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Iraqi workers at the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) headquarters in Baghdad seal and store ballot boxes. Iraq awaited initial results from polls touted as a test of its young democracy, with Baghdad holding the key as the prime minister's list and its top secular rival jockeyed for pole position. (AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye). March 9, 2010

A boy hurt in the blast is seen in al-Hakim hospital in Najaf, after a car bomb exploded near a bus for pilgrims in the Shiite holy city of Najaf in Iraq, Saturday, March 6, 2010 on the eve of key national elections. A group of Iranian and Iraqi pilgrims were waiting to board the bus after visiting a famous shrine when the blast occurred about 100 yards away killing at least three people, including two Iranians, according to officials. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani). March 7, 2010

In this photo taken Friday, Feb. 26, 2010, Jenan Mubarak, left, a candidate with the Iraq Unity Alliance, speaks to supporters at a campaign event in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's national election is set for March 7. (AP Photo/ Karim Kadim). March 3, 2010

A Babylonian clay foundation cone, ca. 2100 BC, is displayed at the Iraqi Embassy in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Thursday, that the U.S. will return thousands of Iraqi artifacts looted by invading soldiers to the Government of Iraq. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana). February 26, 2010

Mourners stand near the coffins of Hussein Majid, his pregnant wife and their six children for burial in the Shiite city of Najaf, Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010. Eight members of the family were killed in the worst incident of a bloody day across Iraq that left at least 23 dead. The spate of attacks - and the fact that some of the family were beheaded - raised fears that some agency is trying to re-ignite sectarian warfare at a time when the country is preparing for critical March elections. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani). February 24, 2010

A resident walks past a torn election poster of Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Basra, Iraq's second largest city, on February 21, 2010. (REUTERS/Atef Hassan). February 21, 2010

An Iraqi boy clutches his mother's hand as US, Kurdish and Iraqi security forces hand out humanitarian supplies on the outskirts of Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo). February 20, 2010

A man walks past a damaged house belonging to the Coalition Liberal and Free National Salvation after a bomb attack in Baghdad February 15, 2010. A person was wounded during the attack, police said.
REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen). February 15, 2010

An Iraqi man shops for a Valentine's Day present in central Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010. Some Iraqis are marking Valentine's Day and shopping for gifts for their loved ones. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). February 14, 2010

A Iraqi man holding a chicken passes an election campaign poster for candidate Nazin Hussein Faizullah, a candidate with the Kurdistan Coalition, in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Feb. 12, 2010. Iraq has officially kicked off the election season ahead of the March nationwide vote. Campaign posters were plastered across Baghdad and other cities on Friday, urging people to the polls. (AP Photo/ Hadi Mizban). February 12, 2010

Families of the victims of the September 2007 shooting by Blackwater security guards are seen at the prime minister's office in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 18. 2010. Iraq's government has started collecting signatures for a class-action lawsuit from victims who were wounded or lost family in incidents involving the U.S. private security firm Xe formerly known as Blackwater. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). January 19, 2010

An Iraqi Christian woman attends Christmas Eve mass in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009.
(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). January 10, 2010

Iraqi security forces inspect the site of a car bomb attack at the al-baiyaa area of western Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). January 2, 2010

Iraqi soldiers stand guard near blindfolded suspects after they were arrested by the Iraqi army during a search operation in Kirkuk, 155 miles north of Baghdad December 26, 2009. Iraqi security forces arrested four suspects with a large quantity of ammunitions on Saturday during a raid and security operation conducted in Kirkuk, police said. (REUTERS/Ako Rasheed). December 31, 2009

Iraqi Muslims and Christians light candles and prayed for peace at a Church in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Dec. 25, 2009, during Christmas and Ashoura. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). December 26, 2009

This Nov. 28, 2009 file photo shows Iraqi boys pointing their new plastic toy guns at another boy as they play, in Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq.
(AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani, File). December 10, 2009

