Peshmerga fighters to deploy to Kobane with heavy weapons: Kurdish officials

An agreement regarding the route for the deployment of Peshmerga fighters to the besieged Syrian Kurdish town of Kobane has been reached and troops are on the verge of departing, officials from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) told Anadolu Agency on Oct. 28.

The spokesman of the KRG’s Peshmerga Ministry said discussions had dragged on because of negotiations regarding the heavy weaponry that the troops from Arbil will bring to assist Kurdish fighters in Kobane in their struggle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“All the preparations for our Peshmerga troops have ended. There were some technical issues for their departure. Now, all the planning and programming for their departure has concluded. They will depart as soon as possible,” KRG spokesman Halgort Hekmat said.

According to Kurdish security sources, the heavy weaponry will be conveyed by land while a group of fighters will fly to the southeastern Turkish province of Şanlıurfa before passing through a border corridor into Kobane. 

Hekmat said the heavy weaponry sent to Kobane does not include any weaponry given by coalition forces. He also rejected claims that the Peshmerga would only be training and providing logistical assistance to Kurdish fighters.

“The Peshmerga will fight in Kobane against ISIL,” he said, also thanking Ankara for its efforts for facilitating the deployment of the Peshmerga troops.

Meanwhile, Kurdish online newspaper Rudaw claimed that a group of Peshmerga forces will leave Arbil for Şanlıurfa in the early hours of Oct. 29. 
 [ hurriyetdailynews.com]
28/10/14

Kerry Says US Concerned About Reports on IS Chlorine Usage in Iraq

WASHINGTON, October 24 – The United States takes the reports about chlorine attacks against Iraqi police officers by the Islamic State (IS) extremists very seriously, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday.

"I'm not in a position to confirm it, but we take these allegations very, very seriously. In particularly, the most recent allegations about the use of chlorine as a chemical weapon," Kerry said at a joint press conference with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

Kerry explained that chlorine by itself is not on a chemical weapons list and therefore has not been removed from Syria by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission.

"When mixed in certain ways and used in certain ways it [chlorine] can become a chemical weapon that is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Agreement. We are seeking additional information in order to be able to determine whether or not we can confirm it," said Kerry.

On Thursday, The Washington Post reported that the September 15 chlorine attack against 11 Iraqi police officers appears to be the first confirmed use of chemical weapons by the IS.

In September, Iraqi media said that the IS militants fired the city of Dulu’iyya with shells that contained toxic substances, presumably chlorine.

The Islamic State is a Sunni jihadist group that has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, it launched an offensive in Iraq, seizing vast areas in both countries and announcing the establishment of an Islamic caliphate on the territories under its control.
(RIA Novosti)
24/10/14

Turkish government gets OK for military operations in Syria, Iraq. The mandate to begin tomorrow will last for one year.

A comprehensive motion authorizing the government to deploy the Turkish army into Iraq and Syria and to allow the deployment of foreign troops on Turkish soil was approved Oct. 2 in Parliament, providing the necessary legality for Turkey’s potential contribution to the international coalition’s efforts to destroy jihadists.

The motion, based on Article 92 of the Turkish Constitution, received 298 votes in favor and 98 against.

Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) lawmakers voted in favor of the motion while the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the People’s Democracy Party (HDP) voted against the mandate.

• The Iraq-Syria motion gives a green light for the use of Turkish troops in Iraq and Syria, as well as for foreign forces to be deployed on Turkish military bases and to transit through Turkish territory in operations against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants. The mandate to begin tomorrow will last for one year. The government merged two existing motions on Syria and Iraq into one, arguing that the threats and risks posed by terrorist organizations are using both countries’ territories. 

“The threat against Turkey has gained a new dimension. It’s our obligation to take measures against this threat and to protect our citizens in the frame of international law,” Defense Minister İsmet Yılmaz told Parliament. Yılmaz cited the efforts of the international coalition to battle against extremist jihadists in Syria and underlined that Turkey was also part of these efforts.

