowing the Iraqi army to enter Sadr City, but violence persists. Al-Sadr recently announced his intention to develop a new fighting force that would battle U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Many followers in al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia have heeded a long-standing cease-fire, but some rogue forces are thought to be involved in violence. "This was the fourth meeting of this district council, led by hard-working Iraqis determined to make a difference and set Sadr City off on the right path. Special Groups are afraid of progress and afraid of empowering the people," Lt. Col. John Digiambatista of the 4th Infantry Division said in a news release, referring to Tuesday's attack. Twenty-five U.S. troops have died in Iraq to date this month. There

Question: where was the blast

Question: Who was killed in the Mosul suicide bomb?

Question: How many americans died

Question: How many were killed in the bombing?

Question: Who was killed in Mosul?

Question: Who did the victim work for?

Answer: a municipal building in Baghdad's Sadr City,

Answer: two soldiers and two civilians from the Defense and State departments

Answer: Four

Answer: Four

Answer: two soldiers and two civilians from the Defense and State departments

Answer: U.S. Defense Department

Summary:
NEW: Another victim identified as Italian-Iraqi working for U.S. Defense Department .
NEW: Child and policeman killed, dozens wounded in Mosul suicide car bomb .
Four Americans and six Iraqis among 11 dead in blast in Baghdad's Sadr City .
U.S. military will transfer security responsibilities in Anbar province to Iraqi military .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- From a distance, it looks like an apparition: a huge multi-colored hot-air balloon floating in the Baghdad sky, bearing a large poster of Jesus Christ. Below it, an Iraqi flag. Santa and his helpers stand under palm trees at Baghdad's first public Christmas festival. Welcome to the first-ever public Christmas celebration in Baghdad, held Saturday and sponsored by the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Once thought to be infiltrated by death squads, the Ministry now is trying to root out sectarian violence -- as well as improve its P.R. image. The event takes place in a public park in eastern Baghdad, ringed with security checkpoints. Interior Ministry forces deployed on surrounding rooftops peer down at the scene: a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and tinsel; a red-costumed Santa Claus waving to the crowd, an Iraqi flag draped over his shoulders; a red-and-black-uniformed military band playing stirring martial music, not Christmas carols. On a large stage, children dressed in costumes representing Iraq's many ethnic and religious groups -- Kurds, Turkmen, Yazidis, Christians, Arab Muslims not defined as Sunni or Shiite -- hold their hands aloft and sing "We are building Iraq!" Two young boys, a mini-policeman and a mini-soldier sporting painted-on mustaches, march stiffly and salute.  Watch the celebration in Baghdad » Even before I can ask Interior Ministry spokesman Major-General Abdul Karim Khalaf a question, he greets me with a big smile. "All Iraqis are Christian today!" he says. Khalaf says sectarian and ethnic violence killed thousands of Iraqis. "Now that we have crossed that hurdle and destroyed the incubators of terrorism," he says, "and the security situation is good, we have to go back and strengthen community ties." In spite of his claim, the spokesman is surrounded by heavy security. Yet this celebration shows that the security situation in Baghdad is improving. Many of the people attending the Christmas celebration appear to be Muslims, with women wearing head scarves. Suad Mahmoud, holding her 16-month-old daughter, Sara, tells me she is indeed Muslim, but she's very happy to be here. "My mother's birthday also is this month, so we celebrate all occasions," she says, "especially in this lovely month of Christmas and New Year." Father Saad Sirop Hanna, a Chaldean Christian priest, is here too. He was kidnapped by militants in 2006 and held for 28 days. He knows firsthand how difficult the lot of Christians in Iraq is but, he tells me, "We are just attesting that things are changing in Baghdad, slowly, but we hope that this change actually is real. We will wait for the future to tell us the truth about this." He just returned from Rome. "I came back to Iraq because I believe that we can live here," he says. "I have so many [Muslim] friends and we are so happy they started to think about things from another point of view and we want to help them." The Christmas celebration has tables loaded with cookies and cakes. Families fill plates and chat in the warm winter sun. Santa balloons hang from trees. An artist uses oil paint to create a portrait of Jesus. In the middle of the park there's an art exhibit, the creation of 11- and 12-year-olds: six displays, each about three feet wide, constructed of cardboard and Styrofoam, filled with tiny dolls dressed like ordinary people, along with model soldiers and police. They look like model movie sets depicting everyday life in Baghdad. Afnan, 12 years old, shows me her model called "Arresting the Terrorists." "These are the terrorists," she tells me. "They were trying to blow up the school." In the middle of the street a dead "terrorist" sprawls on the asphalt, his bloody arm torn from his body by an explosion. Afnan tells me she used red nail polish to paint the blood.

Question: what art wAs shown?

Question: What did they decorate with?

Question: For what purpose was the celebration put on by the Interior Ministry?

Question: What did the priest say at the celebration?

Question: Where was the party held?

Answer: portrait of Jesus.

Answer: ornaments and tinsel;

Answer: trying to root out sectarian violence

Answer: "We are just attesting that things are changing in Baghdad, slowly, but we hope that this change actually is real. We will wait for the future to tell us the truth about this."