Iraqis visit Al-Zawraa park in Baghdad November 6, 2009. As the bombings and shootings have receded, families are starting to return to the park in droves -- so many, in fact, that officials are now desperate to expand the park which is home for the zoo to make space for them all. (REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen). November 19, 2009

Iraqi police officers attend their graduation ceremony at a police academy in Baghdad November 9, 2009. About 517 police officers, 50 of whom are female, graduated on Monday from the police academy after six months of training, an Iraqi police source said. (REUTERS/Saad Shalash). November 12, 2009

School girls cross a street after heavy rainfall, in the Fadl neighborhood of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). October 28, 2009

Mohammed Abdulla, 51, lies in a hospital bed after he was wounded when a bomb attached to a minibus exploded in the neighborhood of Shaab in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Oct. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim). October 21, 2009

Iraqi men inspect a bridge destroyed in a truck bomb attack in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009. A suicide bomber driving an explosives-laden truck destroyed the key bridge Saturday on a highway used by the departing U.S. military. (AP Photo). October 17, 2009

An Iraqi policeman stands next to a man who was wounded after a bomb attack inside a market in Fallujah October 6, 2009. A minibus bomb exploded at a market in the western Iraqi town of Amiriya on Tuesday, killing at least nine people and wounding 31, a local official said. (REUTERS/Yassir Faisal). October 7, 2009

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie interacts with an Iraqi refugee family living in Jaramana, a suburb in southern Damascus October 2, 2009. (REUTERS/S.Malkawi). October 3, 2009

Residents swim at Habaniya Lake, which is located near a tourist village 53 miles west of Baghdad, September 25, 2009. (REUTERS/Yinassir Faisal ). September 26, 2009

Residents wait for free food distributed for the needy during the fasting month of Ramadan at the Sunni mosque of Abdul Qadir al-Gailani in Baghdad September 16, 2009. (REUTERS/Saad Shalash). September 16, 2009

Relatives of Iraqi reporter Muntazer al-Zaidi celebrate at his house before his release in Baghdad September 13, 2009. Zaidi, the Iraqi reporter who became famous worldwide when he threw his shoes at then U.S. President George W. Bush, is thought likely to get a hero's welcome if he is freed from jail, as expected, on Monday. (REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen). September 13, 2009

Iraqis drive a blood stained vehicle carrying the body of a victim into the grounds of the hospital in the northeastern town of Baquba on September 7. Ten Iraqi policemen and four American soldiers have been killed in a spate of roadside bomb attacks across the country, in the bloodiest day for the US military in five months. (AFP/Str). September 8, 2009

A medic transports the body of a young boy killed after playing with a hand grenade in Kirkuk, Monday, Sept. 7, 2009. Police said two boys were killed when they played with a hand grenade they found in a stream. (AP Photo/Emad Matti). September 7, 2009

An injured man is brought to the general hospital in the northeastern town of Baquba, 60 kms from Baghdad after a roadside bomb exploded there last week. Violent deaths in Iraq hit a 13-month high in August, official figures have shown raising fresh concerns about the country's stability after a government admission that security is worsening.
(AFP/File). September 1, 2009

Iraqi women wait to buy traditional sweets at a shop in central Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. Muslims throughout the world are celebrating the holy fasting month of Ramadan, the holiest month in Islamic calendar, refraining from eating, drinking, and smoking from dawn to dusk. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). August 24, 2009

An Iraqi man inspects a damaged cafe in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 17, 2009. Two bombs hidden in a plastic bags near a falafel stand exploded simultaneously, killing four people and wounding 25 others. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). August 18, 2009

A Shiite Mulsim woman lights a candle at a shrine in the Iraqi holy city of Kerbala. (AFP/Mohammed Sawaf). August 16, 2009

Protesters hold signs as they chant slogans against the Iraqi government decision to block certain internet sites and impose control over the publication of books at Al-Mutanabi Street in Baghdad August 14, 2009. Iraqis including journalists, writers and booksellers demonstrated in central Baghdad on Friday against what they say is state censorship. (REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen). August 14, 2009

