Our reporters meet with Syrian defectors who have rallied the dissident Free Syrian Army. Also, after Barack Obama's announcement that the US will soon end its war in Iraq, Moqtada al Sadr's militiamen say they will make sure every last soldier leaves by the end of the year. Finally, following the death of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan, we look at the intricate workings of the kingdom's succession system.
Infamous Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, blamed for a string of bloody uprisings against American forces in 2007, returned to Iraq Wednesday after warming relations between his faction and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Iraq's radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army to stop operations Thursday. The militia is accused of killing thousands of Iraqi Sunnis, and was considered the greatest threat to the country's stability.
In southern Iraq, government security forces appear to have finally regained control of the area from the Mahdi army. Residents are pleased but know that violence could return at any time.
Completely sealed off by US and Iraqi forces, Sadr City is emblematic of Iraq today. Mortar attacks killed at least 13 people on Wednesday, in the Baghdad stronghold of Moqtada Sadr. (Report: L. Menget, G. Martin and M. Ibrahim)
A curfew enforced in the wake of the March clashes between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US forces has recently been lifted. But Chola, along with two other Baghdad neighbourhoods, were left out. L. Menget, G. Martin and M. Ibrahim report.
A group of at least 40 university students were freed hours after gunmen abducted them while travelling in a bus near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Sunday.
In one of the biggest mass abductions in Iraq in recent months, gunmen kidnapped 42 university students travelling in a bus near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, Sunday.
Iraqi leaders have called on all political groups to disband their militias, according to a statement by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's office. The call was particularly aimed at Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
US President George W. Bush praised Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday for launching a "tough battle against militia fighters and criminals" in the southern city of Basra.