Answer: Baghdad,

Summary:
Iraq's first public Christmas party decorated with Jesus, Santa, Christmas tree .
Celebration put on by Interior Ministry to "strengthen community ties"
Kids' art projects show Baghdad scenes, including one with toy as dead "terrorist"
Christian priest at celebration says Baghdad changes give him hope .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Hundreds of gay men have been tortured and killed in Iraq in recent months, some by the nation's security forces, Human Rights Watch said Monday. Iraqi clerics say homosexuality must be eradicated but warn against anti-gay violence. Interviews with doctors indicate hundreds of men had been killed, but the exact number was unclear because of the stigma associated with homosexuality in Iraq, the New York-based watchdog group said in its report. "Iraq's leaders are supposed to defend all Iraqis, not abandon them to armed agents of hate," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Turning a blind eye to torture and murder threatens the rights and life of every Iraqi." Four victims who spoke to CNN gave accounts of the attacks, which they say have intensified in the past few months. "In 2004, militias and unknown groups started to go after the gays ... but the peak was six months ago," said Qaisar, who uses a pseudonym for fear of reprisal. "It has become wide scale war against gays in Iraq." Iraqi officials acknowledged that the nation's culture stigmatizes homosexuality, but said the government does not condone such attacks. Authorities are unable to provide homosexuals with special protection, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. According to Human Rights Watch, which is urging a government crackdown, attackers target people on the streets or storm homes, where they conduct interrogations and demand names of suspected gay men. Many end up in hospitals and morgues, the organization said, basing its conclusion on reports from doctors. Men have been threatened with "honor killings" by relatives worried that their "unmanly behavior" will ruin the family's reputation, Human Rights Watch said.  Watch Iraqi men discuss attacks » Killings, kidnappings and torture of those suspected of homosexual conduct have intensified in areas such as the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, the watchdog said. "The Shiite people started this war and especially what happened in Sadr City," Qaisar said, adding that his sister-in-law had warned him against going to the area. Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which is active in Sadr City, has joined in the attacks and defends its actions as a way to stop the "feminization" of Iraqi men, the report said. "We have testimony that indicates that the nation's security forces are taking part in the attacks," Long said. The group interviewed more than 50 people who gave accounts of abuses, beatings and stops at security checkpoints, he said. "When the gay killings started and when they started go(ing) after them at checkpoints ... we started to change our look," said Basim, who also used a pseudonym. "These killings point to the continuing and lethal failure of Iraq's post-occupation authorities to establish the rule of law and protect their citizens," said Rasha Moumneh, Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch. A provision from the Saddam Hussein era endorses crimes committed "with honorable motives," according to the organization. The government spokesman said the provision was popular during the Saddam era, but is not used today. He added that there is a push to educate police about human rights. Attacks against civilians, including homosexuals, are not allowed, al-Dabbagh said.

Question:
What are escalating?
Where is the attacks located?
Human Rights Watch says what?
What did the Iraq spokesman say?
What is escalating?

Answer: Killings, kidnappings and torture of those suspected of homosexual conduct have intensified

Answer: Iraq

Answer: Hundreds of gay men have been tortured and killed in Iraq

Answer: Authorities are unable to provide homosexuals with special protection,

Answer: Killings, kidnappings

Summary:
Human Rights Watch says people are targeted on the streets and interrogated .
Group: Killings, kidnappings and torture of suspected homosexuals are escalating .
Attacks against civilians, including homosexuals, not allowed, Iraq spokesman says .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Imams delivering their Friday sermons in Iraq are denouncing the shooting of a Quran, the holy book of Islam, by a U.S. soldier. Col. Ted Martin kisses a copy of the Quran before presenting it to tribal leaders Saturday. "If we were strongly united from the beginning, that silly-minded American soldier wouldn't have used the Quran as a target," said Sheikh Ahmed Abdul-Ghafour al-Samarie, delivering a sermon at Um al-Qura Sunni Mosque in Baghdad. The U.S. military and President Bush have apologized, but it did not stem the violent protests in Afghanistan and calls from both Sunni and Shiite Iraqis for the soldier to be severely punished. Muslims around the world were angered when it came to light last week that an American staff sergeant -- a sniper section leader -- had used a Quran for target practice in Iraq. Imams at mosques in the largely Sunni cities of Falluja and Mosul, and in Baghdad, condemned the act. The Baghdad mosque prayer was broadcast live on state TV. "This soldier put the head of his state in embarrassment that he had to apologize to the prime minister. We call upon this soldier to be punished. This act, we reject and we stand against it," al-Samarie said. He said if a similar incident happened again, "the world will turn upside down and things will not go back to how they were."  Watch residents of Baghdad protest » Sayyed Muhanned al-Mossawi, a Shiite imam at al-Hakma mosque, said: "We condemn and denounce the criminal act by the American soldier in Radhwaniya in tearing the Holy Quran and using it as a shooting target." Friday's prayer service is the most important Muslim event of the week. The U.S. commander in Baghdad issued a formal apology Saturday and read a letter of apology from the shooter.  Watch the U.S. military formally apologize » The sergeant has been relieved of duty as a section leader, officially reprimanded by his commanding general, dismissed from his regiment and reassigned to the United States, the U.S. military said. Iraq's most powerful Sunni Arab party, the Iraqi Islamic Party, has demanded the "severest of punishments" for the American soldier. CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq and Saad Abedine contributed to this report.

Question: what is quran?

Question: what did shiite imam say

Question: What did American staff sergeant use for target practice?

Question: What did the sergeant use as target?

Question: What did the Shiite imam say on Fridays sermon?

Question: What did sunni imam call the soldier?

Question: what did sunni imam say

Question: Which is the most significant prayer of the week?

Answer: the holy book of Islam,

Answer: "We condemn and denounce the criminal act by the American soldier in Radhwaniya in tearing the Holy Quran and using it as a shooting target."

Answer: Quran

Answer: Quran

Answer: "If we were strongly united from the beginning, that silly-minded American soldier wouldn't have used the Quran as a target,"

Answer: silly-minded

Answer: "We condemn and denounce the criminal act by the American soldier in Radhwaniya in tearing the Holy Quran and using it as a shooting target."