Umm Haider, 45, holds the hand of her nephew, Sajaad Akeel, 8, at a hospital in the northern city of Mosul, Monday, Aug. 10, 2009. Akeel lost 13 members of his family after a double truck bombing tore through a Shiite minority community near Mosul. A series of blasts struck Baghdad Monday in a wave of predawn violence that killed at least 40 people, according to Iraqi officials. (AP Photo). August 10, 2009

The Azmar mountains north of the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Sulaimaniyah. Iran has arrested three Americans who "infiltrated" through the border with Iraq, state-owned Al-Alam television said on Saturday, as another official channel said they were military personnel. (AFP/File/Sabah Arar). August 1, 2009

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A Kurdish policewoman casts her vote at a ballot box during special early voting for regional parliament elections at a polling station in Sulaimaniya, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad July 23, 2009. (REUTERS/Jamal Penjweny). July 23, 2009

A farmer sorts dates after picking them from palm trees inside a date palm orchard during the harvest in Abul Khasib, 285 miles southeast of Baghdad, July 19, 2009. (REUTERS/Atef Hassan). July 21, 2009

A boy jumps into a canal for a swim in Abul Khasib, 285 miles southeast of Baghdad, July 19, 2009. (REUTERS/Atef Hassan). July 19, 2009

A worker sifts through the debris inside a Christian church after a bombing in Mosul, Monday, July 13, 2009. Iraqi authorities Monday imposed vehicle bans in two mostly Christian towns and increased security around churches in Baghdad after attacks targeting the Christian minority. Fearing car bombs, authorities on Monday imposed vehicle bans in the towns of Tilkaif and Hamdaniyah, predominantly Christian towns near the northern city of Mosul.
(AP Photo). July 13, 2009

Iraqi soccer fans are seen during their friendly soccer match against the Palestinian team in Irbil/Arbil, a city in the Kurdish controlled north, Iraq, Friday, July 10, 2009. Iraq won its first home soccer game since 2002 in a stadium packed with 25,000 fans, defeating the Palestinian team 3-0 in a contest that was as much about the nation's struggle for stability as it was about sports. (AP Photo/Karim Karim). July 12, 2009

An Iranian-Kurdish child is pictured at a refugee camp in Zejnikan, just north of the Kurdish city of Arbil, in 2007. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that almost 200 Iranian-Kurd refugees have been moved from a makeshift camp on the Iraq-Jordan border to a larger camp near Syria. (AFP/File/Ahmad al-Rubaye). July 10, 2009

Iraqi families celebrate in Basra, Tuesday, June 30, 2009. U.S. troops pulled out of Iraqi cities on Tuesday in the first step toward winding down the American war effort by the end of 2011. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani). July 1, 2009

Iraqi children jump into the Euphrates River on a hot and sunny day in Kerbala, June 14, 2009. (REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammad). June 14, 2009

US President Barack Obama's speech is live on a TV at a cafe in Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq Thursday, June 4, 2009. In his address to the Muslim world from Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, President Obama called for a 'new beginning between the United States and Muslims' Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed). June 6, 2009

Men clean up at a warehouse heavily damaged in a fire in Basra, Iraq, Monday, May 11, 2009. A huge fire erupted at a wholesale market in central Basra Sunday night, damaging as many as twenty different warehouses. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani). May 12, 2009

An orphan from Baghdad's Sunni Azamiyah neighborhood, front right, and a Shiite orphan from Shiite Kazimiyah neighborhood, front left, exchange kisses during a celebration in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, May 3, 2009. The orphans whose parents perished in sectarian violence in Baghdad hugged each other and exchanged Iraqi flags during a ceremony that symbolized Iraqi unity in Baghdad's Azamiyah neighborhood Sunday. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). May 3, 2009

Iraqi attend Easter Mass in a church in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, April 12, 2009. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). April 12, 2009