But just hours before the parliamentary session, Yılmaz stressed that the adoption of the motion did not mean that Turkey would take immediate steps in line with the scope of the motion. The three priorities Turkey has already outlined are to establish safe havens inside Syria to provide humanitarian assistance to Syrians in their own country, establish no-fly zones for the protection of these zones and train and provide logistics to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in Turkey. Turkey is yet to decide what measures it will take in this framework but it has made it clear that all such potential measures to be carried out with the participation of coalition forces should also target the Syrian government. 

‘Assad is the main source of unrest’

“The main source of ISIL is the Syrian regime,” Yılmaz said, adding that Damascus had increased its oppression against dissidents in the country, committing massacres against its own citizens in various ways. “The developments in Iraq have proven that there is a need of a holistic and comprehensive strategy to respond to the regional clashes and humanitarian tragedy. The region will be dragged into further conflict in the event the international community does not take a decisive step,” he added.

Mehmet Şandır, a deputy parliamentary group leader of the MHP, stressed that they were voting in favor of the motion because of their sensitivity to national causes and security while adding that that did not mean that it approved the ruling party’s foreign policy line. “If there is a possibility of an attack against our country, we should take measures to defend our country,” Şandır said.

CHP: Motion is a battle cry

Akif Hamzaçebi, deputy parliamentary group leader of the CHP, described the motion as a “battle cry” and stressed that it was not aimed at fighting against ISIL but the Bashar al-Assad regime, which could drag Turkey into war with Syria. “Where is ISIL in this motion? Mr. President was caught red-handed yesterday with his address to Parliament as he outlined that their main objective was to topple the regime,” Hamzaçebi said. “We simply do not want to draw Turkey into this fire.”

Faruk Loğoğlu, speaking on behalf of the CHP, termed the point Turkey arrived at a crossroads that would negatively affect the future of Turkey and the region. “This motion is the result of an adventurous foreign policy. And we should all vote against it,” Loğoğlu said.

HDP: Gov’t still supporting ISIL

Ertuğrul Kürkçü, a lawmaker from the HDP, argued that the Turkish government did have any concerns over ISIL’s existence in Iraq and Syria and that the motion was just an attempt to show off on behalf of Turkey for its regional ambitions. “You were bystanders to the ISIL massacres. You had no such issue until Barack Obama targeted ISIL,” Kürkçü said. “You were the ones who supported ISIL, and you are still supporting it.”

Linking the ongoing Kurdish resolution process to the clashes between ISIL and the Syrian Kurds’ Democratic Union Party (PYD) in the Kobane region of northern Syria, Kürkçü said, “If Kobane fails, the resolution process will also fail.” 
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-government-gets-ok-for-military-operations-in-syria-iraq.aspx?pageID=238&nID=72482&NewsCatID=338
2/10/14
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• Turkey’s ISIL mandate includes 'military action abroad, opening bases to foreign troops'

 

Turkey’s ISIL mandate includes 'military action abroad, opening bases to foreign troops'

The mandate the Turkish government is seeking from the Parliament to authorize the army to send troops into Iraq and Syria to deal with growing threat of extremist jihadists does also include opening its bases to foreign troops, a senior government official has said, signalling about potential Turkish contribution to the international military campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“The motion we are about to send the Parliament is going to be comprehensive and to deal today’s and tomorrow’s threats,” deputy Prime Minister and spokesperson of the government, Bülent Arınç told reporters Sept. 30 following weekly cabinet meeting.

Upon a question whether the motion to be sent to Parliament will include sending troops to foreign countries to establish security zones, to allow deployment of foreign troops and to open Turkish military bases to foreign troops, Arınç said “Let me include one more option: All. The motion will refer to all of these points you have asked.”

“We are a determined government. We perfectly know what’s going on inside and outside Turkey. This issue of security zone and other issues all have diplomatic and military reflections,” he added.

After another question, Arınç said that the ISIL militants are advancing on Suleyman Shah Tomb in northern Syria, which Turkish soldiers continue to guard.

• Turkey is insisting to establish safe havens in Syria for the protection of Syrian refugees inside the country. Apart from a security zone, it does also ask coalition members led by the United States to establish no-fly zones over Syrian airspace.   

The motion is based on Article 92 of Turkey's Constitution that stipulates parliamentary authorization for sending troops to another country or to allow deployment of foreign troops on Turkish soils.