Answer: Friday's

Summary:
"We condemn and denounce the criminal act," Shiite imam says in Friday sermon .
Sunni imam calls soldier "silly-minded American" who embarrassed leader .
American staff sergeant had used a Quran for target practice in Iraq .
Friday prayers most significant event of the week for Muslims .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq awarded a lucrative oil contract to BP and China National Petroleum Corp., government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Wednesday, while rejecting other companies' offers for other oil fields. BP and China National Petroleum Corporation have won a lucrative oil contract in Iraq. The joint BP-CNPC bid was for the al-Rumeila oil field, one of the largest in the world. The energy companies are expected to increase production at the oil field by 50 percent, to 285,000 barrels a day, for a service charge of $2 for each additional barrel produced, al-Dabbagh said in a statement. The Iraqi government rejected bids for five other oil fields and a natural gas field because the bidders did not agree to the service charge set by the Ministry of Oil, he said. The Ministry of Oil rejected the idea that the failure to award more than one contract made the much-anticipated auction a flop. Iraq did not say how much the BP-CNPC bid was worth. It runs for 20 years. Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani chaired the government-sponsored auction for the oil and natural gas field contracts Tuesday, after a day's delay due to a sandstorm. Much of the auction was broadcast live on state television, which Ministry of Oil spokesman Assem Jihad told CNN was a sign of the transparency of the process. He said the government was satisfied with the auction, even though only one contract was awarded, because the contract was for Iraq's largest oil field. Iraq plans to open bidding this year on 10 more oil fields and one natural gas field, all of which are undeveloped, Jihad said. The companies whose bids were rejected Tuesday have been given time to review their offers, he said. Iraq has some of the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 115 billion barrels -- tying Iran for second place, behind Saudi Arabia's 264 billion barrels, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration in the United States. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Question: who made a joint bid for the giant oil field al-Rumeila?

Question: Who awarded the oil contract to BP?

Question: What country awarded the lucrative oil contract?

Question: who awards lucrative oil contracts Iraq?

Question: Energy companies expect to increase production at the field by what percent?

Question: As energy companies expected to increase production in the field?

Question: What oil field was the bid for?

Question: What did the energy companies expected?

Question: What was the BP-CNPC bid?

Question: Who was the BP-CNPC bid for?

Question: Which oil field was the bid for?

Question: Who has Iraq awarded the oil contract to?

Question: Which oil field was the joint bid for?

Question: Are energy companies expected to increase production?

Question: Who did Iraq award lucrative oil contracts to?

Question: What do energy companies expect to do?

Question: How much do energy companies expect production to increase by?

Question: Who did Iraq award the lucrative oil contract to?

Answer: BP-CNPC

Answer: Iraq

Answer: Iraq

Answer: The Iraqi government

Answer: 50

Answer: oil

Answer: al-Rumeila

Answer: to increase production at the oil field by 50 percent, to 285,000 barrels a day,

Answer: for the al-Rumeila oil field,

Answer: the al-Rumeila oil field, one of the largest in the world.

Answer: the al-Rumeila

Answer: BP and China National Petroleum Corp.,

Answer: al-Rumeila

Answer: are

Answer: BP and China National Petroleum Corp.,

Answer: increase production at the oil field by 50 percent,

Answer: 50 percent,

Answer: BP and China National Petroleum Corporation

Summary:
Iraq awards lucrative oil contract to BP, China National Petroleum Corporation .
The joint BP-CNPC bid was for the giant al-Rumeila oil field .
Energy companies expected to increase production at the field by 50 percent .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq will not grant an operating license to security firm Blackwater Worldwide, an Interior Ministry official said Thursday. Heavily armed Blackwater guards scan downtown Baghdad, Iraq, from a helicopter in 2003. Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf said the ministry denied the request mainly because of a September 2007 shooting incident in which security guards employed by Blackwater fired on a crowd and killed 17 Iraqis, according to the government. A U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad, who asked not to be named, confirmed the report. "We have been informed that Blackwater's ... operating license will not be granted," the official said. "We don't have specifics about dates. We are working with the government of Iraq and our contractors to address the implications of this decision." Blackwater has one of the biggest security contracts in Iraq. The U.S. State Department, which contracted the company to protect American diplomats and other employees, is also "looking at the implications" of the decision, said Robert Wood, the department's acting spokesman. Wood didn't say what specific plans the State Department has to protect its employees, but he told reporters that State will encourage contractors to abide by Iraqi law, as required under the recently approved U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, and will make sure its personnel are protected. "We're formulating how to go forward," he said.  Watch report on Iraq's refusal to grant license to Blackwater » Wood refused to say whether two other security companies working in Iraq, Triple Canopy and Dyncorp, would take over security operations, but did say those options were being considered. Earlier this month, five former Blackwater security guards pleaded not guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and other serious crimes stemming from their involvement in the September 16, 2007, shootings in a Baghdad square. A sixth former security guard has pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter. Blackwater says its employees were returning fire after they were attacked by armed insurgents, but an Iraqi investigation concluded that the guards randomly fired at civilians without provocation. The company does not face any charges. But the Baghdad incident exacerbated the feelings of many Iraqis that private American security contractors have operated since 2003 with little regard for Iraqi law or life. The indictment of the five men represents the first prosecution of non-Defense Department contractors under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act (MEJA). The act was amended in 2004 to allow the Justice Department to prosecute such personnel providing services "in support of the mission of the Department of Defense overseas." A security agreement approved in December 2008 specifies U.S. civilian contractors will no longer be immune from Iraqi prosecution for crimes committed in Iraq. Iraq has required the licensing of private security companies since 2004, but the provision was not strictly enforced. Last year, the State Department renewed Blackwater's contract over strong objections from the Iraqi government. Starting January 1, the Iraqi government has mandated that all contractors obtain licenses to operate. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

Question:
What were they operating in Iraq
What did they plead?
What did the State Department do?
What was the incident

Answer: security companies

Answer: pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and attempted manslaughter.

