Bombs kill at least 35 across Iraq a day after mosque shooting. Oil field burns after ISIS retreat

Oil field burns after ISIS retreat A Kurdish tank faces toward ISIS lines on Aug. 26, 2014, a few kilometers away from the Khazir refugee camp, half way between Erbil and Mosul. (VIANNEY LE CAER/Pacific Press/LightRocket/Getty Images) By Kamaran al-Najar, Mohammed Hussein, Ben Lando, Ben Van Heuvelen and Staff of Iraq Oil Report Published Thursday, August 28th, 2014 Flames have engulfed oil facilities at the Ain Zalah field, in Iraq's Ninewa province, after extremist militants fled the area following an offensive by Kurdish Peshmerga forces backed by ongoing U.S. air strikes.The Peshmerga also captured the nearby town of Zummar, just west of the Mosul Dam, which sits along a main road between Ain Zalah and Mosul, according to a Peshmerga officer, local residents, and a senior official from Iraq's state-run North Oil Company (NOC).Militants have co... ============== Shiite volunteers, who have joined the Iraqi army to fight against militants of the Islamic State, carry a picture of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in Najaf, Aug. 16, 2014. (photo by REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani) How did Sistani succeed in ousting Maliki? The political behavior of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is characterized by composure, planning and continuity of work. In the past few years, he has carried out a large share of his projects through such behavior. For some time it was thought that Sistani had lost the political game to former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, after the latter completely took control over internal affairs and created close ties with external actors who are influential in Iraq, in such a way that was expected to grant him another four years in power. Summary⎙ Print Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani's fortitude, persistence and commitment to a more inclusive Iraqi democracy, along with his outreach to Iran, thwarted Nouri al-Maliki's attempt to serve a third term as prime minister. Author Ali Mamouri Posted August 20, 2014 Translator(s)Steffi Chakti Maliki warned Sistani to give up on his political demands, as the latter spoke of the necessity of Maliki stepping down to create political consensus among the different components of the new government. Maliki also galvanized religious guides who are opposed to Sistani and persuaded them to directly support him. This, however, did not foil the meticulous planning of Sistani, which he has been developing for a long time to protect the democratic process in Iraq. The role that Sistani plays is delicate and difficult and stirs, at times, controversy; there is debate as to whether religious figures have the right to take political positions in a country where the people elect representatives to take political decisions. Maliki referred to this electoral process in strongly opposing Sistani's demands. However, it is impossible to properly debate this issue without taking into account the social situation in Iraq, the course of democratic rotation of power in the country and the political work style of Sistani. Iraq is still a collective society, in which political decisions are made by societal authority: tribal leaders, clerics and the like who have influence over political decision-making. This poses a challenge to the democratic process in the country as elections constitute a tool that influential social figures use to preserve and expand their power. It is also used to remove democracy’s true character, which stipulates that people make free decisions. This social characteristic of Iraqi society has constituted a real challenge for Sistani, who strove to aid the democratic course without being embroiled in the political work. Such an embroilment would contradict Sistani’s principles and beliefs that Iraq should adopt a civil, nonreligious system of governance. Post-2003, Sistani tried to face this challenge by taking on the role of mediator between the people and the government on the one hand, and between the political parties participating in the government. His door was always open for all ethnic and religious components, and he closely followed up their legitimate demands. At the same time, he did not take sides as he endeavored to find a common ground between all the parties and ensured that they all participate in the governance in order to protect the country’s stability. When it comes to the recent crisis, it would have been easy for Sistani to call for Maliki to step down through the Shiite parties in parliament that are affiliated with him, or by calling on civil disobedience which would have led to the toppling of Maliki within a few hours. Sistani, however, called on Maliki to step down and did not ask the Shiite opposition to take a strong stance that would render the situation tenser than it already was. Moreover, Sistani did not intervene in the political agreements between the parties and coalitions. He did so to avoid contradicting his principles. Sistani, through his statements and the speeches of his deputies, insisted on national consensus. He called on Shiite parties to name a consensus candidate so that the Kurds and Sunnis would feel that the prime minister is for all. He also warned against clinging to the seat of power, especially on the part of those who are not accepted by everyone. All political parties figured that Sistani was alluding to Maliki, who wanted to impose himself on the parties who oppose him — which included Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis. On July 9, Sistani sent a letter, whose content was disclosed to Al-Monitor, to the Dawa Party, which plays a central role in the ruling State of Law Coalition, demanding the acceleration of the process of naming a consensus figure and the non-insistence on a figure that other parties oppose. The Dawa Party did not reveal this letter at the time for fear that it might negatively impact Maliki’s third term. The efforts of Sistani prevented Maliki from monopolizing power and compelling his rivals to succumb to his will. Choosing an alternative, however, was a thorny issue due to the intransigence of Iran in supporting Maliki. An Iranian source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al-Monitor that Sistani informed Iranian authorities through his office in Qom that he refused Iranian interference in choosing the Iraqi prime minister. He asked Iran not to impose pressures on Shiite parties to talk them out of naming someone other than Maliki. The Iranian leadership was then persuaded to give up on Maliki even though Qassem Soleimani, the Iranian official who is in charge of the Iraqi issue, was still insisting on renewing Maliki’s term. This is why Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, was assigned to communicate with the Iraqi parties to facilitate the naming of an alternative candidate instead of Soleimani, who previously took on similar tasks. After an agreement was reached over the new candidate, and internal and external obstacles were lifted, Maliki was still insisting on his right to a third term. According to Al-Monitor’s sources, Sistani was ready to adopt a stronger stance in the face of Maliki’s resistance during his Aug. 15 Friday sermon. The leading members of the Dawa Party knew, through mediators, that Sistani's stance would be decisive in case Maliki clung to power, especially after a national consensus was reached on Haider al-Abadi. This led Maliki to announce he was stepping down Aug. 14, a day before the Friday sermon. Sistani is playing the role of protector of the democratic course in Iraq. He does this by relying on the societal influence he draws from the religious power he has over a large spectrum of Iraqi society. However, this remarkable characteristic of Sistani is not guaranteed to be found in his successors. Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/iraq-sistani-democratic-ways-successors-maliki.html#ixzz3BHCrLe9Z ===== Bomb explodes in Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil : local TV Sat, Aug 23 12:35 PM EDT ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) - A bomb exploded on Saturday in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, a relatively stable region which has recently come under threat from advancing Islamic State militants, local television network Rudaw reported. TV footage from the scene showed firefighters dousing the charred remains of a car, which blew up outside a technical college on the road from Arbil to Kirkuk. Several people were wounded but none killed in the blast, Rudaw said. Kurdish security forces have been on high alert since Islamic State militants overran large swathes of Iraq, opening a more than 1,000 km-long (600-mile) front with the semi-autonomous region. The last major attack in Arbil was in September, when militants launched a coordinated suicide and car bomb attack on the headquarters of the security services. Kurdistan's relative security has attracted some of the world's largest oil companies including ExxonMobil and Chevron Corp to the region, but many of them have put their operations on hold or withdrawn staff since the Islamic State sweep earlier this month. (Reporting by Isabel Coles; Editing by Michael Georgy) ================= Qatar condemns Islamic State and rejects funding accusations Sat, Aug 23 12:35 PM EDT LONDON (Reuters) - Qatar condemned on Saturday the Islamic State's "barbaric" murder of U.S. journalist James Foley and flatly rejected accusations of giving financial support to the militant group. Foreign Minister Khaled al-Attiyah's comments came a day after the German government apologized for remarks by a minister accusing Qatar of financing Islamic State militants. Attiyah described the recent comments as ill-informed.

"Qatar does not support extremist groups, including ISIS, in any way. We are repelled by their views, their violent methods and their ambitions," he said in a statement released in London. "The vision of extremist groups for the region is one that we have not, nor will ever, support in any way."