Arınç said the motion has two parts, its reasoning and demands from the Parliament, and underlined that it will be as comprehensive as possible so that the government will not need a fresh parliamentary mandate.

“We were planning to extend already existing motions on Iraq and Syria that will expiry in October. Their validity could be extended in a routine way but we have thought to work on a text merging these motions that would address all threats and risks Turkey is facing in its region,” Arınç stressed.

The motion is expected to be voted at the Parliament on Oct. 2 following a closed session due to sensitivity of the issue.
[hurriyetdailynews.com]
30/9/14

US-led airstrikes fail to deter ISIS advance

US-led coalition air raids targeted areas in Syria controlled by the Islamic State (IS) group Monday, but the group continue to advance on the strategic town of Kobani.

Washington and its Arab allies opened their air assault against the Islamic State extremist group last week, going after its military facilities, training camps, heavy weapons and oil installations. The campaign expands upon the airstrikes the United States has been conducting against the militants in Iraq since early August.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said coalition forces hit IS group, also known as ISIS and ISIL, facilities overnight in Aleppo, Raqqa, Hassakeh and Deir el-Zour provinces. It said there were casualties, including civilians, but did not have exact figures.

Meanwhile, IS group fighters closed in Monday to within only a few kilometres of a key Kurdish town on Syria’s border with Turkey, despite continued airstrikes by the US-led coalition.

The jihadists managed to advance within five kilometres (three miles) of the strategic Syrian town of Ain al-Arab, known as Kobane to the Kurds, the Observatory said.

The Britain-based monitoring group said it was the closest IS group militants had come to the town since they began advancing toward it nearly two weeks ago.

The jihadists fired at least 15 rockets at the town centre, killing at least one person, as they advanced, the Observatory said, adding that other rockets hit the Syrian-Turkish border.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s government said it would ask parliament to debate joining the coalition against the jihadists operating on the country’s doorstep from as early as Thursday.

Civilian casualties

One of the coalition strikes hit a grain silo in the extremist-held town of Manbij in Aleppo province, setting it ablaze. Observatory director Rami Abdurrahman said the strike on the grain silo killed civilians, but he didn’t have an exact number.

“They killed only civilians there, workers at the site. There was no ISIS inside,” he said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group. The airstrikes “destroyed the food that was stored there.”

US military says it targeted IS vehicles adjacent to grain storage facility in Syria and that there was no evidence of civilian casualties.

Strikes touch Turkish border, Syria’s largest gas plant

In Deir el-Zour province, a strike overnight attributed to the coalition hit the entrance to the Conoco gas plant, Syria’s largest, according to the Observatory, although the facility itself was not damaged.

More raids Monday morning struck the town of Tel Abyad on the Syria-Turkey border, according to a resident on the Turkish side on the frontier.

Mehmet Ozer told The Associated Press by telephone that the raids had hit an abandoned military base and an empty school, sending pillars of smoke and dust into the air. He said Islamic State fighters cleared out of the military base about three or four months ago.

“They (the coalition) must not have fresh intelligence,” Ozer said.

Two shells from the fighting on the Syrian side of the border landed on Turkish soil in the town of Suruc, an AP journalist on the frontier said. Turkey’s military moved tanks away from the army post in the area, positioning them instead on a hill overlooking the border.

IS attacks continue despite mobilised international community

The IS group has seized control of a huge chunk of Syria and neighbouring Iraq, and has declared the establishment of a self-styled caliphate ruled by its strict interpretation of Shariah law.

Its brutal tactics, which include mass killings and beheadings, have helped galvanize the international community to react with military intervention.

The US-led campaign aims to roll back the extremists’ gains in Syria and Iraq, and ultimately to destroy the group.

The coalition includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan. Several European countries also are contributing to US efforts to strike the IS in Iraq, including France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium and Britain.

However, despite the international efforts, Islamic State fighters have pressed ahead with their offensive against Syria’s Kurds in the city of Ayn Arab, also known as Kobani, on the Turkish border.

Ismet Sheikh Hassan, a senior official in the Kobani region for the Kurdish militia, said the extremists fired rockets and tank shells at the city from the southeast, while some 1,000 militants amassed to the west. He said a 50-year-old woman was killed by the shelling.