Answer: which contracted the company to protect American diplomats

Answer: September 2007 shooting

Summary:
NEW: State Department looking at options for protection of diplomats .
American security contractor loses right to operate in Iraq .
2007 shooting of 17 civilians led to decision, Interior Ministry spokesman says .
Five ex-Blackwater guards have pleaded not guilty to charges related to incident .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's deputy minister of transport has been arrested after investigators taped him taking a $100,000 bribe, the Iraqi Integrity Commission said Monday. It's the latest sting aimed at what many Iraqis say is rampant corruption in the country. The anti-corruption body said Monday this was the first time such a high-level Iraqi official was caught in the act of taking a bribe. The announcement, made on the commission's Web site, said investigators detained Deputy Minister Adnan al-Obaidi last Wednesday. A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport, Aqeel Kawthar, told CNN on Monday that the deputy minister took office August 10, and his arrest came as a surprise to the ministry. He said there were no indications that al-Obaidi might be corrupt before this incident, but he said the Ministry of Transport "supports and congratulates" the Integrity Commission's work. A foreign security firm had approached the Integrity Commission alleging that al-Obaidi had asked for a bribe of $500,000 to renew the firm's contract, the commission said. "The deputy minister was supposed to receive the full amount first, but the scenario was changed into him receiving $100,000 [in U.S. dollars] as a down payment, and the rest of the money would be delivered after the renewal of the contract," according to the commission's account. "Orders were issued to security forces to deploy undercover in Karrada district" in central Baghdad.  Watch more about Iraq's war against corruption » The statement said the security forces did not know who the target was and their orders were in coordination with the Integrity Commission's operations room. The commission said that five minutes before the arrest, the head of the commission, Judge Rahim al-Agili, informed Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that a high-ranking government official had taken a bribe. The commission said al-Maliki responded by saying: "I do not want to know his name, carry out the operation even if the wanted individual is Nuri al-Maliki. ... Whether he is from the Dawa party, a Sadrist, or a member of ISCI [all Shiite political parties, including that of the prime minister], he is only known to me as a bribe taker ... " The Integrity Commission said the sting was caught on videotape, which it said would be posted soon on its Web site. "The arrest of of the deputy minister of transport was a professional operation with no political dimensions to it, and we have not heard any political or parliamentary bloc objecting to it ... " the commission's account said. "The operation was carried out within 56 hours of continuous, nonstop, work. The head of the secret informant department and the men of the special operations branch [of the Integrity Commission] played a major role ... and the commission dedicated all its advanced capabilities to document and follow this." According to the monitoring group Transparency International, Iraq is one of the top three most corrupt countries in the world, along with Somalia and Myanmar. A recent report from the group said almost half the people it surveyed in Iraq had paid a bribe in the previous year. When CNN talked to people coming and going from Iraq's Interior Ministry, complaints were frequent. "The employee inside said he will only finish my ID for an extra $40," one man said. Another said, "You can't even talk to the janitor in a government office unless you're paying a bribe." Judge al-Agili told CNN his office is kept busiest by the Interior Ministry, but it is investigating 8,000 allegations of corruption against people through all departments and all levels of government. Al-Agili said he believes corruption is part of Iraq's culture, stretching back long before Saddam Hussein's regime. But he said he believes it can be beaten slowly, and that's why he set up the undercover special operations unit to carry out sting operations. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh and Phil Black contributed to this report.

Question: who calls for arrest?

Question: Who took the bribe?

Question: what says iraqis?

Question: What say Iraqis about corruption in the country?

Question: How much money did the transport official take?

Question: Is there rampant corruption in the country?

Answer: The head of the secret informant department and the men of the special operations branch [of the Integrity Commission] played a major role

Answer: Iraq's deputy minister of transport

Answer: is rampant corruption in the country.

Answer: rampant

Answer: $100,000

Answer: many Iraqis say is

Summary:
Integrity Commission says videotape shows Transport official taking $100,000 bribe .
Sting is latest aimed at what many Iraqis say is rampant corruption in the country .
Transport spokesman calls arrest a surprise, congratulates integrity panel's work .
Integrity panel chief says Iraqi prime minister strongly backed operation .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's government has authorized Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to submit to Washington amendments to a draft security agreement with the United States, an Iraqi government spokesman said Tuesday. Students protest the status-of-forces agreement Tuesday at Baghdad's Mustansiriya University. Ali al-Dabbagh said the Iraqi government approved several amendments that were "necessary, essential and appropriate" to the draft status-of-forces agreement, which would set the terms for U.S. troops in Iraq after the United Nations mandate on their presence expires at the end of this year. "The Iraqi government authorizes the prime minister to bring up these amendments to the U.S. side in order to reach a draft agreement that will preserve the fundamental principles and the sovereignty of Iraq and its high interests," al-Dabbagh said. It is unclear when al-Maliki will submit the changes to the draft document. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates recently said that there was "great reluctance" to make any more changes to the agreement. However, senior U.S. officials -- speaking under the condition of anonymity -- are not ruling out possibly renegotiating parts of the deal with Iraq if the country's parliament does not approve it. The most vocal opponent of the draft security deal in Iraq has been the political party of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which opposes any U.S. military presence in Iraq. U.S. military helicopters Tuesday flew over Baghdad's Mustansiriya University, where hundreds of students took part in a demonstration organized by the Sadr movement against the status-of-forces deal. "We are against this agreement between the Iraqi government and between the American government because it is against Iraqi sovereignty," said law student Ahmed Fadhil Abbas, one of the demonstrators. Fellow demonstrator and law student Hisham Mohammed said the students plan to organize a sit-in and a strike across universities in Iraq to protest the agreement. The draft status-of-forces agreement, according to a copy obtained by CNN, calls for U.S. combat troops to be out of Iraqi cities and villages by July 30, 2009, and out of the country entirely by December 31, 2011. The agreement allows for an earlier withdrawal or an extension of the U.S. forces' stay in Iraq, by agreement of both parties. It also allows the Iraqi government to ask "the United States government to leave certain forces for training and for support purposes for the Iraqi forces." Legal jurisdiction over U.S. forces in Iraq has been a sticking point in the negotiation, with the U.S. side preferring that its troops and contractors remain immune from Iraqi law. Baghdad had sought the power to arrest and try Americans accused of crimes not related to official military operations, plus jurisdiction over troops and contractors who commit major crimes in the course of their duties. Under the draft agreement, U.S. forces or contractors who commit "major and premeditated murders" while off duty and outside U.S. facilities would fall under Iraqi jurisdiction, according to the copy obtained by CNN. All other crimes -- and murders committed inside U.S. facilities or by on-duty forces -- would fall under American jurisdiction, the agreement says.