Iraqis attend Palm Sunday services at the Virgin Mary Church in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, April 5, 2009. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, leading up to Good Friday. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). April 05, 2009

People shop at a market in central Kirkuk, Thursday, March 26, 2009. Seeking to head off a wave of ethnic violence, the United Nations will call for a new and risky power-sharing system of government in the northern region Kirkuk, according to officials in one of Iraq's most deeply divided provinces. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed). March 29, 2009

Women cry during a funeral of people who died in yesterday's suicide bombing in Jalula, 80 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, March 24, 2009. A suicide bomber struck a tent filled Monday with Kurdish funeral mourners, unleashing a huge fireball that killed at least 23 people in a northern town where Kurds and Arabs are competing for power. (AP Photo/Adem Hadei). March 24, 2009

Detainees pray at a U.S. military detention facility Camp Bucca, Iraq, Monday, March 16, 2009. Thousands of Iraqi citizens remain behind bars as prisoners of U.S. occupation forces. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic). March 18, 2009

A boy watches Iraqi policemen leave his home during a joint search operation with U.S. troops in southwestern Mosul, Saturday, March 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo). March 15, 2009

A U.S. soldier takes a thumbprint of a detainee before his release in Baghdad March 12, 2009. About 11 detainees were released from the U.S. detention facility at Camp Bucca on Thursday, according to the U.S. army. No Iraqi citizen is safe from arrests and detainment by occupation troops.. (REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen). March 12, 2009

Schoolgirls rush past U.S. soldiers patrolling a road in Baghdad's Hurriya district on March 5, 2009. (REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen). March 07, 2009

A girl kisses her father after his release from the U.S. detention facility at Camp Bucca, in Baghdad's Shaab District March 1, 2009. About eight detainees were released from the detention facility in Shaab District, northern Baghdad, on Sunday. Thousands more remain in U.S. military hands. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani). March 01, 2009

A newly released detainee kisses his son at Baghdad's Um al-Qura mosque February 22, 2009. About 64 detainees were released from the U.S. detention facility at Camp Bucca on Sunday. Thousands of Iraqi citizens remain imprisoned by U.S. forces. (REUTERS/Saad Shalash). February 22, 2009

Residents offer tea on the road for Shi'ite pilgrims visiting the holy city of Kerbala to mark Arbain February 15, 2009. Arbain falls 40 days after the Shi'ite holy day of Ashura and marks the end of an annual mourning period for the death in battle of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein in the seventh century. (REUTERS/Atef Hassan). February 15, 2009

Students attend English class at Mutamayezaat High School for girls in Baghdad February 9, 2009. After years of dodging bullets and bombs to get to school, Iraqi teachers face new challenges as the violence ebbs, such as students traumatised by war, and finding a way to explain Iraq's tragic past without reopening old wounds and risking its future. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani). February 13, 2009

Iraqi refugees wait to receive food rations at a United Nations centre in Douma, near Damascus, February 11, 2009. Many of the Iraqi refugees who fled to Syria after the 2003 U.S. invasion are reluctant to go back to their homeland despite calls by the American-backed government in Baghdad on them to return. (REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri). February 12, 2009

A poster of Iraqi journalist Muntazer Al-Zaidi and a pile of childrens' shoes are put on display by demonstrators outside the Iraqi Consulate in Washington, DC in 2008. Zaidi, who famously threw his shoes at former US President George W. Bush is to go on trial on February 19 accused of assaulting a foreign leader. (AFP/Getty Images/File/Chip Somodevilla). February 08, 2009

A child waves an Iraqi flag during a provincial election campaign rally for former Iraqi premier Ibrahim al-Jaafari in northwest Baghdad. Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and the president of its autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, exchanged barbs on Sunday in the run-up to this month's provincial elections. (AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye). January 27, 2009