Qatar has previously denied supporting Islamist insurgents who have seized wide areas of northern Iraq, northern and eastern Syria. But diplomats and opposition sources say while Qatar supports relatively moderate rebels also backed by Saudi Arabia and the West, it also has backed more hardline factions seeking to set up a strict Islamic state. Attiyah said Qatar's goal was to do all it could to see peace and justice across the region and called for collective action to end the violence in Iraq and Syria. He urged the Iraqi government to provide safety and security for its citizens and vowed that Qatar, a tiny but wealthy Gulf Arab state, would continue to provide humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people. "The killing of innocent civilians and the forced flight of hundreds of thousands of people threatens the very existence of Iraq and the peace and security of the entire region," he said. "So while, along with many other countries from the Middle East and wider international community, we have supported the Syrian opposition to the Assad regime, we do not fund ISIS or other extremist factions." (Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, Editing by Rosalind Russell) So #Iraq media is (once more) reporting #ISIS fleeing Yet another Sunni bloc (from Anbar) suspends #Iraq govt formation negotiations protesting #Diyala mosque attack. Amid violence, Shia alliance and Kurds meet. "Agree to present negotiation demands shortly". Sounds very 2010. Maliki orders investigatory committee after Sunni Diyala mosque attack; seems to acknowledge Shia involvement. The US govt seems less interested in rescuing the Shia Turkmen of #Amerli than the Yazidis of Sinjar. To #ISIS, they're the same. Calls for greater consistency in US humanitarian intervention in #Iraq: Why Jabal Sinjar but not #Amerli? #Iraq PM designate @HaiderAlAbadi met with Turkish ambassador in Baghdad (@frkkymkc) today. This is good news. In forming next #Iraq govt, @HaiderAlAbadi is assisted by committee of 7 Shia alliance leaders, 4 from Maliki bloc. Sunni politicians sounding upbeat about ongoing negotiations to form new government by @HaiderAlAbadi. #Iraq army today reportedly sending military forces to break #ISIS siege of mainly Turkmen town of Amerli (Salahadin). Asymmetry in #ISIS victim protection - James Foley vs thousands of Iraqis and Syrians - is sadly becoming a worrisome subject in itself. Imams in #Haditha urge citizens to revolt against #ISIS and to confront secterianism — Iraq. http://bit.ly/1AIWz23 #Maliki requested Peshmerga deployment to #Kirkuk: #KRG spokesman Erbil, Asharq Al-Awsat—Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) spokesman Fouad Hussein informed Asharq Al-Awsat that Peshmerga forces had deployed to the Iraqi city of Kirkuk to combat the encroaching presence of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters on the basis of a request from outgoing Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) had faced criticism from some sections of Iraqi following the troops deployment, with some saying that the Kurdish forces were exploiting ISIS’s presence to take control of the disputed city. Peshmerga forces were deployed to Kirkuk—which many Kurds view as the historic capital of Kurdistan—to repel ISIS’s northwards advance following the terrorist group’s capture of Mosul last month. However KRG spokesman has now said that the Peshmerga’s deployment was based on a request from the office of the prime minister. He told Asharq Al-Awsat: “On July 10, Hamid Al-Mousawi, the executive director of Maliki’s office, telephoned me. He said that he was speaking on behalf of the prime minister and requested that Peshmerga forces enter Kirkuk because there were fears that ISIS was going to take control of the city. I said, ‘Very well, we will enter to protect Kirkuk.’ Therefore, this means that the Peshmerga forces entered the city at Maliki’s request.” “If ISIS had been able to gain control of Kirkuk, this would have been a massive calamity for the Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, They would have been able to gain control of the oil wells and pipeline,” he added. Hussein outlined the current situation on the ground in northern Iraq, stressing that Kurdish Peshmerga forces are on the advance. “The threat from ISIS towards the [Kurdistan] region remains present, but at the same time we are resisting. Although there have been some setbacks due to operational flaws, [but] the Peshmerga forces have been restructured and now the operation is taking place at the hands or regional forces while the terrorist ISIS forces are in retreat,” Hussein told Asharq Al-Awsat. “The front-lines of our confrontation with ISIS extends approximately 1,500 km from the outskirts of Mosul to south of [the city of] Khanaqin. The confrontation today is taking place on the outskirts of Mosul after we liberated and took control of Mosul dam, while there are also confrontations taking place on the outskirts of Kirkuk and Jalula,” he added. =========== Sunnis do not believe Abadi is solution to Iraq's crises Sheikh Mohammed al-Bajari, a member of the local council in Fallujah — the city west of Baghdad in Anbar province that has been under heavy shelling and military operations for over 18 months now — said he does not believe “Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stepping down and Haider al-Abadi designated to form the new government will solve the Sunnis’ problem with the federal government in Baghdad.” Summary⎙ Print Members of the local council in Anbar province say that replacing Nouri al-Maliki with Haider al-Abadi will not solve the problems Sunnis have endured under Maliki’s rule. Author Omar al-Jaffal Posted August 21, 2014 Translator(s)Cynthia Milan Bajari described Maliki’s stepping down and Abadi’s designation as “a simple change of faces.” Both Sunni and Shiite political blocs believe Maliki’s methods of exclusion against Sunnis in Iraq, besides limiting the political decision-making to himself, aggravated the security situation.” Since last December, Anbar province has been witnessing large-scale military operations, conducted by the army against the Islamic State (IS), after the army had scattered the tents of the protesters who raised their demands to the central government for being subjected to several injustices such as random arrests. However, Bajari, who does not blame Maliki alone, told Al-Monitor over the phone, “Sunni officials and deputies were the main reason behind the Sunnis’ tragedy and the ongoing war that resulted in hundreds of victims. The complete political process started off wrong.” He said, “The constitution was written in a chaotic manner, making Iraq and its people suffer several crises.” Bajari said, “The demands of the citizens of Anbar included the annulment of the constitution, writing a new one and restructuring the armed forces on a professional and patriotic basis. We also demanded the annulment of the de-Baathification law and the release of the innocent people who were arrested, as well as the annulment of Article 4 of the Anti-Terrorism Law. These demands require a firm decision; Abadi will not be able to achieve this.” “Replacing Maliki with Abadi, or anyone else, is not going to solve the tragedy suffered by Iraqis in general, and Sunnis in particular,” said Bajari, stressing, “There should be a trial against Maliki and his entire political system for all the crimes he committed against the Iraqis.” Another member of Fallujah's local council, Muthni al-Aani, seems rather more flexible than Bajari. Aani thinks there should be negotiations with the government, but limits these negotiations to whom he called “rebels.” He told Al-Monitor over the phone, “Only the rebels have the right to negotiate with the government. They are the ones leading the revolution, and they will decide whether or not to negotiate with the government.” He said, “Generally speaking, as local officials, we have witnessed the bloodshed and crimes committed by Maliki against Sunnis. Yet, neither Abadi nor any other politician, whether Sunni or Shiite, objected to Maliki’s unspeakable crimes against humanity.” A member of the general military council for the tribal rebels in Anbar, who wished to remain anonymous, told Al-Monitor, “The military council for tribal rebels in Anbar is waiting for an initiative showing the new prime minister’s goodwill. This initiative should include withdrawing all army divisions, militias and SWAT forces from Anbar completely. It should also grant all displaced families and families of the martyrs and wounded compensation for all the psychological, material and moral sufferings they have endured for the past months.” He added, “One of the main conditions for dialogue with Abadi is the trial of Maliki along with his complete political system, as well as its security, military and political leaders in all of Anbar, in addition to every individual who had anything to do with Maliki’s war against Anbar. Sunnis must be granted all the rights they were demanding during the protests that took place before the military operations. … If Abadi makes the initiative showing his goodwill, the military council will also show its goodwill through its own initiative.” Political analyst Ali Ismail Dalimi who lives in Anbar province told Al-Monitor, “Sunnis do not see a solution to their crises in replacing Maliki with a new prime minister. … The Sunnis are a group of tribal sheikhs, rebels and citizens who are determined to start restructuring the political process. If the constitution is not rewritten from scratch, the Sunnis will never stop their revolution.” He said, “This is the actual reality. Thousands of orphans and widows and thousands of displaced citizens will not accept that the situation goes back to the way it was before the revolution. They will not accept a political system similar to Maliki’s system and that of wrongful methods.” Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/sunnis-solution-abadi-maliki-problems.html#ixzz3BH8MxhNH ===== =========================== Sat, Aug 23 18:03 PM EDT image 1 of 4 By Ahmed Rasheed and Isabel Coles BAGHDAD/ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) - Bombings across Iraq killed at least 35 people in attacks that appeared to be revenge for an assault on a Sunni mosque that has deepened sectarian conflict. A bomb also exploded in the northern city of Arbil on Saturday, a rare attack unsettling the relative stability the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region has enjoyed. Local television footage showed firefighters dousing the charred remains of a car in Arbil. A Reuters journalist earlier saw a cloud of smoke, but the source was not clear. In Baghdad, a bomber rammed a vehicle into an intelligence headquarters, killing at least eight people, police and medical sources said. Near Tikrit, a suicide bomber driving a military Humvee packed with explosives attacked a gathering of soldiers and Shi'ite militias overnight, killing nine. Shi'ite militiamen machinegunned 68 worshipers at a village mosque in Diyala Province on Friday as politicians try to form a power-sharing government capable of countering Islamic State militants. An advance by Islamic State through northern Iraq has alarmed the Baghdad government and its Western allies and drawn U.S. airstrikes in Iraq for the first time since the withdrawal of American troops in 2011. Although the air campaign has caused a few setbacks for Islamic State, they do not address the far broader problem of sectarian warfare which the group has fueled with attacks on Shi'ites. Bombings, kidnappings and execution-style shootings occur almost daily, echoing the dark days of 2006-2007, the peak of a sectarian civil war. In addition to the Arbil attack, three bombings that appeared to target Kurdish forces killed 18 people in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, security sources said. Islamic State routed Kurdish forces in its latest advance through the north. Two of Iraq's most influential Sunni politicians suspended participation in talks on forming a new government after the militiamen carried out the mosque attack. Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Mutlaq and Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jibouri have pulled out of talks with the main Shi'ite alliance until the results of an investigation into the killings are announced. Jibouri, a moderate Sunni, condemned both Islamic State as well as the Iranian-trained Shi'ite militias who Sunnis say kidnap and kill members of their sect with impunity. "We will not allow them to exploit disturbed security in the country to undermine the political process. We believe the political process should move on," he told a news conference on Saturday. Iraq's new Shi'ite prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, faces the task of trying to draw Sunnis into politics after they were sidelined by his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki. Maliki stepped aside after pressure from Sunnis, Kurds, some fellow Shi'ites, Iran and the United States. Iran, a regional power broker with deep influence in Iraq, is sending its foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, to Baghdad on Sunday for talks with Iraqi officials. (Additional reporting by Alexander Dziadosz; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Rosalind Russell) =========================== Suicide bomber attacks Baghdad intelligence headquarters, eight dead Sat, Aug 23 06:24 AM EDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into an intelligence headquarters in Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least eight people, police and medical sources said. The attack came a day after Shi'ite militiamen machinegunned 68 Sunni worshipers at a village mosque in Diyala Province, raising the prospect of revenge attacks as politicians try to form a government capable of countering Islamic State militants. An advance by Islamic State through northern Iraq has alarmed the Baghdad government and its Western allies and drawn airstrikes in Iraq for the first time since the withdrawal of American troops in 2011. Although the air campaign has caused a few setbacks for Islamic State, they do not address the wider problem of sectarian warfare which the group has fueled with attacks on Shi'ites. Bombings, kidnappings and execution-style shootings occur almost daily, echoing the dark days of 2006-2007, the peak of a sectarian civil war. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Toby Chopra) ==================== Islamic State executes soldiers, takes hostages at Syria base: social media Wed, Aug 27 03:51 AM EDT image 1 of 2 BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State militants have executed Syrian army soldiers and are holding a group of them hostage after capturing an air base in northeast Syria at the weekend, pictures posted on the Internet and on Twitter by supporters showed on Wednesday. Islamic State, an offshoot of al Qaeda, stormed Tabqa air base near Raqqa city on Sunday after days of fighting with the army that cost more than 500 lives, according to monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Tabqa was the army's last foothold in an area otherwise controlled by the militants, who have seized large areas of Syria and Iraq. The United States has carried out air strikes on the group in Iraq and is studying its options in Syria. In one picture posted online, a group of militants in balaclavas are seen gunning down at least seven kneeling men identified as army personnel. Reuters was not able to immediately confirm the authenticity of the images or when exactly they were taken. Other photos showed groups of eight to 10 soldiers in fatigues taken hostage, some with facial wounds. Three are identified as officers. The photos appeared to show at least two dozen hostages. One picture reportedly shows the body of a pilot who had appeared on Syrian state television before the attack on the base explaining how the army could easily defend it. Others show militants holding up knives next to groups of captured men. Syrian state television aired a report last week interviewing army personnel at the base and showing its defenses, just before Islamic State overran it. On Sunday, Syrian state television said that after fierce battles, the military was "regrouping" and that there was a "successful evacuation of the airport" as the army continued strikes on Islamic State in areas close to the base. Raqqa is a stronghold of Islamic State, and some people celebrated in the city after the capture of the air base. The Observatory said at least 346 Islamic State fighters were killed and more than 170 members of the security forces had died in five days of fighting over the base, making it one of the deadliest clashes between the two groups since the start of Syria's war. The photos posted online also showed the attack on the base, which used at least one tank. Later pictures showed bodies on the ground and abandoned military hardware, such as a jet, warplane munitions and missiles, although it was not clear if any were operational. Syria said on Monday it would cooperate in any international effort to fight Islamic State militants, but a White House spokesman said on Tuesday there was no plan to coordinate with Damascus on how to counter the threat. President Barack Obama approved U.S. surveillance flights to gather intelligence on the extremist group after the release of a graphic video last week showing the beheading of a U.S. journalist by an Islamic State fighter. (Reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Iran seeking successor to Iraqi PM Maliki: official: Sunni insurgents, Kurds battle over north Iraq town: سقوط زمار بید داعش...