Question: Which pact would set terms for U.S. troops in Iraq after U.N. mandate ends?

Question: what are the changes

Question: What did the official call the changed to the draft agreement?

Question: The pact would set terms for what?

Question: Despite "great reluctance" to change pact, what hasn't the U.S ruled out?

Question: Where did students protest on Tuesday?

Answer: draft status-of-forces agreement,

Answer: calls for U.S. combat troops to be out of Iraqi cities and villages by July 30, 2009, and out of the country entirely by December 31, 2011.

Answer: "necessary, essential and appropriate"

Answer: U.S. troops in Iraq

Answer: possibly renegotiating parts of the deal with Iraq if the country's parliament does not approve it.

Answer: at Baghdad's Mustansiriya University.

Summary:
Official calls changes "necessary, essential and appropriate" to the draft agreement .
Status-of-forces pact would set terms for U.S. troops in Iraq after U.N. mandate ends .
U.S. has shown "great reluctance" to change pact but hasn't ruled out renegotiations .
Hundreds of students protest status-of-forces deal Tuesday at university in Baghdad .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's main political parties Sunday reached a deal designed to allow non-U.S. foreign troops to stay in the country past the end of the year, when a United Nations resolution authorizing their presence expires. Iraqi and British soldiers during an Iraqi army training session in Basra last week. The deal would set a deadline of July 31, 2009, for all non-U.S. foreign troops to withdraw, according to Abdul Hadi al-Hassani, a lawmaker with the main Shiite parliamentary bloc, who spoke to Iraqi state television on Sunday. The agreement awaits approval by Iraq's Parliament, which is expected to vote on the measure on Monday, several Iraqi lawmakers said. The emergency negotiations came after lawmakers Saturday rejected a similar proposal that would have been law. Sunday's proposal, by contrast, was drafted as a resolution that would empower the Cabinet to authorize international troop presence without requiring Parliament to pass a law. Washington and Baghdad have already worked out a separate agreement that will keep U.S. troops in Iraq but tighten restrictions on them. Countries other than the United States that have troops in Iraq could be left with no legal cover for their presence there if Baghdad does not act swiftly. Iraq's Cabinet had approved a draft law authorizing non-U.S. foreign troops Tuesday, the first step in passing legislation, but it fell at the next hurdle -- Parliament. That left lawmakers scrambling Sunday for a way to give foreign troops legal cover quickly. Lawmakers expect Sunday's agreement to cut through the problem, because a resolution can be passed in a single day, while it takes at least a week to pass a law. British government lawyers, meanwhile, are studying "all possible options" to legally extend the presence of British troops in Iraq beyond New Year's Day in case Iraq's Parliament rejects the new compromise. Britain has the second-largest contingent of foreign troops in Iraq -- about 4,100 -- after the United States, which has about 142,500. All other countries combined have only several hundred troops in the country. Britain and Iraq announced last week that British troops would begin leaving Iraq in May 2009, while a "handful" of British military personnel would remain after that date to continue naval training for Iraqi sailors, primarily to protect oil platforms. The United States reached a security agreement with Iraq in November. That deal, which was ratified by the Iraqi Parliament, calls for American troops to leave Iraqi cities by June 2009, and to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. Beginning New Year's Day, U.S. commanders will have to get prior Iraqi government approval for any operations. American military personnel who commit crimes while not on duty or who commit grave crimes while on duty would be subject to Iraqi legal jurisdiction under the new agreement. The U.S. security agreement does not govern the presence of troops from other coalition countries. The Parliament's rejection of the Cabinet's proposed law allowing foreign forces to remain in Iraq after January 1 came after heated arguments that lasted for days. The session became so contentious that Parliament's speaker threatened to resign, lawmakers said. Some political blocs, notably the Sadrists, oppose any extension of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq. That group, headed by Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr -- an anti-Western cleric -- is demanding an immediate withdrawal of foreign forces. CNN's Jill Dougherty and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.

Question: What would the deadline be for withdrawal?

Question: who will examine options?

Question: What would deal permit?

Question: Who opposed the extension?

Question: who  would permit non-U.S. troops to stay?

Question: who will oppose any extension of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq?

Question: What is Iraqi parliament's deal?

Answer: July 31, 2009,

Answer: British government lawyers,

Answer: foreign troops to stay in the country past the end of the year,

Answer: Sadrists,

Answer: Iraq's main political parties

Answer: Some political blocs, notably the Sadrists,

Answer: allow non-U.S.