More than 100,000 people have fled across the border to Turkey to escape the onslaught, while the US-led coalition on Saturday targeted the attacking Islamic State fighters for the first time to try to stem their advance.

Civilian casualties in airstrikes

The purported civilian casualties in Manbij would add to the 19 civilians that the Observatory says have already been killed in the coalition airstrikes. The Observatory gathers its information from a network of activists across Syria.

On Sunday, Human Rights Watch said that it had confirmed the deaths of at least seven civilians- two women and five children from apparent US missile strikes on Sept. 23 in the village of Kafr Derian in Idlib province. The New York-based group said two men were also killed in the strikes, but that they may have been militants.

It based its conclusions on conversations with three local residents.

“The United States and its allies in Syria should be taking all feasible precautions to avoid harming civilians,” said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The US government should investigate possible unlawful strikes that killed civilians, publicly report on them, and commit to appropriate redress measures in case of wrongdoing.”
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP)
http://www.france24.com/en/20140929-syria-airstrikes-coalition-kobani-islamic-state/
29/9/14
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• US to strike ISIL 'sanctuaries' in Syria

• Obama vows more strikes on ISIL in Syria. (the US is not fighting alone)

• Secret UK plan to "train 100,000 Syria rebels" exposed. (at bases in Turkey and Jordan)

 

Obama vows more strikes on ISIL in Syria. (the US is not fighting alone)

US President Barack Obama has said that the participation of five Arab nations in Syria airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters "makes it clear to the world this is not America's fight alone".
In a short statement on Tuesday, hours after the first US-led airstrikes hit the group's headquarters in eastern Syria, Obama vowed to continue the fight, which he said was vital to the security of the United States, the Middle East and the world.

"Once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people," Obama said on Tuesday before leaving the White House for the United Nations in New York.
He said the joint fight against ISIL would take time, pledging to build more international support for the effort.
He added that the US was proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates in conducting the strikes.

'Lengthy campaign'
The US-led military coalition launched the airstrikes early on Tuesday, pounding strongholds of the ISIL fighters across northern and eastern Syria.
The opening salvo hit in what Obama warned to be a lengthy campaign aiming to defeat the group who have seized control of a huge swath of territory spanning the Syria-Iraq border.
The air campaign expanded to also hit al-Qaeda's branch in Syria, known as the al-Nusra Front, which has fought against ISIL. Washington considers it a terror group threatening the US.
Syria's Foreign Ministry said Washington told Damascus' envoy to the United Nations of the impending raids shortly before they began. It also said US Secretary of State John Kerry passed a message through Iraq's foreign minister to Syria's top diplomat to inform Damascus of the plans.
John Kirby, spokesman for the Pentagon, said on Tuesday that more than 160 munitions were fired on ISIL targets in Syria. He said that the US had no indication so far that any civilians were killed during the strikes, adding that assessments were under way.

Strikes on training compounds
The US and five Arab countries began their airstrikes on the group's targets in Syria around 3 am on Tuesday Syrian time. 
Bahrain and the UAE confirmed the Gulf role, saying their air forces struck "terrorist sites and positions."
A Jordanian government spokesman also confirmed his country's air forces took part, accusing the ISIL of trying to infiltrate its borders.
"We will not hesitate to take further actions to target and kill terrorists who are trying to attack our country," said Mohammad al-Momani, a government spokesman.
The strikes hit the group's training compounds and command centers, storage facilities and vehicles in its de facto capital Raqqa, in northeastern Syria, and the surrounding province as well as the stretch of territory controlled by the group in eastern Syria leading to the Iraqi border, including the areas of Deir el-Zour, Abu Kamal and Hasaka, according to US officials.