A child is treated for wounds at a hospital in central Baghdad, Iraq after being caught up in a bombing Monday, Jan. 12, 2009. A series of bombs targeting Iraqi security forces ripped through busy areas in Baghdad on Monday, killing at least nine people, police said. (AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali). January 12, 2009

Iraqi Shiites mark Ashura in Kerbala, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009. Ashura falls on the 10th day of Muharram in the Islamic calendar and marks the anniversary of the death of Imam Hussein, who was killed in 680 A.D. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani). January 7, 2009

 

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Iraqis inspect destrcution at the site of a rocket attack in Baghdad's al-Hurriyah neighbourhood. Early voting in Iraq's general election was overshadowed Thursday by two suicide bombings at polling stations that killed seven soldiers and a mortar attack that claimed the lives of seven civilians on Thursday. (AFP/Ali al-Saadi). March 5, 2010

A resident displays bloodstained clothes inside a house where an attack happened near Amara, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, February 12, 2010. Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops killed at least five people on Friday in a raid on suspected members of what Washington calls an Iranian-backed terrorist group, the U.S. military said. (REUTERS/Salah Thani). March 1, 2010

An Iraqi woman living in Amman, shows the indelible ink on her finger after casting her vote, during a simulation preparing for the up coming Iraq elections, in Amman, Jordan, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. Around 180,000 eligible Iraqi voters are expected to cast their ballots in Jordan as part of global out-of-country voting in the March 7 poll. (AP Photo/Nader Daoud). February 27, 2010

Residents stand near their liquor store after it was the target of a bomb attack in Basra on February 22, 2010. (REUTERS/Atef Hassan). February 22, 2010

An Iraqi policeman looks at a burnt police vehicle as he secures the site of a bomb attack in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, February 18, 2010. (REUTERS/Ali al-Mashhdani). February 19, 2010

An Iraqi inspects the site of the previous day's attack which targeted the Baghdad political office of al-Ahrar in Baghdad, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010. An explosion late Monday targeted the party that includes followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, police said. Portrait on the wall shows late Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq al-Sadr, father of Muqtada al-Sadr. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). February 17, 2010

In this Jan. 11, 2010 photo, Mohamed al-Bazouni, who lost part of his left leg in a mortar attack, walks with crutches in Baghdad, Iraq. Thousands of Iraqis remain injured from the U.S.-led invasion and, the medical system is finally finding the breathing room to gear up for rebuilding the bodies maimed by war. But thousands who lost limbs still face long waits. Materials for prostheses are scarce, as are experts in rehabilitating the injured. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim). February 13, 2010

A man holds up a poster of Sunni Muslim MP Dhafer al-Aanie with a red 'X' painted across it during a protest in central Baghdad. The row over a ban on election candidates with alleged links to Saddam Hussein has escalated after Iraq's president questioned the ruling's legality and thousands of Shiites held street protests. (AFP/Ali al-Saadi). January 19, 2010

Umm Abbas kisses her 11-year-old grandson, Abbas Qassim, who was injured in a bombing in Najaf, south of Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 15, 2010. Three explosions, including one caused by a car bomb, rocked the southern city of Najaf on Thursday, police said. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani). January 17, 2010

Victims of bomb attacks are seen at a hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Dec. 26, 2009. A roadside bomb killed six Shiite Muslim pilgrims Friday during a procession, the latest violence targeting the group during observances of a religious holiday, officials said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim). December 26, 2009

People prepare to board a small boat that transports people over the Tigris river in central Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009. Many civilians use small boats to cross the Tigris river and avoid the traffic jams and possible attacks on the roads. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). December 19, 2009

Iraqis enjoy a ride at an amusement park during the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, is celebrated to commemorate the prophet Ibrahim's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). November 28, 2009

An Iraqi woman reacts as she looks out from her balcony at a funeral procession for Jamal al-Baz, in Azamiyah neighborhood, northern Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Nov 22, 2009. Jamal al-Baz, a member of the Awakening council of Azamiyah, a Sunni group that revolted against al-Qaida, was shot dead early Sunday by unknown gunmen, officials said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). November 23, 2009

