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Sistani, Ali Husaini

(Encyclopedia)Sistani, Ali Husaini or Husayni ho͞osānˈē äl– [key], 1930–, Shiite grand ayatollah in Iraq, b. Mashhad, Iran. Educated in religious schools in his native Iran, he went to Shiite holy city of ...

Talabani, Jalal

(Encyclopedia)Talabani, Jalal, 1933–2017, Iraqi political leader, president of Iraq (2005–14), b. Kelkan. He joined the Kurdish Democratic party (KDP) in 1947, becoming a member of its central committee in 1951...

Austin, Lloyd James, 3d

(Encyclopedia)Austin, Lloyd James, 3d, 1953–, U.S. army general and secretary of defense, b. Mobile, Ala., B.S West Point, 1975, M.A. Auburn Univ., 1986, M.B.A. Webster Univ., 1989. He entered the U.S. Army (1975...

Kurds

(Encyclopedia)Kurds kûrds, ko͝ords [key], a non-Arab Middle Eastern minority population that inhabits the region known as Kurdistan, an extensive plateau and mountain area, c.74,000 sq mi (191,660 sq km), in SW A...

Kirkuk

(Encyclopedia)Kirkuk kĭrko͞okˈ [key], city (1987 pop. 418,624), NE Iraq. It is a center of Iraq's oil industry and is connected by pipelines to ports on the Mediterranean Sea. Kirkuk is a market for the region's...

Khanaqin

(Encyclopedia)Khanaqin khänˈäkēn [key], town, NE Iraq, near the Iranian border, on a tributary of the Diyala. It is located in an oil-producing region and has an oil refinery. Khanaquin was severely affected by...

Umm Qasr

(Encyclopedia)Umm Qasr käsˈə [key] town, Basra prov., S Iraq, S of Basra on the Kuwait border. Located on an arm of the Persian Gulf, it is Iraq's second largest port, with deepwater facilities. ...

Petraeus, David Howell

(Encyclopedia)Petraeus, David Howell pĕtrāˈəs [key], 1952–, American military officer and government official, b. Cornwall, N.Y., studied West Point (B.S., 1974), U.S. Army Command and General Staff College (...

Diyala

(Encyclopedia)Diyala dĭyăˈlă, –ˈə [key], river, c.275 mi (440 km) long, rising as the Sirvan River in NW Iran and flowing SW through the Zagros Mts. into E Iraq, where it enters the Tigris River S of Baghda...

Euphrates

(Encyclopedia)Euphrates yo͞ofrāˈtēz [key], Turkish Frat, Arabic Al Furat, river of SW Asia, c.1,700 mi (2,740 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Kara and the Murad rivers, E central Turkey, and flowing g...
 

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