IS jihadists take Ramadi but pinned back in Palmyra

Shi'ite forces ordered to deploy after fall of Iraqi city Mon, May 18 04:38 AM EDT image BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Shi'ite paramilitaries were preparing to deploy to Iraq's western province of Anbar on Monday after Islamic State militants overran the provincial capital Ramadi in the biggest defeat for the Baghdad government since last summer. A spokesman for the paramilitaries, which are known as Hashid Shaabi, told Reuters they had received orders to mobilize, but details could not be revealed for security reasons. "Now that the Hashid has received the order to march forward, they will definitely take part," said Ali al-Sarai, a member of the Hashid Shaabi's media wing. "They were waiting for this order and now they have it." Ramadi is dominated by Sunni Muslims. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi signed off on the deployment of Shi'ite militias to attempt to seize back the area, a move he had previously resisted for fear of provoking a sectarian backlash. The city's fall marked a major setback for the forces ranged against Islamic State: a U.S.-led coalition and the Iraqi security forces, which have been propped up by Iranian-backed Shi'ite militias It was also a harsh return to reality for Washington, which at the weekend had mounted a successful special forces raid in Syria in which it said it killed an Islamic State leader in charge of the group's black market oil and gas sales, and captured his wife. While the Iraqi government and Shi'ite paramilitaries recaptured the city of Tikrit from Islamic State last month, the major northern city of Mosul remains under the control of the Islamists. Islamic State said that in Ramadi it had seized tanks and killed "dozens of apostates", its description for members of the Iraqi security forces. Earlier, security sources said government forces evacuated a military base after it came under attack by the insurgents, who had already taken one of the last districts still holding out. It was the biggest victory for Islamic State in Iraq since security forces and Shi'ite paramilitary groups began pushing the militants back last year, aided by air strikes from a U.S.-led coalition. TARGET OF OPPORTUNITY U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed confidence that the Islamic State takeover of Ramadi would be reversed in the coming weeks. He told a news conference in Seoul that Ramadi had been a target of opportunity for the Islamist militants. "I am convinced that as the forces are redeployed, and as the days flow in the weeks ahead, that's going to change, as overall (they) have been driven back ... I am absolutely confident in the days ahead that will be reversed." The U.S. Defense Department tried to play down the impact on the broader Iraq military campaign of an Islamic State seizure of the city. "Ramadi has been contested since last summer and ISIL now has the advantage," Pentagon spokeswoman Elissa Smith said, using an acronym for Islamic State. She said the loss of the city would not mean the overall Iraq military campaign was turning in Islamic State's favor, but acknowledged it would give the group a "propaganda boost". "That just means the coalition will have to support Iraqi forces to take it back later," Smith said, adding that the United States was continuing to provide them air support and advice. The Iraqi government had vowed to liberate Anbar after routing the militants from Tikrit. But the security forces, which partly disintegrated under an Islamic State onslaught last June, have struggled to make progress in the vast desert province. An officer who withdrew from the besieged army base said the militants - known in Arabic as Daesh - were urging them via loudspeaker to discard their weapons, promising to show mercy in return. "Most of the troops withdrew from the operations command headquarters and Daesh fighters managed to break in from the southern gate," the officer said. "We are retreating to the west to reach a safe area". "TOTAL COLLAPSE" Earlier on Sunday, Anbar provincial council member Athal Fahdawi described the situation in Ramadi as "total collapse". It was one of only a few towns and cities to have remained under government control in the desert terrain, which borders Saudi Arabia, Syria and Jordan. Islamic State, which emerged as an offshoot of al Qaeda, controls large parts of Iraq and Syria in a self-proclaimed caliphate where it has massacred members of religious minorities and slaughtered Western and Arab hostages. A senior Israeli intelligence official said that before U.S.-led coalition forces began operations against the group, its revenues were running at about $65 million a month, more than 90 percent of which came from its oil business and the rest from locally imposed taxes and ransom money. Since then, monthly revenues had fallen to about $20 million, of which about 70 percent is from oil and the rest from taxes and ransom. The United States and its allies have been pounding the militants for months with air strikes in Iraq and Syria. In the 24 hours up to 1.00 a.m. ET on Sunday, the U.S.