Summary:
NEW: Deal would permit non-U.S. troops to stay into 2009 .
NEW: Agreement would set July 31 withdrawal deadline for those troops .
U.K. examining options in case Iraqi Parliament doesn't OK deal .
Sadrists oppose any extension of the presence of foreign troops in Iraq .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's most powerful Sunni Arab political party on Monday said a U.S. soldier's desecration of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, requires the "severest of punishments," not just an apology and a military reassignment. Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond apologizes after a U.S. soldier admitted using the Quran for target practice. The Iraqi Islamic Party, the movement of Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, condemned what it said was a "blatant assault on the sanctities of Muslims all over the world." An American staff sergeant who was a sniper section leader used a Quran for target practice on May 9. The U.S. commander in Baghdad on Saturday issued a formal apology and read a letter of apology from the shooter. The sergeant has been relieved of duty as a section leader "with prejudice," officially reprimanded by his commanding general, dismissed from his regiment and redeployed -- reassigned to the United States. But the Iraqi Islamic Party -- which said it reacted to the news "with deep resentment and indignation" -- wants the "severest of punishments" for the action. "What truly concerns us is the repetition of these crimes that have happened in the past when mosques were destroyed and pages of the Holy Quran were torn and used for disgraceful acts by U.S. soldiers," al-Hashimi said. "I have asked that first this apology be officially documented; second a guarantee from the U.S. military to inflict the maximum possible punishment on this soldier so it would be a deterrent for the rest of the soldiers in the future." A tribal leader said "the criminal act by U.S. forces" took place at a shooting range at the Radhwaniya police station on Baghdad's western outskirts. After the shooters left, an Iraqi policeman found a target marked in the middle of the bullet-riddled Quran.  Read how the soldier could have provoked a crisis Copies of the pictures of the Quran obtained by CNN show multiple bullet holes and an expletive scrawled on one of its pages. On Saturday, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, appeared at an apology ceremony flanked by leaders from Radhwaniya.  Watch as the U.S. formally apologizes » "I come before you here seeking your forgiveness," Hammond said to tribal leaders and others gathered. "In the most humble manner, I look in your eyes today, and I say please forgive me and my soldiers." Another military official kissed a Quran and presented it as "a humble gift" to the tribal leaders. Hammond also read from the shooter's letter: "I sincerely hope that my actions have not diminished the partnership that our two nations have developed together. ... My actions were shortsighted, very reckless and irresponsible, but in my heart [the actions] were not malicious." Hammond said, "The actions of one soldier were nothing more than criminal behavior. I've come to this land to protect you, to support you -- not to harm you -- and the behavior of this soldier was nothing short of wrong and unacceptable." The soldier reportedly claimed he wasn't aware the book was the Quran, but U.S. officials rejected his assertion. Tribal leaders, dignitaries and local security officials attended the ceremony, while residents carried banners and chanted slogans, including, "Yes, yes to the Quran" and "America out, out."  Watch as villagers protest the Quran incident » Sheikh Hamadi al-Qirtani, in a speech on behalf of all tribal sheikhs of Radhwaniya, called the shooting "aggression against the entire Islamic world." The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq also condemned the shooter's actions and the U.S. military's belated acknowledgment of what happened. "As the Association of Muslim Scholars condemns this heinous crime against God's holy book, the constitution of this nation, a source of pride and dignity," the group's statement said, "they condemned the silence by all those who are part of the occupation's agenda and holds the occupation and the current government fully responsible for this violation and reminds everyone

Question: Who used Quran for target practice?

Question: Soldier relieved of duty will be reassigned after what?

Question: Who was relieved of duty?

Question: Where did U.S. commander issue a formal apology?

Question: Who used it for target practice?

Question: What did the U.S. commander issue?

Question: What was called a blatant assault?

Question: What did the Iraqi Islamic Party call the Quran incident?

Question: U.S. soldier used Quran for what?

Answer: An American staff sergeant

Answer: desecration of the Quran,

Answer: The sergeant

Answer: Baghdad

Answer: a U.S. soldier

Answer: formal apology and read a letter of apology from the shooter.

Answer: desecration of the Quran,

Answer: "blatant assault on the sanctities of Muslims all over the world."

Answer: target practice.

Summary:
Iraqi Islamic Party calls Quran incident "blatant assault" on Muslim holy book .
U.S. soldier used Quran for target practice, military investigation found .
U.S. commander in Baghdad has issued formal apology .
Soldier relieved of duty, will be reassigned after sending letter of apology .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's oil minister Monday opened international bidding on six oil fields that could increase the country's oil production by 1.5 million barrels per day.

Iraqi flags flutter during the opening ceremony of a new oil refinery plant in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

But the oil ministry continues to negotiate short-term no-bid contracts with several U.S. and European oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell, Total SA, Chevron Corp., and BP -- a step recently criticized by two U.S. lawmakers.

Oil Minister Hussein Shahrastani announced Monday that 35 international oil companies can bid on long-term contracts for redeveloping the six oil fields, as well as two natural gas fields.

"It is a unique event and a significant feature in the new Iraq that we declare the first bidding course for developing the Iraq oil fields publicly and fully in a transparent way," the minister said at Monday's news conference.

It marks the first time in more than 35 years that Iraq has allowed foreign oil companies to do business inside its borders.

Shahrastani said the fee-based contracts will not give the winning companies a share in the revenue from oil sales "because this wealth belong to Iraq only and thus we will not allow anyone to share the Iraqis' oil."

Iraq has among the largest oil reserves in the world, with an estimated 115 billion barrels -- tying Iran for the No. 2 status behind Saudi Arabia's 264 billion barrels, according to estimates from the Energy Information Administration.

Iraq's current oil production is 2.25 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. That is close to its status before the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, but below its levels prior to the first Persian Gulf War in 1991.