After taking Sinjar, IS draws Iraqi Kurds into full-scale war ERBIL, Iraq — Iraqi Kurdistan appears to be in a state of all-out war as its peshmerga forces have engaged in heavy clashes with Islamic State (IS) militants along a nearly 1,500-km (932-mile) line stretching all the way from the Syrian border in the west to areas close to the Iranian border in the east. Summary⎙ Print The rout of peshmerga forces in Sinjar has drawn accusations of abandonment from Yazidis and forced Iraqi Kurdistan to engage the Islamic State just miles from Erbil. Author Mohammed A. Salih Posted August 7, 2014 For the first time in the past couple of months, IS fighters attacked areas near Gwer district on the evening of Aug. 6 just some 50 kilometers (31 miles) west of Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital city, Erbil. They seized some villages in the Gwer area, according to Kurdish officials, and fighting is still ongoing in the area. The chairman of the Peshmerga Affairs Committee in the Kurdistan parliament, Ari Harsin, told Al-Monitor Aug. 7 that the center of Gwer is under peshmerga control. He said peshmerga forces had succeeded in taking back some villages in Gwer, but this assertion could not be immediately verified. As news of IS’ advance toward Gwer spread on Wednesday night, Erbil residents panicked. The mass influx of residents of the Gwer and Makhmour areas into Erbil intensified the general anxiety. Some people left for nearby mountainous towns to the east and long queues formed at gas stations. At the same time, many civilians took to the streets to boost morale and some engaged in a campaign of shaming those who were leaving the city. Many volunteers, especially men from Gwer and Makhmour, also joined the front lines in the area and the peshmerga ranks have been reinforced. Senior Kurdish officials also went to Makhmour, less than an hour’s drive from Erbil, and appeared on TV to calm and reassure the population that the peshmerga forces were in control. “[The Islamic State's] most successful tactic has been their propaganda,” Harsin said as he headed toward Makhmour Thursday morning. “They scare people that way; otherwise, they don’t have a large fighting force.” When Sunni militants led by IS swept Mosul and other areas in northwestern and central Iraq in June, many in Iraqi Kurdistan did not think the jihadist forces would be able to take on Kurdish security forces in a large-scale campaign. But less than two months later, it has become apparent that the jihadist group plans to expand its caliphate to include the Kurdistan Region. IS fighters have been able to wrest some territory from Kurdish troops in Sinjar and Zummar near the Syrian border in western Ninevah province. Sinjar's fall on Aug. 3 sent shock waves among Iraqi Kurds at a time when it appeared as though their troops were solidly in control of the areas. Following the successful IS attacks in the area, Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani declared war on the extremist group. “We decided to go beyond the defensive position and fight terrorists to the last breath,” Barzani said in an Aug. 4 statement. “We have ordered the peshmerga forces to attack the terrorists and the enemies of the people and the land of Kurdistan with all their power.” Following Barzani’s order, peshmerga forces changed strategy and are now launching offensives on several fronts, from areas around Rabia, Sinjar and Zummar to the northern and eastern outskirts of Mosul all the way down to Makhmour, southwest of Erbil. Al-Monitor visited some areas near Zummar and Rabia on Aug. 4 and found that hundreds of soldiers with heavy weaponry in addition to armed civilian volunteers had been deployed to the front lines and nearby areas. Kurdish forces control the areas around the lake in Mosul, where Iraq’s largest dam is located. The fault line between Kurdish troops and IS in Kirkuk and Diyala provinces is currently relatively calmer, but those areas have witnessed heavy fighting in recent weeks as well. The fall of Sinjar has led to a sense of outrage among Kurds, and many ask why the peshmerga forces evacuated the area. As IS militants stormed Sinjar, tens of thousands of the area’s residents abandoned their homes for other towns controlled by Kurdish forces. There appears to be a broad consensus that some military officials in the Sinjar area had not carried out their tasks properly. Harsin said some senior military commanders have been suspended from their positions and that an investigation is ongoing. “A soldier’s duty is to defend his country, and if he fails to do that he has not carried out his duty properly and has to be held accountable,” said Harsin, who declined to name the suspended senior Kurdish officers. The majority of Sinjar’s population adheres to the ancient Mesopotamian Yazidi faith, which predates Islam and Christianity. Yazidis are viewed as infidels by the jihadists. Although no reliable figures are available, some media reports suggest that the militants have killed hundreds of Yazidi civilians and have taken scores of Yazidi women as spoils of war. Many Yazidis feel betrayed by the peshmerga’s pullout from their areas and say that little resistance had been put up. “Thousands of forces were there,” said Elias Babasheikh, a prominent Yazidi figure in the Shekhan area, north of Mosul. “How did they leave the area to IS within hours and leave people [at the hands of] IS?” Some peshmerga officials in the area say they did not just walk away from Sinjar without a fight. “There was heavy resistance in Sinjar for nearly two months. IS relies on that whole area a lot for moving between the Iraqi and Syrian borders,” Halgurd Khidir Zahir, the commander of the area's Safin Division of peshmerga, told Al-Monitor. He added that IS fighters have more advanced weapons at their disposal, with many US-made arms seized from the Iraqi army in Mosul. Iraqi warplanes have also bombed IS positions in Ninevah as there appears to be some cooperation between the Iraqi military and the Kurds. “Everything can happen in a war. It’s not always success,” Zahir said. An IS statement also announced that the group had taken Sinjar after “heavy battles.” Since the evening of Aug. 3, peshmerga forces have launched a broad counteroffensive around Zummar, Rabia and Sinjar. On the night of Aug. 6, a Kurdish peshmerga commander told the Kurdish Rudaw news network that his forces had reached a mountain on the outskirts of Sinjar, where UN reports say as many as 200,000 Yazidis are stranded with little food and water. Forces from the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) are also engaged in the fight in Sinjar and Rabia. Pro-YPG media sources say the group played a major role in the fight, but while acknowledging some involvement, Iraqi Kurdish officials say the YPG did not participate on a large scale. Zahir confirmed to Al-Monitor that there has been cooperation between peshmerga forces and the YPG, saying, “There is some limited cooperation. We are both based alongside the border and are close to each other.” He added that Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga forces are capable of retaking lost ground. “Some things are temporary. I might not be here today but will get back tomorrow,” Zahir said in a school turned into a makeshift base in the village of Omar Khalid, near Zummar. Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/08/iraq-kurdistan-yazidis-peshmerga-isis-islamic-state.html##ixzz39lTW6jxF == Islamic State surges in North Iraq, near Kurdistan border Thu, Aug 07 17:15 PM EDT image 1 of 11 Iraq's National Alliance, a bloc compromising the biggest Shi'ite parties, is close to nominating a "nationally acceptable" figure to become prime minister, its spokesman said, suggesting Maliki would not be able to hold on. Political deadlock over forming a new government has undermined efforts to confront the Sunni insurgents, who have threatened to march on Baghdad. (Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva and James Mackenzie in Rome; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Paul Taylor, Janet McBride, Will Waterman, David Stamp, Jonathan Oatis and Howard Goller) = شيريد العينتين 3 عمه بعينه هو هم غيرك اليجي مو انقه منك وحنه معدنه شي لويك ولا وي غيرك بس ماسويتو شي يذكر بستغير وجه حته حجتم تروح ويه داعش ولبيش مركه وتمن وليهدد بابن اربيل فرنسا تطلب تفويضا دوليا لحمايه الاقليات العراقيه اخاف يعتبرون داعش اقلية و هم يحموهم كل الدك ع المدكًوكه ....! هذه هي اللعبه ....! الغرب وفرنسا اكثر دول أوربا قرفت من المسلمين المهاجرين وأعمالهم الهمجية خصوصا المهاجرين من شمال افريقيا ! المغالين في الاسلام ، السلفيين والوهابيين منهم خصوصا ، كانت خطته الغرب دفعهم الى سوريا بحجة محاربة النظام واستقدام مسيحييها بدلا عنهم ، وعندما فشلت الخطه لرفض الفاتيكان وقساوسة سوريا ولبنان ، استبدلوا مسيحيي سوريا ولبنان بمسيحيي العراق ، هذا كان بندا رئيسيا من البنود التي شكلت داعش والدعم المقدم اليها ، والأكراد هم الاخرين معنيين بهجرة المسيحيين ! وهنا تلاقت المصالح ، ولا من يهتم بعواطف الناس ، بالقتلى ، بالأطفال والنساء المشرده......... مصالح الدول فوق كل اعتبار .............. خذوا مسلميكم للجهاد وتحقيق الخلافة الاسلاميه واعطونا المسحيين !!!! ورجعت الصلافة البارزانية بعد القصف بالتاكيد فيهم من دخل فاتحا انذاك حين صدام اطبق انيابه على كربلاء ..