People hold pictures and signs as they demand the release of detainees during a protest in the city of Najaf, November 14, 2009. About 600 people gathered from different cities to protest in Najaf on Saturday. (REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish). November 16, 2009

Abdul-Mehdi Al-Amidi, the Deputy Director-General of the Department of contracts and permits in the Iraqi oil ministry shakes hands with Exxon Mobil Upstream Ventures Ltd.'s president, Richard C. Vierbuchen during a signing ceremony of an oil agreement in Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. A consortium grouping U.S. and European oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC won the right to develop one of Iraq's most prized oil fields, Iraq's Oil Ministry spokesman said. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). November 08, 2009

Iraqi policemen transport a wounded woman, after a bomb attack planted in a bus in Kerbala, November 1, 2009. (REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed). November 01, 2009

Fire fighters load into an ambulance the body of a man killed by a massive bomb attack at the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration in Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). October 25, 2009

A victim of a car bomb attack lies in a hospital near Fallujah, 32 miles west of Baghdad, after receiving medical treatment October 20, 2009. (REUTERS/Yassir Faisal ). October 21, 2009

People pass the site of an explosion in the city of Kerbala, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009. Iraqi police and medical officials say Wednesday three near simultaneous blasts have struck the southern Shiite holy city.
(AP Photo/Ahmed Alhussainey). October 16, 2009

Members of Iraq's black community celebrate in Basra, Iraq, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009. After U.S. President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize in a stunning decision designed to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani). October 9, 2009

An Iraqi firefighter walks past exploded fuel tankers near a checkpoint outside of Baghdad International Airport, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009. The road, dubbed 'Route Irish' by the U.S. military, connects the fortified Green Zone with the airport. It gained notoriety after the 2003 U.S.-lead invasion because of the frequent attacks along it during the height of the insurgency.
(AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). October 4, 2009

Residents walk at al-Zawraa's amusement park as they celebrate Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan in Baghdad September 20, 2009. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the holiest month in the Islamic calendar, during which Muslims around the world abstain from eating, drinking and sexual relations from sunrise to sunset.
REUTERS/Mohammed Ameen). September 21, 2009

Iraqi soldiers secure the site of a bomb attack near Mussayab, 40 miles south of Baghdad, September 4, 2009. At least four people were killed and 24 wounded near Mussayab when a bomb exploded at a Shi'ite Muslim Shrine as people were arriving at the mosque after breaking their daily Ramadan fast, police said. (REUTERS/Mushtaq Muhammed). September 5, 2009

The father of Iraqi journalist Ibrahim Jassam displays his picture at their house in Mahmudiya, 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, September 1, 2009. On Sept. 2, 2008, U.S. and Iraqi troops smashed in the doors of Jassam's home, shouting "freeze" and holding back snarling dogs before they hauled him off into the night in his underwear. A year later, neither Jassam and his family nor global news agency Reuters, which employed him as a freelance TV cameraman and photographer, have been told exactly why he has been detained for all this time by U.S. military forces in Iraq. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani). September 3, 2009

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of Shi'ite religious political party Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), waves to supporters during an election campaign rally in Najaf, south of Baghdad January 25, 2009. Al-Hakin died early this week after a long illness. (REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish). August 27, 2009

Iraqis buy sweets for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in a Baghdad market on August 17. Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq on Saturday started Ramadan at the same time for the first time since 2003. (AFP/File/Sabah Arar). August 22, 2009

A blaze rages in front of the Iraqi foreign minsitry building following a massive car bomb in central Baghdad. (AFP/Mehdi Lebouachera). August 19, 2009

