Former PM, who supported Egyptian military's overthrow of democratically elected government, to urge west to take sides Tony Blair will warn the west it needs to take sides in the Middle East and move the battle against Islamist extremism to the top of the political agenda. In a speech to Bloomberg in London on Wednesday, the former Labour prime minister will say: "The important point for western...
The legacy of our foreign military adventures doesn't vanish when we lose interest in it which is why having journalists ask tough questions is vital The Australian government recently successfully blocked the release of sensitive documents that would have revealed the complicity of Indonesian forces in massive abuses during their occupation of East Timor . Canberra directed the National Archives...
Even al-Qaida has finally come to realise that you need a celebrity to get your message across To Syria, and an exciting development in jihadist PR. For far too long, fighter recruitment videos have felt stuck in some idealised past, where you didn't need a celebrity angle to get your message across. But at last, al-Qaida and its affiliates seem to have accepted the reality: that their only real star...
The Impunity Index 2014 published by the Committee to Protect Journalists has named Iraq as the 'worst offender' and included Syria for the first time. See the full list of countries where journalists' murders are most likely to go unpunished Syria has joined a list - compiled by the Committee to Protect Journalists - of countries where journalists murders are most likely to go unpunished. The 2014...
Violations, including mock executions, took place during battle in which 20 Iraqis were killed, public inquiry into incident is told British soldiers committed "gross violations of the Geneva conventions", including mock executions, during a fierce battle in which 20 Iraqis were killed and nine others seriously mistreated after they were captured, a public inquiry into the incident has been...
The targeted murders of journalists in Syria means that the war-torn country has entered the annual "impunity index" produced by the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ). Syria joins Iraq, Somalia, the Philippines, and others on the list of countries where journalists are murdered regularly and their killers go free. There was some (slight) good news. Four countries on the index the Philippines,...
MoD lawyers accuse Iraqi complainants of 'criminal conspiracy' motivated by attempt to extract compensation Iraqis who accused British soldiers of murder and torture after a fierce battle are guilty of a "criminal conspiracy" to pervert the course of justice and repeatedly lied under oath to a public inquiry, the Ministry of Defence has said. The serious charge was made during bitter and...
The Chilcot inquiry's conclusions should and could be published soon but there are still some political obstacles to overcome Who wants to see the Iraq inquiry report published sometime soon? And who doesn't? This week the Independent reported that the fraught process of getting the government to declassify documents that will support the report's findings is still "stalled". That might see...
Lawyers for families of dead Iraqis, soldiers and MoD to make final statements in hearings that have taken over a year Lawyers for Iraqi families, British soldiers and the Ministry of Defence will make their case for the final time on Wednesday after more than a year of public hearings about a fierce battle that took place in Iraq a decade ago. Closing submissions are due to take place before Sir Thayne...
Justice ministry announces 'precautionary' closure of prison which became notorious torture centre under Saddam Hussain Iraq has closed the Abu Ghraib jail made infamous by Saddam Hussein's regime and later US forces after a mass breakout last year , the justice ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. Iraq is suffering a protracted surge in violence that has claimed more than 2,550 lives so far this...
Fear of extremism is the dominant theme as Nouri al-Maliki seeks third term and violence rages close to the capital The last time Iraq went to the polls, in 2010, US forces were in town and insurgents hovered around the edges. Now, the foreign troops are gone, but extremism has returned to overshadow a democratic watershed in a divided country. Banners pledging unity rise above traffic-snarled Baghdad...
Zoe Williams's touching plea to reconfigure the legacy of the former PM ( We need to talk about the legacy of Tony Blair , 9 April) only serves to reinforce the widely held view that even the "liberal" media is incapable of offering the radical analysis of our current woeful condition that the times demand. It was Blair's first lieutenant Peter Mandelson who offered the view he was "intensely...
The Guardian's Sean Smith witnessed one of the defining moments of the Iraq war when a statue of Saddam Hussein was upended by US forces on 9 April 2003. Smith, who had been in Baghdad for five months, recalls that "a small crowd of Iraqis gathered round the statue and began attacking it in front of the gathered international press, who were returning to their hotel opposite the statue, when a group...
From Northern Ireland to the NHS, Blair left a real progressive blueprint. But the left has allowed it to be obliterated by Iraq The 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide disinterred some terrible acts, by warlords and technocrats, and also raised the spectre of Tony Blair, normally so quiet that when you hear a rumour that he's moved to Jerusalem, it sounds atmospherically true, even while being...
Tony Blair defends the invasion of Iraq on the grounds that without it "you would have had the so-called Arab spring come to Iraq" ( Syria crisis: failure to intervene will have terrible consequences, says Blair , 7 April). Clearly there could be nothing worse than the people of Iraq rebelling against their leaders and deciding their own future. Given that this interview comes on the same...
Watching the new Errol Morris documentary about my old boss, Donald Rumsfeld, is a little like working for him: you feel nothing I remember Rummy. I remember him well. All those press conferences prior to the Iraq invasion, prior to me enlisting in the Army. All those press conference after I returned from my combat deployment in Iraq as a soldier in the Infantry. As you know, ah, you go to war with...
GSK looking into claims that it hired 16 Iraqi government doctors and pharmacists to improperly boost its sales Britain's biggest drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, has been rocked by fresh bribery and corruption allegations after admitting that it was investigating its business in Iraq. The move comes months after the company promised to crackdown on illegal practices in the wake of another emerging markets...
Former PM defends Iraq invasion and says failure to confront Assad regime would have ramifications far beyond region The world will face terrible consequences over many years to come for failing to intervene in Syria, Tony Blair has said. The former prime minister, who serves as the envoy for the Middle East quartet of the UN, US, EU and Russia, said the failure to confront President Bashar al-Assad...
Embassy cautions American citizens against travelling through Iraqi capital's airport on Tuesday due to 'specific threat' The US embassy in Iraq has cautioned American citizens against travelling through Baghdad airport on Tuesday due to a "specific threat" to security. The statement said embassy personnel were prohibited from using Baghdad international airport "at this time",...
In this week's gallery of the best photojournalism from the week, we pay tribute to regular contributor Anja Niedringhaus. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer was killed this week covering the presidential election in Afghanistan. She worked in the conflict areas of the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya from where she always displayed compassionate and courageous photojournalism Continue...