فيهم من كان يتخطى بحذاءه بمقام حضرة الحسين واخيه بالتاكيد سيتذكر كل افعال الجبن والخسه وتلك الكلمات الرصاصية التي رشقونا بها حين انار لهم صدام ضوء اخضر لن انسى ما حييت استهتارهم وحقائبهم المليئة بمقتنيات مقدساتنا كما ملاء الدواعش حقائبهم اليوم من اماكن مقدساتهم والدور وكل اخضر ويابس ..اللهم افرغ الحزن من ذاتي ولا تجعلني مشتفيا فنحن ارفع من ان نرا طفل وشيخ وامرءه يلوذون بنا ونغلق ابواب مضايفنا .. نطالب بتهجير الوافدين الى كربلاء ونستبدلهم بالنازحين من الشمال الصنف الثاني من النازحين او الصح تسميتهم بالوافدين ليسوا فقط منكرين للمعروف بل لو انك احسنت اليهم فلا يزيدهم ذلك الا حقدا (تجربة شخصية قبل اسبوعين صارت وياية) By Isabel Coles ARBIL Iraq (Reuters) - Islamist militants surged across northern Iraq towards the capital of the Kurdish region on Thursday, sending tens of thousands of Christians fleeing for their lives, in an offensive that prompted talk of Western military action. Reuters photographs showed what appeared to be Islamic State fighters controlling a checkpoint at the border area of the Kurdish semi-autonomous region, little over 30 minutes' drive from Arbil, a city of 1.5 million that is headquarters of the Kurdish regional government and many businesses. The fighters had raised the movement's black flag over the guard post. However a Kurdish security official denied that the militants were in control of the Khazer checkpoint, and the regional government said its forces were advancing and would "defeat the terrorists", urging people to stay calm. The New York Times reported that U.S. President Barack Obama was considering airstrikes or humanitarian airdrops to help trapped religious minorities in Iraq. The White House said the U.S. government and military were supporting Iraqi and Kurdish forces to protect people trapped by Islamic State fighters. Spokesman Josh Earnest said any U.S. military action would be "very limited in scope" and tied to Iraqi political reforms, adding: "There are no American military solutions to the problems in Iraq." Sunni militants captured Iraq's biggest Christian town, Qaraqosh, prompting many residents to flee, fearing they would be subjected to the same demands the Sunni militants made in other captured areas - leave, convert to Islam or face death. The Islamic State, considered more extreme than al Qaeda, sees Iraq's majority Shi'ites and minorities such as Christians and Yazidis, a Kurdish ethno-religious community, as infidels. France called for an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council to "counter the terrorist threat in Iraq". President Francois Hollande's office said after he spoke by telephone with Kurdistan president Masoud Barzani that Paris was prepared to support forces engaged in the defence of Iraqi Kurdistan. It did not say how. Shares in energy companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan plummeted on news of the sweeping Islamist advance towards oilfields in the region. U.S. oil major Chevron Corp said it was evacuating staff in light of the militants' advance, and an industry source said Exxon Mobil Corp was also pulling out staff, although the company declined comment on security concerns. The Islamic State said in a statement on its Twitter account that its fighters had seized 15 towns, the strategic Mosul dam on the Tigris River and a military base, in an offensive that began at the weekend. Kurdish officials say their forces still control the dam, Iraq's biggest. On Thursday, two witnesses told Reuters by telephone that Islamic State fighters had hoisted the group's black flag over the dam, which could allow the militants to flood major cities or cut off significant water supplies and electricity. The Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces in the weekend sweep, prompting tens of thousands from the ancient Yazidi community to flee the town of Sinjar for surrounding mountains. A Kurdish government security adviser said its forces had staged a tactical withdrawal. BOMBINGS ACROSS IRAQ Facebook and Twitter were blocked in Kurdistan on Thursday, initially for 24 hours. A government official told Reuters the reason was to prevent militants from gathering any information about the movement of Kurdish forces from social media, and to stop rumours and panic. The Kurdish Regional government's Ministry of Interior said in a statement that "our victory is close". The security adviser said many layers of security and a trench protecting the regional capital. "Arbil city is fine," he said. The militants' weekend capture of Sinjar, ancestral home of the Yazidi minority, prompted tens of thousands of people to flee to surrounding mountains, where they are at risk of starvation. Some of the many thousands trapped on Sinjar mountain have been rescued in the past 24 hours, a spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said, adding that 200,000 had fled the fighting. "This is a tragedy of immense proportions, impacting the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," spokesman David Swanson said by telephone. Many of the displaced people urgently need water, food, shelter and medicine, he said. A spokesman for the U.N. agency for children said many of the children on the mountain were suffering from dehydration and at least 40 had died. Yazidis, regarded by the Islamic State as "devil worshipers", risk being executed by the Sunni militants seeking to establish an Islamic empire and redraw the map of the Middle East. Thousands of Iraqis, most of the Yazidis, are streaming to the border with neighbouring Turkey to flee the fighting, Turkish officials said. The plight of fleeing Christians prompted Pope Francis to appeal to world leaders to help end what the Vatican called "the humanitarian tragedy now under way" in northern Iraq. In Kirkuk, a strategic oil town in the north held by Kurdish forces since government troops melted away in June, 11 people were killed by two car bombs that exploded near a Shi'ite mosque holding displaced people, security and medical sources said. In Baghdad, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Shi'ite district, killing at least six people, police said. Earlier, a car bomb in another Shi'ite area of the capital killed 14. Gains by the Islamic State have raised concerns that militants across the Arab world will follow their cue. At the weekend the Sunni militants seized a border town in Lebanon, though they appear to have mostly withdrawn. The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in the areas of Iraq and Syria it controls, clashed with Kurdish forces on Wednesday in the town of Makhmur, about 60 km (40 miles) southwest of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous zone. Witnesses said the militants had seized Makhmur, but Kurdish officials told local media their forces remained in control there, and television channels broadcast footage of Kurdish peshmerga fighters driving around the town. The mainly Christian town of Tilkaif, as well as Al Kwair, were overrun by militants, according to witnesses. THREAT TO IRAQ'S INTEGRITY The Islamic State poses the biggest threat to Iraq's integrity since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Its fighters and their Sunni allies also control a big chunk of western Iraq. The group has deepened sectarian tensions, pushing the country back to the dark days of the civil war that peaked in 2006-2007 under U.S.-led occupation. Bombings, kidnappings and executions are routine once again in Iraq, an OPEC member. Religious and ethnic minorities that have lived in the plains of the northern province of Nineveh are particularly vulnerable. Sunni militants have been purging Shi'ite Muslims of the Shabak and ethnic Turkmen minorities from towns and villages in Nineveh, and last month set a deadline for Christians to leave the provincial capital Mosul or be killed. The Islamic State's gains have prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, to order his airforce to help the Kurds, whose reputation as fearsome warriors was called into question by their defeat. There were several airforce strikes on Wednesday, including one the government said killed 60 "terrorists" in Mosul, but they did not appear to have broken the Islamic State's momentum. Critics blame Maliki for Iraq's crisis, accusing him of promoting the interests of fellow Shi'ites at the expense of Sunnis. Heavily armed Sunni tribes support the Islamic State, though they do not share its ideology. Maliki, who has ruled in a caretaker capacity since an inconclusive election in April, has defied calls by Sunnis, Kurds, some fellow Shi'ites and regional power broker Iran to give up his bid for a third term for the sake of Iraq's unity. Iraq's National Alliance, a bloc compromising the biggest Shi'ite parties, is close to nominating a "nationally acceptable" figure to become prime minister, its spokesman said, suggesting Maliki would not be able to hold on. Political deadlock over forming a new government has undermined efforts to confront the Sunni insurgents, who have threatened to march on Baghdad. (Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva and James Mackenzie in