'Silently slaughtered'
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 70 ISIL fighters were killed and more than 300 wounded in Raqqa and the east. The Observatory has a network of activists around the country.
Rami Abdurrahman, the head of the Observatory, said about 22 airstrikes hit Raqqa province in addition to 30 in Deir el-Zour province.
Among the targets was a military air base captured by the extremists in the town of Tabqa and the town of Tel Abyad on the border with Turkey, the Observatory and another media collective reported.
The collective, entitled "Raqqa is being silently slaughtered," said the strikes also hit the governorate headquarters in Raqqa and the Brigade 93 Syrian army base, both controlled by the Islamic State group.
Further west, the strikes hit the village of Kfar Derian, a al-Nusra Front stronghold.
Around a dozen al-Nusra Front fighters were killed as well as 10 civilians, according to two activists based in nearby Aleppo, Mohammed al-Dughaim and Abu Raed. One of the group's best snipers, known as Abu Youssef al-Turki, was among those killed, al-Dughaim said.
An amateur video posted online on Tuesday shows explosions said to be from airstrikes going off at night in an open area near Kfar Derian. Another video taken in daylight shows locals standing on a massive, dusty pile of shattered concrete blocks and twisted rebar. Some villagers can be seen standing on a rooftop next door gazing at the wreckage.
[aljazeera.com]
23/9/14

US to strike ISIL 'sanctuaries' in Syria

US plans to carry out air strikes against Islamic State and the Levant (ISIL) fighters in Syria and will target the group's sanctuaries, command centres and logistic networks, Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel has told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

"This plan includes targeted actions against ISIL safe havens in Syria, including its command and control, logistics capabilities, and infrastructure," Hagel told the Committee on Tuesday.
But the US military's top-ranking officer, General Martin Dempsey, told the same hearing that the bombing would not resemble the large-scale raids that accompanied the start of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq.


Commanders at the time dubbed the campaign a bid to provoke "shock and awe" among ex-president Saddam Hussein's troops.
"This will not look like 'shock and awe' because that is not how ISIL is organised, but it will be persistent and sustainable," Dempsey said.
Military leaders warned of a further escalation in their battle against ISIL just as two branches of the rival al-Qaeda group called for a united front against the war coalition Washington is building.

• US warplanes have been targeting the group's fighters in northern Iraq since August 8, and in recent days hit its fighters southwest of Baghdad for the first time, in a significant expansion of the campaign.

• The US strikes against ISIL fighters in the Sadr al-Yusufiyah area, 25km from Baghdad, was the first in support of Iraqi forces near the capital.

They bring the number of US air strikes across Iraq to 162. The CIA estimates that the ISIL may be able to field as many as 31,500 fighters - many of them foreign volunteers.
Obama has vowed to expand American efforts and US diplomats are scrambling to put together an international coalition for a "relentless" campaign against ISIL.
The slow coming together of this alliance drew a fierce reaction from al-Qaeda's branches in Yemen and in North Africa, who said jihadist forces must also unite against the common threat.
In a joint statement, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) urged their "brothers" in Iraq and Syria to "stop killing each other and unite against the American campaign and its evil coalition that threatens us all."
 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/09/us-strike-isil-sanctuaries-syria-2014916155412432503.html
16/9/14
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UN declares Iraq emergency amid clashes

Declaration of emergency will bring in more funds and aid for those displaced by fighting in the country....

The United Nations has declared its highest level of emergency in Iraq as fresh clashes between government troops and Sunni rebels killed four children west of Baghdad.
Fighting erupted early on Thursday in the rebel-held city of Fallujah, about 65km west of Baghdad.
The clashes on the city's northern outskirts killed four children, along with a woman and at least 10 fighters, said Fallujah hospital director Ahmed Shami.

Fallujah has been in the hands of the Islamic State since early January, when the group seized much of Western Anbar province along with parts of the provincial capital of Ramadi.
The fighting came as the UN declared the situation in Iraq a "Level 3 Emergency" - a development that will trigger additional goods, funds and assets to respond to the needs of the displaced, said UN special representative Nickolay Mladenov, pointing to the "scale and complexity of the current humanitarian catastrophe."
The Security Council also said it was backing a newly nominated premier-designate in the hope that he can swiftly form an "inclusive government'' that could counter the threat from rebels, which has plunged Iraq into its worst crisis since the US troop withdrawal in 2011.
Tens of thousands of Yazidis fled the Islamic State group's advance to take refuge in the remote desert Sinjar mountain range.

The US and Iraqi military have dropped food and water supplies, and in recent days Kurds from neighbouring Syria battled to open a corridor to the mountain, allowing some 45,000 to escape.

