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BySinanSalaheddin The Associated Press BAGHDAD Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led air- strikes drove Islamic State militants out of the cen- ter of Ramadi on Monday and seized the main gov- ernment complex there, ac- cording to military officials, who said insurgents are still dug into pockets of the city west of Baghdad. Ramadi, the provin- cial capital of the sprawl- ing Anbar province, fell to IS in May, marking a ma- jor setback for Iraqi forces and the U.S.-led campaign. Ramadi and nearby Fallu- jah, which is controlled by IS, saw some of the heavi- est fighting of the eight-year U.S. intervention in Iraq. In recent months Iraqi forces launched several offensives to retake Ra- madi, but all had stalled. Iraqi troops began advanc- ing into some parts of the city, located about 80 miles west of Baghdad, earlier this month. But their prog- ress was slowed by snipers, booby traps and the mili- tants' destruction of bridges leading into the city center. The heavy fighting and limited access to front- lines made it difficult to follow the troops' progress, and Iraqi officials issued a string of sometimes contra- dictory statements. Brig. Gen. Ahmed al- Belawi told The Associ- ated Press that IS militants stopped firing from inside the government complex at around 8 a.m. Monday and said troops were encircling it as engineering teams cleared booby traps. A few hours later, mili- tary spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool announced in a televised statement that Ramadi had been "fully lib- erated." But Gen. Ismail al-Mah- lawi, head of military op- erations in Anbar, quickly clarified that Iraqi forces had only retaken the gov- ernment complex and that parts of the city remained under IS control. He said IS fighters still control 30 percent of Ramadi and that government forces do not fully control many dis- tricts from which IS fight- ers have retreated. "The troops only entered the government complex," al-Mahlawi told The Asso- ciated Press. "We can't say that Ramadi is fully liber- ated. There are still neigh- borhoods under their con- trol and there are still pock- ets of resistance." Iraqi state TV showed troops, some waving Iraqi flags and others brandish- ing machine guns, chanting and dancing inside what it described as the govern- ment complex. Soldiers could be seen slaughtering sheep in celebration near heavily damaged buildings. Col. Steve Warren, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, told AP that "to- day's success is a proud mo- ment for Iraq." "The clearance of the government center is a sig- nificant accomplishment and is the result of many months of hard work by the Iraqi army, the counter- terrorism service, the Iraqi air force, local and federal police, and tribal fighters," Warren said. He said the U.S.-led co- alition has carried out more than 630 airstrikes, in addition to training se- curity forces and providing both advice and equipment to clear bombs and booby traps. IRAQ Troops advance in Ramadi, but pockets of IS remain THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Iraqi soldiers hold national flags in the government complex in central Ramadi, 70miles west of Baghdad, Iraq, on Monday. By George Jahn The Associated Press VIENNA Iran has moved closer to next month's ex- pected implementation of a landmark nuclear deal with six world pow- ers by allowing Moscow to transfer most of its en- riched uranium to Russia, a senior Russian diplomat told The Associated Press Monday. As part of the July 14 deal, Iran must ship out all except over 660 pounds of the close to nine tons of low-enriched uranium it has stockpiled. Low-en- riched uranium is suited to power generation but can be further enriched to arm nuclear warheads. Its removal is a key obli- gation taken on by Iran un- der the deal, which aims to reduce its ability to make nuclear weapons — some- thing Tehran says it has no interest in. The July agreement also commits Iran to sharply re- duce the number of centri- fuges, which are used to en- rich uranium, as well as to re-engineer a reactor to cut its output of plutonium — another pathway to nuclear weapons. The U.N.'s Inter- national Atomic Energy Agency, which is monitor- ing the progress of the Ira- nian implementation, says both of those measures are well underway. The Russia-Iran agree- ment foresees that Mos- cow ship Iran around 140 tons of raw uranium in ex- change for Tehran's low-en- riched uranium. Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads Iran's atomic energy organization, recently said that his country already received the uranium ore. But the Russian diplomat was the first to confirm that Iran also had met the terms of the swap. The envoy de- manded anonymity because he was not authorized to be cited by name. NUCLEAR DEAL Diplomat: Russia has removed uranium from Iran AHN YOUNG-JOON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS South Korean bereaved family members of victims of World War II stage a rally demanding full compensation and apology from Japanese government in front of Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday. By Hyung-Jin Kim and Foster Klug The Associated Press SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA An apology from Ja- pan's prime minister and a pledge of more than $8 million sealed a break- through deal Monday in a decades-long impasse with South Korea over Korean women forced into Japa- nese military-run broth- els during World War II. The accord, which aims to resolve the emotional core of South Korea's griev- ances with its former colo- nial overlord, could begin to reverse decades of an- imosity and mistrust be- tween the two thriving de- mocracies, trade partners and staunch U.S. allies. It represents a shift for To- kyo's conservative govern- ment and a new willing- ness to compromise by pre- viously wary Seoul. A statement by both countries'foreignministers said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "expresses anew his most sincere apologies and remorse to all the women who underwent immea- surable and painful expe- riences and suffered incur- able physical and psycho- logical wounds as comfort women," the euphemistic name given the women. Historians say tens of thousands of women from around Asia, many of them Korean, were sent to front- linemilitarybrothelstopro- videsextoJapanesesoldiers. It wasn't immediately clear if Abe would be is- suing a separate written statement or if it would be directly delivered to the 46 surviving former Korean sex slaves, now in their 80s and 90s. The language mir- rored past expressions of remorse by other prime ministers, although it was seen by some in Seoul as an improvement on pre- vious comments by Abe's hawkish government, which has been accused of whitewashing wartime atrocities. Another deciding factor was that the 1 billion yen ($8.3 million) — to create a foundation to help provide support for the victims — came from the govern- ment, not private sources, something Tokyo has re- sisted in the past. South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said Seoul considers the agreement "final and irre- versible," as long as Japan faithfully follows through with its promises. Later Monday, Abe called South Korean Pres- ident Park Geun-hye and reiterated his apology. He said Tokyo would imple- ment the deal and called the issue settled irrevers- ibly. Park said she hoped the two countries will build mutual trust and open a new era in ties based on the agreement. After phoning Park, Abe said that the agreement was based on his commit- ment to stop future gener- ations from having to re- peatedly apologize. "Japan and South Ko- rea are now entering a new era," Abe said. "We should not drag this problem into the next generation." Park issued a separate statement saying the deal was the result of her gov- ernment's best efforts to resolve the sex slave issue, given its urgency. "Most of victims are at an advanced age and nine died this year alone," she said. SKorea, Japan reach landmark sex slave deal WORLD WAR II Advertisement IfthiswasyourService Directory ad customers would be reading it right now!! Suzy 530-737-5056 Gayla 530-737-5044 For more information Landscape/Fence Steve's Tractor &LandscapeService •FenceBuilding•Landscaping • Trenching • Rototilling • Disking • Mowing • Ridging • Post Hole Digging • Blade Work • Sprinkler Installation • Concrete Work Cont. 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