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May 18, 2014

Militants kidnapped a candidate from a small Shiite Muslim political party today as officials in Iraq prepared to announce the results of last month's general election.

Rahman Abdulzahra al-Jazairi was near his home in the predominantly Shiite neighbourhood of Jamila in north Baghdad when gunmen opened fire, wounding his father and brother and abducting him, police said.

Jazairi is the general secretary of Hezbollah Warithun, an offshoot of the main Hezbollah party in Iraq.

It is not expected to win any seats in parliament following the April 30 vote, results of which are due to be released later today or tomorrow, election commission officials say.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the kidnapping, but Jazairi's party said on Facebook that security camera footage had helped identify the militants behind the incident and said security forces were working to secure his release.

Jazairi's kidnap is the first incident of its kind since the election, the run-up to which was plagued by attacks on campaign rallies and candidates, but no reported kidnappings.

The election results have been delayed because of a litany of complaints, according to the election commission.

But Iraq's political parties have nevertheless already begun manoeuvring to build alliances in order to get a head start on forming a government.

Incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is seeking a third term, but faces criticism from opponents who say he has consolidated power and who blame him for a marked deterioration in security. AFP, May 18, 2014

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Baghdad: Iraq's election commission said on Saturday the results from last month's general election would finally be released within days as nationwide attacks pushed this year's death toll to more than 3,500.

The Independent High Electoral Commission said delays in the count after the April 30 vote were because of a litany of complaints, and said provisional results - which are subject to further challenge - would be published on either on Sunday or Monday.

Although results have not been released, political parties have nevertheless sought to build alliances in a bid to get a head start on government formation, with incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki seeking a third term.

Maliki's critics accuse him of consolidating power and blame him for a marked deterioration in security in recent months.

Nevertheless, Maliki's political party is still expected to win the most seats in parliament, despite probably falling short of a majority on his own.

Attacks in and around Baghdad and north Iraq killed seven people on Saturday, pushing the 2014 death toll to more than 3,500, according to an AFP tally.

Four people died in a roadside bombing in a market area of the predominantly Sunni Arab town of Tarmiyah north of Baghdad, officials said.

Separate bombings in Latifiyah south of the capital, and in Salaheddin province in the north, killed two soldiers, and a civil servant was shot dead in Baghdad itself.

On Friday, shelling killed four people in the militant-held city of Fallujah a short drive west of Baghdad, where troops have gone on the offensive without making much apparent headway.

Read more here:
Iraq Vote Results Due Within Days Amid Surge of Unrest

Debate over Eric Holder blows up on #39;Hannity #39;
Name-calling between guests Bill Cunningham and Tamara Holder.

By: HOTNEWS

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Debate over Eric Holder blows up on 'Hannity' - Video

Krauthammer: Holder #39;s approach on VA scandal is #39;stupid politics #39;
Columnist Charles Krauthammer mocked Eric Holder #39;s wait-and-see #39;monitoring #39; of the VA scandal on "Special Report."

By: Washington Free Beacon

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Krauthammer: Holder's approach on VA scandal is 'stupid politics' - Video

Indirectly referencing Clippers owner Donald Sterling and Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder said that hateful rants and intolerant public statements that have filled recent headlines are not the most pressing issue in the ongoing fight for equal opportunity.

Instead, in a commencement address Saturday, Holder challenged 850 graduates at Baltimores Morgan State University to fight against disciplinary, voting and other policies that quietly and gradually harm minorities.

This is the work that truly matters because policies that disenfranchise specific groups are more pernicious than hateful rants, Holder said, according to prepared remarks. Proposals that feed uncertainty, question the desire of a people to work, and relegate particular Americans to economic despair are more malignant than intolerant public statements, no matter how many eyebrows the outbursts might raise.

He cited the criminal courts as an example, referencing a federal study released last year that found black men and Native Americans endure prison sentences far longer than white men for similar crimes.

A criminal justice system that treats groups of people differently and punishes them unequally has a much more negative impact than misguided words that we can reject out of hand, he said.

The comments delivered Saturday on a school football field before seated graduates have been cast as Holder's most significant remarks on race since early in his tenure when he derided Americans as "cowards" who segregated themselves on weekends, including by going to the "race-protected cocoons" known as malls.

On Saturday, he again said discussion about civil rights should not be something avoided. Holder didnt mention Sterling or Bundy by name but instead cited jarring reminders of the discrimination, outbursts of bigotry and isolated, repugnant, racist views that have been in the news during the past few weeks and months.

The NBA has said Sterling was recorded telling a friend not to associate with black people. Bundy, a cattle rancher who has refused to recognize the federal governments authority, recently told a reporter that blacks were perhaps better off as slaves than as poor people reliant on government subsidies today. After criticism nationwide, both white men said they were not racist.

Holder said swift condemnation and apologies were not enough.

Because if we focus solely on these incidents on outlandish statements that capture national attention and spark outrage on Facebook and Twitter we are likely to miss the more hidden, and more troubling, reality behind the headlines," Holder said.

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Eric Holder to grads: Biggest civil rights issue not 'hateful rants'