Rome; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Paul Taylor, Janet McBride, Will Waterman and David Stamp) ======================= Kurds, Islamic State clash near Kurdish regional capital Wed, Aug 06 15:02 PM EDT image By Ahmed Rasheed and Isra' al-Rubei'i BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Kurdish forces attacked Islamic State fighters near the Kurdish regional capital of Arbil in northern Iraq on Wednesday in a change of tactics supported by the Iraqi central government to try to break the Islamists' momentum. The attack 40 km (25 miles) southwest of Arbil came after the Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Kurds on Sunday with a rapid advance through three towns, prompting Iraq's prime minister to order his air force for the first time to back the Kurdish forces. "We have changed our tactics from being defensive to being offensive. Now we are clashing with the Islamic State in Makhmur," said Jabbar Yawar, secretary-general of the ministry in charge of the Kurdish peshmerga fighters. The location of the clashes puts the Islamic State fighters closer than they have ever been to the Kurdish semi-autonomous region since they swept through northern Iraq almost unopposed in June. Shortly after that lightning advance, thousands of U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers fled. Kurdish fighters, who boast of their battles against Saddam Hussein's forces, stepped in as did Iranian-trained Shi'ite militias. But the Islamic State gunmen's defeat of the peshmerga, whose name means "those who confront death", has called into question their reputation as fearsome warriors. The Islamic State poses the biggest threat to Iraq's security since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. The group, which believes Shi'ites are infidels who deserve to be killed, has won the support of some Sunnis who don't agree with their ideology but share a fierce determination to topple Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Maliki, a Shi'ite, is seen as an authoritarian figure with a sectarian agenda whose alienation of Sunnis is destabilizing. DARK DAYS Iraq, an OPEC member, has returned to the dark days of 2006-2007 when a civil war peaked. Bombings, kidnappings and executions have again become part of daily life. On Wednesday, 60 people were killed by an Iraqi government air strike on a Sharia court set up by Islamic State militants in a juvenile prison in Mosul, the office of Maliki's military spokesman said. The Islamic State judge who ran the court, which routinely orders beheadings, was among those killed in the northern Iraqi city, the spokesman said. Hospital officials and witnesses said earlier the strike killed 50 people in a prison set up by the Islamic State, making no mention of the court. In Baghdad, car bombs exploded in crowded markets in several Shi'ite districts, killing 47 people, police said. A roadside bomb killed three Shi'ites who volunteered to fight the Islamic State on a road between the town of Samarra and Mosul, a police official said. In Taji, 20 km (12 miles) north of Baghdad, authorities found the bodies of six people who had been handcuffed and shot in the head and chest execution-style, medical sources said. The Islamic State has declared a 'caliphate' in swathes of Iraq and Syria that it controls and threatens to march on Baghdad. Islamic State fighters and their Sunni militant and tribal allies also hold parts of western Iraq. Maliki has ordered his air force to help the Kurds in their fight against the Islamic State, which seized an array of weapons including tanks and anti-aircraft guns from the Iraqi soldiers who fled in June. Maliki was at odds with the Kurds over oil, budgets and land, but both sides put their differences aside, alarmed by the Islamic State's latest gains - a fifth oilfield and three more towns in the north. The group also reached Iraq's biggest dam. Yawar confirmed the Kurds had re-established military cooperation with Baghdad. "The peshmerga ministry sent a message to the Iraqi defense ministry requesting the convening of an urgent meeting on military cooperation. The joint committees have been reactivated," Yawar said by telephone. MALIKI Maliki, who has been serving in a caretaker capacity since an inconclusive election in April, has rejected calls by Kurds, Sunnis, some fellow Shi'ites and even regional power-broker Iran to step aside and make room for a less polarizing figure. In his weekly televised address to the nation on Wednesday, he warned that any unconstitutional attempt to form a new government would open "the gates of hell" in Iraq. Maliki rejected any outside interference in the process, an apparent reference to Tehran, which Iranian officials have said believes Maliki can no longer hold Iraq together. Iran is now backing calls by Iraq's top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for Maliki to go and is looking for an alternative leader to combat the Sunni Islamist insurgency, the Iranian officials said. The United States, which was a key backer of Maliki when he first came to office as an unknown in 2006, has urged Iraqi politicians to form a more inclusive government that can unify Iraqis and take on the Islamic State. The Islamic State has put Iraq's survival as a unified state in jeopardy. The capture of one of the towns, Sinjar, home to many of Iraq's Yazidi minority sect in a weekend offensive could lead to a humanitarian crisis. Yazidis, ethnic Kurds who follow an ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism, are at high risk of being executed because the Islamic State militants view them as devil worshippers. Yawar said 50,000 Yazidis now hiding on a mountain risked starving to death if they were not rescued within 24 hours. "Urgent international action is needed to save them. Many of them, mainly the elderly, children and pregnant women, have (already) died," he said. "We can't stop the Islamic State from attacking the people on the mountain because there is one paved road leading up to the mountain and it can be used by them. They (Islamic State fighters) are trying to get to that road." (Additional reporting by David Sheppard in London; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) ========================= 50 killed in clashes between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants Wed, Aug 06 13:26 PM EDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fifty people were killed in fighting between Iraqi government forces and Islamic State insurgents in the northern city of Mosul on Wednesday, hospital officials said. Witnesses said the dead had been held in a makeshift prison created by the Sunni Islamist militants that was bombed by government aircraft. That could not be immediately confirmed. Government officials were not immediately available for comment. Mosul has been under insurgent control since June, but there have been hit and run attacks by government forces and allied Kurdish peshmerga fighters. In the capital Baghdad on Wednesday, car bombs exploded in crowded markets in Shi'ite Muslim districts, killing at least 10 people, police said. (Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Mark Heinrich) =============== Militant Islamist fighters parade on military vehicles along the streets of northern Raqqa province, June 30, 2014. (photo by REUTERS) Money, cars and guns: how Islamic State recruits the young The people of the city of Jurf Al-Sakhar, in the Babil governorate of Iraq, know little about the young Mohammed Marzouk. Summary⎙ Print The Islamic State is enticing young Iraqi men to join by offering money and a chance at power. Author Khoulou al-Amery Posted August 4, 2014 Translator(s)Sahar Ghoussoub Original Article اقرا المقال الأصلي باللغة العربية All they did know was that despite barely being able to complete his university education at the Faculty of Education, he showed up one day driving a luxury car that was beyond the reach of those wealthier than him. The young twenty-something failed to secure himself a government job after graduation, as he once wished. However, he managed to land a job with the Islamic State (IS) that came with a good salary, a weapon and a luxury car. After joining the group he took up the responsibility of recruiting young people in the region where they live. Many of the young people in Marzouk’s area see working with IS as an opportunity to appear powerful and respected by the residents who support the extremist group. IS took the city in order to cut a road in the south leading up to the capital Baghdad. The town of Jurf Al-Sakhar is also linked to Anbar province, which was seized by IS a few months ago. Battles are taking place almost daily in the area, resulting in the destruction of homes. Empty houses are often booby-trapped by IS fighters who wait for the army to enter before detonating them, and they have managed to kill many young soldiers in the army. However, the soldiers are no longer falling for this trick as they avoid entering empty houses and if they do, they make sure to exit them swiftly. The city continues to suffer ongoing clashes between both sides, each controlling different parts. Marzouk attracted not only the young people of Jurf Al-Sakhar to work with IS, but also his former classmates in al-Haswah and Latifiya, two small cities in the governorates of Babil and Baghdad, respectively, and located in the so-called area of north Babil. The area is now known as the "Triangle of Death" following the sectarian battles that took place in 2006 and 2007. Since the proclamation of the Islamic State, the group has run its operations in the Sunni-majority region in Mosul and started to attract many young people to its ranks elsewhere, as it did in Mosul. IS managed to lure young unemployed people and teenagers just as many militias have. IS has been tempting young people into joining its ranks by offering them money, power and the chance to take revenge on the people of their region, whether Sunnis or Shiites, from another military neighborhood or militia. Marzouk has been showing up a lot in the city lately, followed by many young people wishing for a chance to join IS. He has been changed from a deprived young man into a leader with prestige, money and the power to recruit young people at his whim. Nevertheless, Marzouk is not aware that all sectarian and extremist militias will one day come to an end, as was and continues to be the case of many similar groups. The people will never forget who caused the death of many innocent people merely because of their religion. Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/08/is-money-cars-guns-iraq-recruit-youth.html#ixzz39am3dtmP =============================== Iran seeking successor to Iraqi PM Maliki: official Tue, Aug 05 11:03 AM EDT image DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran is trying to work with Iraqi factions for a replacement for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government in Baghdad but there are few suitable candidates, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday. Iran has become the main power broker in its neighbor to the west since U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011, leaving the country in the hands of a Shi'ite Muslim-led government headed by Maliki, a key ally of Tehran. Maliki's critics accuse him of fuelling the Sunni Islamist insurgency that has overrun parts of northern Iraq, saying his anti-Sunni bias has inflamed sectarian tensions and allowed Islamic State rebels to cultivate support among Iraqi Sunnis. "We have reached the conclusion that Maliki cannot preserve the unity of Iraq anymore, but Ayatollah (Ali) Sistani still has hopes," said the Iranian official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, referring to Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric. "Now, Ayatollah Sistani also backs our view on Maliki." "There are not many candidates who can and have the capability to preserve the unity of Iraq," The official said Tehran's Iranian ambassador in Baghdad had held consultations with political factions and some potential candidates on the subject, but acknowledged that finding a suitable replacement for Maliki was difficult. the official said. Maliki's bloc won the most seats in a national election earlier this year but efforts to form a new government have been hindered by objections by other factions, especially minority Sunnis, to Maliki becoming prime minister for a third term. Coalition-building has been further complicated by the rise of Islamic State insurgents who seized Sunni regions of northern Iraq in June almost unopposed, and have since declared a mediaeval-style caliphate enforcing austere sharia law. Shi'ite Iran considers the Islamic State insurgency a major security threat and has increased its military presence in Iraq to counter it. At least three members of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps have been killed in fighting with Sunni militants in Iraq since mid-June. [ID:nL6N0Q90P8] The United States and other Western powers hope that Iran will use leverage arising from its deep ties to both the Iraqi government and a number of Iraqi Shi'ite shrines to help defuse the Sunni insurgent crisis. (Reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Ankara, writing by Sami Aboudi, editing by Mark Heinrich) ====================== Son of GA Sistani - not always reliable - goes on record to claim his father has not taken stand on #Iraq PM issue http://www.qanon302.net/news/2014/07/31/27356 The official position of the front-Sistani regarding the formation of the government nchert by: Mustafa al-Husseini  in News, Politics julio 31, 2014 5 comments 2,787 visit Refuted Sayyed Mohammad Reza son of supreme religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the allegations of Al Arabiya (the event) and the throughput of the news on the request of reference replace Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. At the time of reservation expressed by the lack of reference or placed red lines on the name of any candidate for prime minister, confirmed that the reference stands at the same distance from everyone. Said Mr. Mohammad Reza Sistani's son, said in a statement: "The Supreme religious authority of Eminence Ali al-Sistani refutes allegations channel (Arab event) on the claim reference not to renewal of the mandate of the current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki." Noting that "bookmark stands at the same distance from everyone." He added that "the highest religious authority did not issue a statement on forming a new government so far, not demanding a change of Prime Minister or other." ============= Iraqi PM orders air force to help Kurds fight Islamic State Mon, Aug 04 17:40 PM EDT image By Isra' al-Rubai'i BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered his air force for the first time to back Kurdish forces against Islamic State fighters after the Sunni militants made another dramatic push through the north, state television reported on Monday. Tens of thousands of people have fled one of the districts seized by Islamic State fighters in the offensive and are now surrounded, the United Nations said on Monday. The Sunni militants often execute people in areas they have captured. Kurdish peshmerga fighters, who gained experience fighting Saddam Hussein's troops, were regarded as one of the few forces capable of standing up to the Sunni insurgents, who faced almost no opposition from Maliki's U.S.-trained army during their lightning advance through the north in June. Then on Sunday the Islamic State inflicted a humiliating defeat on the Kurds with a rapid advance through three towns to reach the Mosul Dam, acquiring a fifth oil field to fund its operations along the way. State television and witnesses said the Islamic State had seized Iraq's biggest dam. Kurdish peshmerga officials said they had pushed militants from the dam area and were in control of it. This could not be immediately confirmed. Despite predictions from Kurdish commanders that their forces would launch a successful counter-offensive, one senior Kurdish official urged the United States to step in and provide weapons "for the sake of fighting terrorism". Kurdish commanders whose units came under attack from Islamic State fighters told Reuters they faced overwhelming firepower, were taken by surprise, and that militants had in many cases started shooting from villages where they had formed alliances with residents. The areas that the Kurds lost were not part of their semi-autonomous region, but had been seized in the north after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Maliki has been at odds with the Kurds over budgets, oil and land, and tensions deepened after the Islamic State seized control of large swathes of land in the north and west of OPEC member Iraq. HOSTILITY In July, the Kurdish political bloc ended all participation in Iraq's national government in protest over Maliki's accusation that Kurds were allowing terrorists to stay in Arbil, the capital of their semi-autonomous region known as Kurdistan. Opponents accuse Maliki of being an authoritarian ruler with a sectarian agenda whose alienation of Sunnis fueled the insurgency. Currently ruling in a caretaker capacity after an inconclusive election in April, he has defied calls by Sunnis, Kurds and even some fellow Shi'ites to step aside to make room for a less polarizing figure. The Kurdish region is pressing the Obama administration for sophisticated weapons it says Kurdish fighters need to push back the Islamic State fighters threatening their region. The requested supplies include tanks, sniper equipment, armored personnel carriers, artillery and ammunition. The move is likely to further anger Maliki, who may see it as an attempt to circumvent the Baghdad government in a long-standing drive for independence. For now, however, Maliki seems to have put aside his hostility with the Kurds to try to prevent further gains by the Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria it controls and threatened to march on Baghdad.

"The general commander of the armed forces has ordered the air force command to provide backup for the Kurdish peshmerga forces against the terrorist gangs of the Islamic State," state television quoted Maliki's military spokesman Qassim Atta as saying.