The six oil fields that will be open to development are in the Kirkuk oil fields and the neighboring Bai Hassan fields in northern Iraq, Shahrastani said. They are al-Rumeila, al-Zubair, al-Qurna West, and three fields in the Maysan oil fields -- Bazirqan, Abu Gharab and Fakah.

The two gas fields are Akas and Mansouriya gas fields in western Iraq.

The fields have already been explored and are producing oil and gas, but the equipment is old and outdated, Shahrastani said. He hopes that the new infrastructure provided by the international oil companies will mean "the production can be increased in less cost and less time."

Iraq's oil minister said the ministry will invite the 35 qualified international companies --- which includes BP, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron -- to prepare their bids over the next two weeks. The contracts could go into effect by next year, but Shahrastani said it will take several more years before oil production is increased.

"We hope in 2013 through this first bidding course to increase production in these fields by 1.5 million barrels per day, in addition to our daily average production rate during the last five years," he said.

Meanwhile, Iraq hopes to wrap up its talks regarding short-term, no-bid contracts that would allow the U.S. and European oil companies -- including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Total SA, Chevron, and BP -- to service those oil fields as soon as possible.

Last week, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, sent a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressing concerns about the no-bid contracts that the government of Iraq is negotiating with the U.S. and European companies.

The senators, who released the letter, said they are worried that unfair distribution of oil revenue could inflame the violence between the warring religious and political groups of Iraq.

"We urge you to persuade the (government of Iraq) to refrain from signing contracts with multinational oil companies until a hydrocarbon law is in effect in Iraq," read the letter from Schumer and Kerry.

"At this time, the (government of Iraq) currently does not have in place a revenue-sharing law that could fairly allocate any revenue gained from

Question: What an Iraqi minister said?

Question: New contracts would raise Iraq's production by how much?

Question: How many  companies qualified to bid on service contracts for oil fields?

Answer: 35 international oil companies can bid on long-term contracts

Answer: 1.5 million barrels per day.

Answer: 35

Summary:
Iraqi oil minister: 35 companies qualified to bid on service contracts for oil fields .
New contracts would raise Iraq's production by 1.5 million barrels per day .
Reduction in violence has boosted production to highest level since 2003 .
Reports: 5 companies close to signing short-term oil service contracts no-bid basis .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Security Forces captured 66 people believed to be connected to al Qaeda in Iraq terror cells, the U.S. military said Thursday. Members of the Iraqi Security Forces are working in Iraq to capture terrorists and insurgents. The suspects were captured during separate operations in northern Iraq this week, according to a military news release. The suspects included 45 men from al Qaeda in Iraq and 21 suspected terrorists from an umbrella group of al Qaeda in Iraq known as The Islamic State of Iraq, the statement said. The suspects are believed to be part of terror cells responsible for bombings, torturing of civilians, conducting attacks and warning insurgents about upcoming Iraqi and U.S. military operations, the military said. One of the suspects is believed to have conducted more than 12 attacks since July. "These operations show the ability of Iraqi Security Forces to repeatedly capture criminals who undermine the security of Iraq," said Lt. Col. Neil Harper, a U.S. military spokesman.

Question: What are suspects blamed for?

Question: What is one of the suspects believed to have done?

Question: how many attacks have been done since July?

Question: How many attacks is one of the suspects believed to have conducted?

Question: Who do the suspects include?

Answer: bombings, torturing of civilians, conducting attacks and warning insurgents about upcoming Iraqi and U.S. military operations,

Answer: conducted more than 12 attacks since July.

Answer: 12

Answer: 12

Answer: 45 men from al Qaeda in Iraq and 21 suspected terrorists from an umbrella group of al Qaeda in Iraq known as The Islamic State of Iraq,

Summary:
Suspects blamed for bombings, civilian torture, warning insurgents about operations .
Suspects include 45 men from al Qaeda in Iraq, 21 from the Islamic State of Iraq .
One of the suspects is believed to have conducted more than 12 attacks since July .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi representatives will meet with the International Olympic Committee on Monday to try to reach an agreement that would allow now-banned Iraq to participate in next month's games, an official said Friday. Iraq fans cheer during an Olympic qualifying soccer match against Australia in November. Jassim M. Jaffer, Iraq's minister of youth and sports, told CNN he is "optimistic that we will participate." Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh and the ministry's adviser, Basil Abdul Mahdi, are on their way to Lausanne, Switzerland, to meet with IOC officials, Jaffer said. The IOC barred Iraq from participating in the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing, China, citing what it said was government interference with Iraq's Olympic movement. The IOC's charter does not allow political interference. The ban stems from the Iraqi government decision in May to suspend the country's existing Olympic committee and form a new entity.  Watch an official explain the decision » But even as government representatives traveled to Switzerland, Jaffer said Iraq was considering legal action against the IOC. "We will revert to international courts with a complaint against the IOC ... to get Iraq's rights and the rights of the athletes," Jaffer said. On Friday, another Iraqi government official said the country was doing what it could to reverse the ban, but acknowledged that "chances are slim" for a change. Basam Ridha al-Husseini, an adviser to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, told CNN the government has been in "heavy negotiations" with IOC officials through the Asian Olympic Committee. "The Iraqi government will not give up on our participation, which is still needed by our people," he said in a phone interview from Dubai. "We are doing our best to stop the ban. ... The chances of that are slim, but we will persevere and hope it will happen." Repeated attempts by CNN to reach the IOC press office in Switzerland for comment were unsuccessful. But on Thursday, IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the IOC in June suspended Iraq's national Olympic committee after the government removed elected officials and put in people not recognized by the IOC. She said the IOC had proposed to the Iraqi government that officials come to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, "to discuss possible solutions." "We're extremely disappointed with the situation," Moreau said. "The athletes have been ill-served by the government in Iraq." Iraq missed a Wednesday deadline for the entry of athletes to compete in archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting, Moreau said. She said there is a chance that track and field athletes could compete if the original committee is reinstated. The deadline for the track team to register is at the end of the month. Jaffer, Iraq's sports minister, told CNN on Friday that the IOC's decision was "unjust" because it did not take into consideration the Iraqi government's reasons for the May suspension. The minister called on the IOC to come to Iraq and talk to the sports federation to investigate the political interference accusations, and then act accordingly. "Looking at this from far away, without going into the details, not reading the Iraqi government's reports, not hearing Iraq's side of the story and accusing Iraq of many things is really unfortunate," he said. Several Iraqi athletes were to travel to China for the games' start in August. Iraqi sprinter Dana Hussain cried for hours after hearing the news of the ban on Thursday, which arrived in the form of a letter to Iraqi officials. "She hasn't stopped. It's like finding out that a close relative has died," said her coach, Yousif Abdul Rahman. Abdul Rahman attempted to console Hussain by assuring her that she could compete in the 2012 Olympics.  Watch Hussain react to the news » "In this horrible situation," she said, "who can say I'll even be alive in 2012?" Al-Husseini said Iraq had the right as a sovereign