A resident holds a sign referring to Iraq's Electricity Minister Karim Waheed while demonstrating against the lack of electricity power supply in Baghdad August 12, 2009. Even though it has been more than six years since the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq's dilapidated electricity sector provides only intermittent power, a chief complaint among Iraqis in the searing summer heat. Iraq's current electricity capacity is 7,500 megawatts, far short of the country's requirement of 12,000 megawatts. The sign reads, "Please, resign". (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani). August 12, 2009

Iraqi army soldiers remove concrete blast walls in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Aug 6, 2009. The towering concrete blast walls that have both protected and suffocated Baghdad streets for the past two years will come down within 40 days, according to an announcement by Iraq's government. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). August 7, 2009

Children play at an amusement park in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, Monday, Aug 3, 2009.
(AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani). August 4, 2009

UNHCR goodwill ambassador Angelina Jolie speaking with a displaced Iraqi boy at a makeshift camp, northwest of Baghdad. The actress called for more aid for Iraq's internally-displaced people. (AFP/UNHCR/Boris Heger). July 28, 2009

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A Kurdish dressmaker sews at a market in Sulaimaniya, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad July 26, 2009. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani). July 26, 2009

An Iraqi worker maintains an oil pipe at Nahr Al-Umran gas refinery in Al-Dier District, northern Basra July 17, 2009. (REUTERS/Atef Hassan). July 17, 2009

An Iraqi woman shops for produce in central Baghdad, Iraq, Sunday, July 5, 2009. Iraqis are skeptical that much will change after last week's pullback of U.S. combat troops from Baghdad and other cities, a sentiment not shared by their government. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). July 6, 2009

Iraqi policemen watch as an anti-blast wall slab is lifted to open a street during a sandstorm in Baghdad's Amil district June 28, 2009. Once-towering blast walls put up at the height of Iraq's sectarian bloodshed are coming down and letting light into dusty city streets, or connecting divided neighbourhoods, for the first time in three or more years. (REUTERS/Bassim Shati). June 28, 2009

Iraqi refugees, hold up applications made to the UNHCR during a sit-in to protest perceived delays to resettle them in a third country in front the offices of the United Nations Higher Committee for Refugees (UNHCR), in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday May 26, 2009. Some 200 Iraqi refugees in Syria were trying to highlight the plight of the refugees, many of whom fled the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, and are still waiting for resettlement six years later. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi). May 31, 2009

An Iraqi child is threatened by aU.S. soldier during a joint search operation with the Iraqi army in the town of Jalawla of Diyala province, 70 miles northeast of Baghdad, May 18, 2009. No Iraqi is safe from U.S. patrols. (REUTERS/Saad Shalash). May 24, 2009

Iraqi men pray over the body of a little boy killed in a rocket attack in Baghdad on May 16. (AFP/Ali al-Saadi). May 16, 2009

Iraqi boy Christopher, 5, plays amidst coloured balls at Jordan's Red Crescent center in Amman May 4, 2009. The Jordan Red Crescent, the French Red Cross and the Psycho-social Center offer safe havens to children and families, who have been exposed to violence, to attend workshops that touch on issues such as trust and tolerance. Participants in these five-day workshops take part in activities such as drawing and games that help foster team spirit. (REUTERS/Ali Jarekji ). May 4, 2009

Iraqi children hold up a banner at Jordan's Red Crescent center in Amman May 4, 2009. The Jordan Red Crescent, the French Red Cross and the Psycho-social Center offer safe havens to children and families, who have been exposed to violence, to attend workshops that touch on issues such as trust and tolerance. Participants in these five-day workshops take part in activities such as drawing and games that help foster team spirit. (REUTERS/Ali Jarekji). May 4, 2009

A U.S. soldier of 3rd Platoon Cherokee Troop from the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division aims his rifle during a patrol in Logar province April 13, 2009. (REUTERS/Ahmad Masood). April 16, 2009

Iraqis carry a figure of Jesus at a Catholic church mass to mark Good Friday in Baghdad, Friday, April 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). April 10, 2009