• On Thursday, President Barack Obama said the US had broken the siege on Sinjar Mountain, but that airstrikes would continue.

Speaking at Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, Obama said US operations helped thousands of civilians flee down the mountain, and that it was unlikely that more airdrops of food and water would be needed.
The UN said it would provide increased support to those who had escaped Sinjar and to 400,000 other Iraqis who had fled since June to the Kurdish province of Dahuk. Others have fled to other parts of the Kurdish region or further south.
A total of 15 million have been displaced by the fighting since the rebels captured Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul, in June and quickly swept over other parts of the country.
The United States has been carrying out airstrikes in recent days against Islamic State fighters, helping fend back their advance on Kurdish regions.

Political turmoil
Meanwhile, Iraq's central government in Baghdad continued to be mired in political turmoil, after the president nominated a Shia politician, Haider al-Abadi, to form the next government, putting him on track to replace embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Al-Maliki on Wednesday said he would not relinquish power until a federal court rules on what he called a "constitutional violation" by President Fouad Massoum.
Al-Maliki insists he should have a third term in office but he is appearing increasingly isolated as the international community lines up behind al-Abadi, who has 30 days to come up with a proposal for a cabinet.
The UN Security Council urged al-Abadi to work swiftly to form "an inclusive government that represents all segments of the Iraqi population and that contributes to finding a viable and sustainable solution to the country's current challenges."
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/un-declares-iraq-emergency-amid-clashes-201481413510196963.html
14/8/14
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• Iraq's new PM backed by US, Iran

• Obama warns Iraq operation could take time

Iraq's new PM backed by US, Iran

Iraq's new prime minister-designate won swift endorsements from uneasy mutual allies the United States and Iran today as he called on political leaders to end crippling feuds that have let jihadists seize a third of the country.
Haider al-Abadi still faces opposition closer to home, where his Shi'ite party colleague Nuri al-Maliki has refused to step aside after eight years as premier that have alienated Iraq's once dominant Sunni minority and irked Washington and Tehran.

However, Shi'ite militia and army commanders long loyal to Maliki signalled their backing for the change, as did many people on the streets of Baghdad, eager for an end to fears of a further descent into sectarian and ethnic bloodletting.

As Western powers and international aid agencies considered further help for tens of thousands of people driven from their homes and under threat from the Sunni militants of the Islamic State near the Syrian border, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would consider requests for military and other assistance once Abadi forms a government to unite the country.

Underscoring the convergence of interest in Iraq that marks the normally hostile relationship between Washington and Iran, senior Iranian officials congratulated Abadi on his nomination, three months after a parliamentary election left Maliki's bloc as the biggest in the legislature. Like Western powers, Shi'ite Iran is alarmed by Sunni militants' hold in Syria and Iraq.

"Iran supports the legal process that has taken its course with respect to choosing Iraq's new prime minister," the representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the Supreme National Security Council was quoted as saying.
"Iran favours a cohesive, integrated and secure Iraq," he said, adding an apparent appeal to Maliki to concede.

Abadi himself, long exiled in Britain, is seen as a far less polarising, sectarian figure than Maliki, who is also from the Shi'ite Islamic Dawa party. Abadi appears to have the blessing of Iraq's powerful Shi'ite clergy, a major force in the land since U.S. troops toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iraqi state television said Abadi "called on all political powers who believe in the constitution and democracy to unite efforts and close ranks to respond to Iraq's great challenges".
One politician close to Abadi told Reuters that the prime minister-designate had begun contacting leaders of major groups to sound them out on forming a new cabinet. The president said on Monday he hoped he would succeed within the next month.
Maliki angrily dismissed Abadi's nomination on Monday as illegal. But there was no further sign of opposition on Tuesday.

A statement from a major Shi'ite militia group, Asaib Ahl Haq, which has backed Maliki and reinforced the Iraqi army as it fell back from the north in June, called for an end to the legalistic arguments of the kind used by Maliki to justify his retaining power and urged "self-restraint by all sides".
It said leaders should "give priority to the public interest over the private" and respect the guidance of clerical leaders - a clear reference to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's indication that he favours the removal of Maliki to address the national crisis.
 http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/166930/iraqs-new-pm-backed-by-us-iran
12/8/14
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***Photo: Iraqi President Fuad Masum (2nd L) shakes hands with deputy parliamentary speaker Haidar al-Abadi (R) after he was tasked with forming a government during a brief ceremony broadcast on state television.

