Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Monday that Iraq may be the safest country in the Arab world, as protests and violence rage across much of the region.

The sentence will be the first imposed on a Westerner since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in 2003.

Iraq’s prime minister called for new provincial elections Monday following anti-government protests that killed 14 people last week in a demonstration of the simmering anger many Iraqis feel at a government they say fails to provide basic services.

Iraq’s prime minister is calling for new provincial elections following anti-government protests that killed 14 people last week.

For hundreds of terrified Christian families who fled attacks in Baghdad and Mosul in recent months, an ancient Christian town in Iraq’s north has offered a safe haven from violence.