Asad Raad holds a baby boy he rescued from a car bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, April 7, 2009. The motorbike seller pulled the child from a car ignited in the explosion. The baby's dead mother was still inside the car while a badly burned man, presumed to be the father, was taken to hospital. Raad said he took the baby boy, who had minor burns to the face, to his home and would care for the infant. 'I cannot just stand still and watch this,' Raad said. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim). April 07, 2009

Baghdad University students celebrate their graduation in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, April 2, 2009.
(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). April 03, 2009

Shams Hushan, a 3-year-old Iraqi girl who was blinded and disfigured in a Baghdad car bombing in 2006, sits with her relatives outside her home in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, March 9, 2009. Cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani paid for her to travel to India where she was examined by opthalmologists. But Shams, whose name in Arabic means 'sun,' appears no closer to regaining her eyesight and still spends her days feeling her way aimlessly around the sparse three-room home she shares with her grandparents and 10 other people. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed). March 31, 2009

Medics at a central Baghdad, Iraq hospital tend to a woman injured by a car bomb Thursday, March 26, 2009. The bomb exploded near a crowded market in a mainly Shiite area, killing as many as 20 people, Iraqi officials said. (AP Photo/Adil al-Khazali). March 26, 2009

Iraqi Kurdish people carry fire torches up a mountain where a giant flag of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region is laid, as they celebrate Newroz Day, a festival marking their spring and new year near, near Dahuk, 245 miles north of Baghdad, March 20, 2009. Newroz Day is also celebrated in other countries including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. (REUTERS/Azad Lashkari). March 22, 2009

A woman sings as she participates in a celebration held by "Kuluna Iraq Gathering" (All of Us Iraq) to mark International Women's Day in Baghdad March 7, 2009. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani). March 08, 2009

Amir Hussein kisses his son after he spent 18 months in the US military custody, as he is released in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, March 4, 2009. Amir Hussein was among twenty prisoners released Wednesday. Thousands more Iraqi citizens wait to be released. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). March 04, 2009

Iraqis hold a banner protesting US occupation in Baghdad. US President Barack Obama has met with top lawmakers at the White House to preview his Iraq plan, which would pull out most troops and end combat operations by the end of August 2010 but leave an interim force of about 35,000-50,000 troops before a full withdrawal by the end of 2011. (AFP/File/Ali Yussef). February 28, 2009

Visitors walk past Assyrian statues inside the Iraqi National Museum after its reopening ceremony in Baghdad February 23, 2009. Iraq on Monday partially reopened its National Museum, once a trove of artefacts dating back to the dawn of civilisation but which was plundered after the 2003 invasion while U.S. troops stood by. (REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani). February 26, 2009

Iraqi children look at a U.S. Marine standing guard near a polling station in Sinjar, 240 miles northwest of of Baghdad January 31, 2009. (REUTERS/Erik de Castro). February 01, 2009

A printer examines campaign posters for candidates in Iraq's upcoming provincial elections at a shop in central Baghdad, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2009. Iraq's electoral commission says it is investigating allegations that nearly 60 candidates for the Jan. 31 provincial elections have submitted fraudulent qualification certificates. Voters are set to choose members of ruling councils in 14 of the 18 provinces. More than 14,000 candidates are running for 444 council seats. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban). January 19, 2009

A boy rests in hospital after being wounded by a mortar in Kirkuk, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009. Police said a mortar round landed near the offices of Kirkuk's governor Thursday evening, wounding two, including this child. (AP Photo/Emad Matti). January 17, 2009

Iraqi police officers watch as a hot-air balloon rises during the 87th anniversary celebration of the Iraqi National Police in Baghdad January 9, 2009. (REUTERS/Erik de Castro). January 10, 2009

A resident walks past election campaign posters on Baghdad's Saadoun street January 3, 2009. The January 31 local election will apportion 440 seats on local councils that in turn name powerful regional governors. (REUTERS/Saad Shalash). January 4, 2009

Kurdish soldiers play with snow balls in Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed). January 1, 2009

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