Kurdish President: Conditions Favorable for Independence. (The Kurds tried to help build “a new Iraq.”)

As Iraq’s attempts at building a new government failed on Tuesday, Kurdish President Massoud Barzani said he would push for a referendum on independence for Kurdistan.

Barzani spoke with VOA's Persian service on Tuesday in Irbil, the largest city in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The Iraqi army has struggled against offensives by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic militant group that has captured large sections of Iraq’s north and west.

When the Iraqi army abandoned the city of Kirkuk, Kurdish peshmerga stepped in to defend the city, as well as other northern towns deserted by Iraqi forces.

The Kurds are exerting control over a larger part of the region, which is behind an increased push for independence.

“This is a natural right that must be achieved,” Barzani said, adding that he hopes to conduct a referendum within months. “ I believe now the conditions are also favorable for independence. … Once achieved, we will help our brethren in Iraq, within our capabilities, to help Iraq maybe surmount the current crisis.

“But this does not mean that we will set aside the independence of Kurdistan,” he added. “A referendum in Kurdish areas will determine our ultimate decision. We will implement whatever the people decide.”

'A new Iraq'

As far as what the future holds for Iraq, Barzani said, “I doubt if Iraq will go back to what it was. Maybe only God knows what will happen.”

He said that in 2003, with the downfall of former Iraq President Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime, the Kurds tried to help build “a new Iraq.”

An Iraq “in which everyone’s rights and duties were well defined … in order to build a democratic, federal, multi-party Iraq,” he said.

However, that didn’t happen, Barzani said.

“If a democratic, federal, Iraq would have taken shape, and Kurdish rights had not been violated, no one would have thought about independence,” he said.

The country today finds itself split along ethnic and secular lines, as witnessed Tuesday in Iraq’s parliament session, which ended quickly after Sunnis and Kurds walked out.

They complained that the Shi'ites had failed to nominate a prime minister, a condition they had set for revealing their nominees for speaker.

Respect for Kurds

Barzani said there are conditions that must be met before the Kurds will help in supporting the current Iraqi government.

“The Kurds did not bring about the dangerous situation (that threatens) the integrity of Iraq,” he said. “We have not partitioned Iraq, rather, it was others who brought about this catastrophe and broke up Iraq into pieces. And that is why those who created this situation must resolve it as well.“

Barzani said that for years, Kurds have been treated as “second- and third-class citizens. That is why, from now on, we will not accept such treatment," adding that this is another reason he is pushing for independence for the Kurdish people.....................http://www.voanews.com/content/kurdish-president-conditions-are-favorable-for-independence/1949439.html
2/7/14
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Related:

• ISIS positions in Iraq bombed by unknown planes (a new reality and a new Iraq)

• Le chaos en Irak pousse les Kurdes vers l'indépendance

• Obama: Iraq has to solve its own problems

ISIS positions in Iraq bombed by unknown planes (a new reality and a new Iraq)

The positions of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, ISIL) in the northern Iraqi city of al-Qaim were bombed by unknown fighter planes on Tuesday.

The White House denied U.S. planes carried out the airstrikes after an Iraqi television station reported that U.S. jets were behind the bombings.

Tribal sources told Al Arabiya News that Syrian fighter planes carried out the raids.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s air force has bombed Baiji - about 200km north of Baghdad, where ISIS fighters seized an oil refinery, according to Al Arabiya's correspondent.


Also on Tuesday, Iraq’s ambassador to Tehran said that the Iraqi government has not asked Iran for help against Sunni militants, Agence France-Presse reported.

The remarks by Mohammad Madjid al-Sheikh came after Iranian leaders repeatedly said they were ready to assist Baghdad against the insurgency that has taken control of a large swathe of Iraqi territory.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held crisis talks with leaders of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday urging them to stand with Baghdad in the face of the waves of insurgency gripping the country.

