Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq   

    RAMADI, Iraq, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- Eight policemen and three Qaida members were killed and 10 policemen wounded when the militants attempted to escape from a police station in the city of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, a provincial police source said Friday.

    "There was an attempt of escape from the prison of the Fursan police station in Ramadi after midnight, when 12 suspected Qaida detainees escaped and traded fire with their guards," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

    The prisoners first escaped from their cell and took over the station, killing two police officers and six policemen and wounding 10 others, including two in critical conditions, the source said.

    Three Qaida prisoners were killed and nine others escaped, the source added.

    The Sunni province of Anbar had been a major stronghold for al-Qaida militants in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

    Situation began to go in favor of the U.S. military after the Sunnis shifted side and turned their guns against al-Qaida members in 2006 because they opposed to the indiscriminate terror attacks on civilians.

U.S. military's Iraq withdrawal plan differs from Obama's promise

    WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. military has drafted an initial plan to pull troops out of Iraq, which somehow differs from the promise of President-elect Barack Obama on the issue, the Pentagon said Thursday.

    Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters the military briefed Obama and his national security team on the plan during a recent meeting. Full story

Britain's Brown says to pull troops from Iraq from May 31

    LONDON, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday that the country will start pulling troops out of Iraq by the end of next May.

    Brown told lawmakers that Britain "will start a rapid withdrawal of our troops" by May 31, 2009, at the latest. Full story