Question: What was the reason IOC ban Iraqi athletes?

Question: Who is banned from the summer games?

Question: Where are the officials going?

Question: Who said Iraq was banned from the summer games?

Question: Where are Iraqi officials going to?

Question: Who said they are optimistic?

Question: Where are Iraqi officials going?

Question: When do the summer games start?

Answer: government interference with Iraq's Olympic movement.

Answer: Iraq

Answer: Lausanne, Switzerland,

Answer: IOC

Answer: Lausanne, Switzerland,

Answer: Jassim M. Jaffer,

Answer: to Lausanne, Switzerland, to meet with IOC

Answer: August.

Summary:
Iraqi officials head to Switzerland to make case to International Olympic Committee .
IOC said Thursday Iraq was banned from summer games, which start next month .
IOC charged political interference, cited Iraq's suspension of its Olympic committee .
Iraqi official says he's "optimistic" Iraq will be allowed to take part in games .


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi soldiers have found a mass grave of mutilated bodies in a restive region north of Baghdad, a local security official told CNN Thursday.

Mourners with the coffin of a relative killed by a triple car bombing Wednesday in the city of Amara.

Elsewhere an Iraqi was killed and five people were wounded Thursday when a car bomb detonated near the Italian Embassy in northern Baghdad's Adhamiya neighborhood, an Interior Ministry official said.

And 11 people were detained in coalition raids targeting al Qaeda in Iraq and those who help foreign insurgents, the U.S. military said.

Iraqi soldiers said 12 of the bodies found north of Baghdad were beheaded and four others were mutilated. The corpses, all male, were discovered Wednesday near Muqdadiya in Diyala province north of the capital, the official, from Diyala province, said on Thursday.

He said police believe al Qaeda in Iraq left behind the mass grave.

Diyala province -- which stretches north and east of the capital and borders Iran -- has been a major scene of fighting during the U.S. and Iraqi troop escalations this year. It is one of the Baghdad "belts" with a strong insurgent presence that have been targeted by coalition and Iraqi forces over the year.

It is not the first mass grave found in and near Baghdad this autumn.

Others include a mass grave of 17 Iraqi civilians believed kidnapped at fake police checkpoints, found under a house used by insurgents near Baquba, Diyala's provincial capital -- an area where al Qaeda in Iraq has had a strong presence.

The decomposed bodies of 16 Iraqi civilians believed killed by al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists were found in early December in a shelter in central Baghdad's Fadl neighborhood.

And U.S. and Iraqi troops found 22 corpses buried in the region around Iraq's Lake Tharthar, northwest of Baghdad, in both Anbar and Salaheddin provinces.

Meanwhile the Italian Embassy confirmed the bombing in northern Baghdad's Adhamiya neighborhood which killed one person but had no further details about the incident. Three police were among the wounded when the parked car blew up, the official said.

A predominantly Sunni neighborhood, Adhamiya is one of the areas in Baghdad where an "awakening" movement has been created to maintain security. The awakening movement is the name for the anti-al-Qaeda in Iraq Sunni groups that have emerged in Iraq over the year.

The detention of the 11 people in coalition raids targeting netted, the U.S. military said, an al Qaeda in Iraq leader north of Hawija, believed to be responsible for facilitating finances and logistics for the terrorist network in the area". Five others were detained.

A "wanted individual" and three others were detained in Mosul and another person was seized in Samarra.

"Foreign terrorists who come to Iraq to support al Qaeda will find no safe haven from which they can operate," said Cmdr. Scott Rye, a Multi-National Forces-Iraq spokesman. "While they struggle to rebuild their networks, we will continue to dismantle them." E-mail to a friend

Question: How many people were wounded?

Question: Where was the mass grave found?

Question: Number of people detained by coalition raids?

Question: How many were wounded by the car bomb?

Question: Who mutilated remains of at least 16 men?

Question: Who was detained in a countrywide raid?

Question: Number of people killd by the car bomb?

Question: How many were detained?

Question: Who was killed in northern Baghdad?

Answer: five

Answer: restive region

Answer: 11

Answer: five people

Answer: al Qaeda

Answer: 11 people

Answer: an Iraqi

Answer: 11 people

Answer: Iraqi civilians

Summary:
Mass grave found north of Baghdad, includes mutilated remains of at least 16 men .
One Iraqi killed and five people wounded by a car bomb in northern Baghdad .
Eleven people detained in countrywide coalition raids targeting al Qaeda in Iraq .