• During his visit, Kerry was warned by Kurdish President Massoud Barzani that the rapid advances made by insurgents had already created “a new reality and a new Iraq,” signaling that the U.S. faces major difficulties in its efforts to promote unity among the country's divided factions, the Associated Press reported.

The U.N., meanwhile, said more than 1,000 people, most civilians, have been killed in Iraq so far this month, the highest death toll since the U.S. military withdrew from the country in December 2011.

Last Update: Tuesday, 24 June 2014 KSA 21:19 - GMT 18:19 

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/06/24/U-S-planes-bombs-ISIS-positions-on-Iraqi-Syria-border.html

24/6/14

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Related:

• Le chaos en Irak pousse les Kurdes vers l'indépendance

• Obama: Iraq has to solve its own problems

• Iraq Warns Turkey Over Kurdistan Oil Ties.

• Türkisches Parlament verlängert Mandat für Militäroperationen im Nordirak/Turkish Parliament approves northern Iraq motion despite opposition from BDP.

 

Obama: Iraq has to solve its own problems

President says US troops will not be sent back to Iraq, but his administration is reviewing options to assist Baghdad....

President Barack Obama has said that the United States will not be sending its troops back to Iraq, but is reviewing other options to assist the Iraqi government threatened by an advancing armed group.
"We will not be sending US troops back into combat in Iraq, but I have asked my national security team to prepare a range of other options that could help support Iraqi security forces," Obama said on Friday.

"The US will do our part, but ultimately it's up to the Iraqis, as a sovereign nation, to solve their problems," he said speaking at the White House lawn.
He said that the Islamic State of Iraq and The Levant (ISIL) has made significant gains in Iraq and that the armed group had overrun part of the country. 
The threat by ISIL fighters in Iraq poses a danger to the people of Iraq and also, potentially Americans, Obama said.

Administration officials said Obama was considering airstrikes using drones or manned aircraft. Other short-term options include an increase in surveillance and intelligence gathering, including satellite coverage and other monitoring efforts.
The US also is likely to increase various forms of aid to Iraq, including money, military training and both lethal and non-lethal equipment. 

Obama added that Iraq's government must make a sincere effort to address sectarian differences, or else US military help would not succeed in curbing the violence there.
He suggested it could take several days before the administration finalises its response to the situation on the ground.
The last US troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011 after more than eight years of war.
[aljazeera.com]
13/6/14
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• Italian Catholic community warns Christians at risk in Iraq. - 400,000 Christians live in the Niniveh province

• Iraq: Pillay warns of “acute vulnerability” of civilians caught in cross-fire, targeted in attacks or trapped in ISIL-controlled areas

Italian Catholic community warns Christians at risk in Iraq. - 400,000 Christians live in the Niniveh province

An Italian Catholic community warned Wednesday of violence against Christians in Iraq, where a jihadist takeover in Mosul has seen as many as half a million people flee their homes.

"From the sketchy information coming out of Mosul it appears Christians are once more the victims of terrorism and bloodshed," the Sant'Egidio community, which promotes dialogue between religions, said in a statement.

"An explosion of extremist violence is putting at risk a project of religious integration and social development, based on coexistence and collaboration between Christians and Muslims," it said.

Militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and their allies on Tuesday seized Mosul and surrounding Nineveh province, and militants have since then captured a large swathe of northern and north-central Iraq.

As many as half a million Iraqis fled their homes in Mosul as ISIL vowed on its Twitter account "not to stop this series of blessed offensives."

Sant'Egidio, which said around half of Iraq's 400,000 Christians live in the Niniveh province, described reports of "numerous victims" and attacks on "sacred buildings, churches and convents, which have been set alight."

Sant'Egidio called on the international community and the Iraqi government "to do everything possible to interrupt the spiral of violence."

• Known for its ruthless tactics and suicide bombers, ISIL is arguably the most capable force fighting President Bashar al-Assad inside Syria as well as the most powerful militant group in Iraq.

• ISIL is led by the shadowy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and backed by thousands of Islamist fighters in Syria and Iraq, many of them Westerners.

It appears to be surpassing Al-Qaeda as the world's most dangerous jihadist group.
AFP
[dailystar.com.lb]
11/6/14