OVERSTRETCHED Tens of thousands of residents of Sinjar fled the district after it was taken over by Islamic State fighters. Previously, an estimated 308,000 people lived in the district of Sinjar. As the insurgents advanced, many fled to Sinjar mountain, or Jebel Sinjar, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in a statement. "The exact number of displaced people on Jebel Sinjar is unknown; however, reports indicate that some 35-50,000 people displaced in nine locations, reportedly surrounded by ISIS (Islamic State) armed elements. There are reports, to be verified, of children already dying for lack of water and other assistance among those trapped," the OCHA statement said. A further 30,000 people, mainly women and children, have made their way to Dahuk governorate in Kurdistan, with more expected in coming days, OCHA said. The insurgents control the two roads down the Sinjar mountain and are attacking families moving along the roads, which lead to Sinjar town and the Syrian border crossing at Rabia, OCHA said. The senior Kurdish official said the Kurds had been overstretched because they had to watch over a vast territory. "The Islamic State has also been intimidating people by carrying out beheadings," he said, asking not to be identified. After thousands of Iraqi soldiers fled their initial advance in June, the group then known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) seized tanks, armored personnel carriers, anti-aircraft guns, mortars, artillery and vehicles. "It is a very dangerous situation for the region. Something needs to be done soon," the senior Kurdish official said. Despite the odds, Kurdish commanders were talking tough. One colonel said the Kurdish withdrawal was tactical and forecast that several Kurdish brigades would take back all territory lost on Sunday and even win back Mosul, Iraq's biggest northern city which is firmly in the hands of the Islamic State. "We will attack them until they are completely destroyed. We will never show any mercy," he told Reuters. "We have given them enough chances and we will even take Mosul back. I believe within the next 48-72 hours it will be over." But commanders who had lost men in battle were not as optimistic. Kurdish peshmerga Brigadier Mashia Ramazan Fattah said the base where he was stationed came under Islamic State mortar fire for 12 straight hours through the night. He was surprised to find that 500 peshmerga forces were outnumbered by Islamic State fighters who forced them to flee. Another commander who asked not to be named said the Islamic State took everyone by surprise and had deployed snipers in addition to heavier weapons and that, in many cases, the Kurds had simply run out of ammunition. "We can no longer carry on fighting with just Kalashnikov rifles," he said. (Additional reporting by Tom Miles in Geneva; writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Gunna Dickson) ================= Sunni insurgents, Kurds battle over north Iraq town Sat, Aug 02 15:09 PM EDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State militants fought Kurdish forces on Saturday for the northern Iraqi town of Zumar located near an oil field and the Syrian border amid conflicting reports of who was in control. Jabbar Yawar, secretary general of the Kurdish peshmerga fighters, said his forces controlled Zumar and reinforcements were on the way. But four residents in different parts of the town said by telephone that Islamic State fighters were in control. "Many Islamic State vehicles are wandering the town of Zumar and I can also see the flags on top of buildings," said one resident. The group formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant staged a lighting advance through northern Iraq in June, seizing large swathes of land in the biggest challenge to the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Control of Zumar by Islamic State fighters would give them access to the small Ain Zalah oil field and a nearby refinery. The insurgents have already seized four oil fields, which help fund their operations. A Kurdish police official in Zumar said Islamic State fighters in pickup trucks mounted with weapons attacked the town from three directions early on Saturday. There were no immediate details of casualties. Islamic State's offensive has whipped up sectarian tensions and threatened to dismember Iraq. The sectarian conflict poses the gravest danger to the OPEC member's stability since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein after a U.S.-led invasion. Shi'ite militias and Kurdish fighters now rival the U.S.-trained and funded Iraqi army in their ability to challenge the insurgents. Islamic State has declared a medieval-style caliphate spanning parts of Iraq and Syria under its control, alarming other Arab states who fear their advance will embolden militants on their patch. The Sunni insurgents have stalled their advance towards Baghdad just before the town of Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of the capital. (Reporting by Raheem Salman and Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Lynne O'Donnell) ======== بنیران(طوس)سنریهم جهنم بالدنیا قبل الاخره!!!! سقوط منفذ "ربيعه" بيد الدواعش بعد انسحاب قوات مسعود منه بعد معارك ضروس مع البیشمرگه....الجرجریه یعلنون سیطرتهم علی زمار لاغدر ولا خيانه قوات مسعود طلعت"كلك" كاكا!!! زمار منطقة قريبة من حقول النفط اي مصفى الكسك سقط بيد الدواعش والبشمركه اتراجعوا باتجاه الاقليم ومعلومات عن بدء داعش بمهاجمه سهل نينوى الان يعني داعش دا تهاجم الاقليم من محورين سهل نينوى وسنجار غدز وخيانه ياربع شنو السالفة فهمونه يمعودين الله يخليكم والله داحجي صدك فدوا لاعينكم يمعودين علصدك اشتباكات عنيفة بين "داعش" والبيشمركة للسيطرة على منفذ ربيعة الحدودي غربي الموصل | أمن alsumaria.tv حطب://www.24.ae/Article.aspx?ArticleId=94705 سقوط قضاء زمار الكردي تحت سيطرة "داعش" 24.ae ================ Islamic State grabs Iraqi dam, oilfield after defeating Kurds Sun, Aug 03 09:03 AM EDT By Ahmed Rasheed and Raheem Salman BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters seized control of Iraq's biggest dam, an oilfield and three more towns on Sunday after inflicting their first major defeat on Kurdish forces since sweeping through the region in June. Capture of the Mosul Dam after an offensive of barely 24 hours could give the Sunni militants the ability to flood major Iraqi cities, sharply raising the stakes in their bid to topple Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Shi'ite-led government. Islamic State, which sees Iraq's majority Shi'ites as apostates who deserve to be killed, also seized the Ain Zalah oil field, adding to four others already under their control, and three towns. They faced strong Kurdish resistance only at the start of their latest offensive when taking the town of Zumar. The Islamists then hoisted their black flags there, a ritual that usually precedes mass executions of their captured opponents and the imposition of an ideology even al-Qaeda finds excessive. The group, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, poses the biggest challenge to the stability of OPEC member Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Since thousands of Iraqi soldiers fled the Islamic State offensive, Shi'ite militias and Kurdish fighters have been seen as a critical line of defense against the militants, who have threatened to march on Baghdad. But Sunday's battles have called into question the effectiveness of the Kurdish fighters and have increased pressure on Iraqi leaders to form a power-sharing government capable of countering the Islamic State. LITTLE RESISTANCE Islamic State fighters attacked Zumar from three directions in pick-up trucks mounted with weapons, defeating Kurdish forces which had poured reinforcements into the town. The Islamic State later also seized the town of Sinjar, where witnesses said residents had fled after Kurdish fighters put up little resistance against the militants. On its Twitter site, the Islamic State posted a picture of one of its masked fighters holding up a pistol and sitting at the abandoned desk of the mayor of Sinjar. Behind him was the image of a famous Kurdish guerilla leader. In a statement on its website, Islamic State said its fighters had killed scores of Kurdish fighters. "Hundreds fled leaving vehicles and a huge number of weapons and munitions and the brothers control many areas," Islamic State said. "The fighters arrived in the border triangle between Iraq, Syria and Turkey," it said. Islamic State has systematically blown up Shi'ite mosques and shrines in territory it has seized, fueling levels of sectarian violence not seen since a 2006-2007 civil war. However the group, which changed its name earlier this year from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has stalled in its drive to reach Baghdad, halting just before the town of Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of the capital. Islamic State has been trying to consolidate its gains, setting its sights on strategic towns near oil fields, as well as border crossings with Syria so that it can move easily back and forth and transport supplies. It has capitalized on Sunni disenchantment with Maliki. Critics describe Maliki as an authoritarian leader who has put allies from the Shi'ite majority in key military and government positions at the expense of Sunnis, driving a growing number of the religious minority in Iraq to support the Islamic State and other insurgents. He is also at odds with the Kurds. INDEPENDENT STATE The Kurds have long dreamed of their own independent state, an aspiration that has angered Maliki, who has frequently clashed with the non-Arabs over budgets, land and oil. After the Islamic State arrived, Kurdish forces seized two oil fields in northern Iraq and took over operations from a state-run oil company, complicating the task of trying to hold the country together, In July, the Kurdish political bloc ended participation in Iraq's national government in protest over Maliki's accusation that Kurds were allowing "terrorists" to stay in Arbil, capital of their semi-autonomous region known as Kurdistan. In another move certain to infuriate the Baghdad government, the Kurdish region is pressing Washington for sophisticated weapons it says Kurdish fighters need to push back the Islamist militants, Kurdish and U.S. officials said. But Maliki needs the Kurds, who gained experience fighting Saddam Hussein's forces, to help defend his country from Islamic State, whose leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. Islamic State's ambitions have alarmed other Arab states who fear their success could embolden militants in their countries. Islamic State fighters were among militants who clashed with Lebanese forces overnight in and around Lebanon's border town of Arsal. At least 10 Lebanese soldiers and an unknown number of militants and civilians died in the fighting, security officials said. On Friday, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah urged regional leaders and religious scholars to prevent Islam from being hijacked by militants. (Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Gareth Jones)