-led coalition carried out seven air strikes near Ramadi. (Reporting by Baghdad Bureau; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and David Brunnstrom in Seoul; Writing by Giles Elgood; editing by David Stamp) ========================================================================== AFPBy Karim Abou Merhi with Rana Moussaoui in Beirut | AFP – 11 hours ago.. . . . A Syrian army soldier fires artillery shells towards Islamic State group jihadists in Palmyra on May 17, 2015 View Photo . AFP/AFP - A Syrian army soldier fires artillery shells towards Islamic State group jihadists in Palmyra on May 17, 2015 .. . . . .Residents of Ramadi flee their homes on May 16, 2015 as Islamic State group militants tightened their siege on the last government positions in the capital of Anbar province View Photo . Residents of Ramadi flee their homes on May 16, 2015 as Islamic State group militants … .Map of Iraq locating Ramadi and Anbar province View Photo . Map of Iraq locating Ramadi and Anbar province .A member of the Iraqi interior ministry's anti-terrorism forces stands guard on a vehicle outside the Habaniyah military base, near Anbar province's capital Ramadi, on May 8, 2015 View Photo . A member of the Iraqi interior ministry's anti-terrorism forces stands guard … .Map and illustrations detailing the latest clashes in Syria View Photo . Map and illustrations detailing the latest clashes in Syria .A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on May 17, 2015 shows the ancient oasis city of Palmyra View Photo . A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on May … .. . . The Islamic State group sealed its capture of Ramadi Sunday after a dramatic pullout by Iraqi forces but was prevented by Syrian troops from taking the heritage site of Palmyra. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi urged government forces to hold fast in Ramadi and prevent IS from making further gains, saying they would have air cover and Shiite militia reinforcements. The effective loss of the capital of Iraq's largest province of Anbar marked one of Baghdad's worst setbacks since it began a nationwide offensive last year to reclaim territory lost to the jihadists in June 2014. IS said in an Internet post it fully controlled Ramadi, after a local official admitted the operations command centre there had fallen. "God has enabled the soldiers of the caliphate to cleanse all of Ramadi... after storming the 8th brigade. They (now) control it along with a battalion of tanks and missile launchers and in addition to the Anbar operations command," the IS statement said. Muhannad Haimour, spokesman and adviser to the provincial governor, said "Anbar operations command has been cleared". A colonel among troops who had withdrawn added: "Daesh has just taken full control of all main security bases", using an Arabic acronym for IS. The United States said it was still monitoring tough fighting in parts of Ramadi and described the situation as "fluid and contested." "It is too early to make definitive statements about the situation on the ground there at this time," Pentagon spokeswoman Maureen Schumann told AFP. Abadi said troops, tribesmen and elite forces "must hold their positions and preserve them and not allow Daesh to extend to other areas in Ramadi", spokesman Saad al-Hadithi said. - 'Continuous air cover' - "There is continuous air cover that will help ground troops there hold their positions while waiting for support from other forces and the Popular Mobilisation Units," he said of an umbrella group for Shiite militias. The International Organization for Migration said around 24,000 people had been forced from their homes in three days of violence in the Ramadi area. Haimour said at least 500 people, both civilians and military, were killed in the jihadist offensive. A local Anbar province official said Abadi had approved the dispatch of the Popular Mobilisation Units known as Hashed al-Shaabi to Anbar. "The provincial council of Anbar decided to call on Hashed al-Shaabi, which operates under the umbrella of the commander in-chief of the armed forces," said Mahdi Saleh al-Numan, security adviser to the Anbar governor. The move marks a U-turn from the Sunni province's previous opposition to resorting to the Shiite force. Shiite militia groups flashed messages on their respective TV channels vowing to flush IS out of Ramadi within days. The jihadists used a wave of suicide car bombings to take most of the city and raised their black flag over the provincial headquarters. Taking full control of Ramadi, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad, would be the most significant victory this year for IS, which has suffered a string of setbacks elsewhere in Iraq and Syria. - Setback in Syria - On Sunday IS faced another setback across the border in Syria where government forces drove them out of the ancient oasis town of Palmyra, home to a UNESCO world heritage site. "IS's attack was foiled," provincial governor Talal Barazi said after troops routed the jihadists from the northern part of the modern town of Palmyra which they had seized on Saturday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said, however, that IS fighters were still just a kilometre (less than a mile) from the archaeological site and its museum housing priceless artefacts. It said nearly 300 people have been killed in four days of fighting -- 123 soldiers and their allies, 115 IS fighters and 57 civilians. Syrian antiquities chief Mamoun Abdulkarim expressed relief that IS did not attack Palmyra as it has done in centuries-old sites in Iraq. "We have good news today, we feel much better," Abdulkarim he said. UNESCO has urged both sides to spare Palmyra, which it describes as one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world. Meanwhile, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said a rare US raid Friday on one of Syria's largest oilfields killed 32 IS militants, including four top leaders. "The US operation killed 32 members of IS, among them four officials, including IS oil chief Abu Sayyaf, the deputy IS defence minister, and an IS communications official," he said. American officials have said "about a dozen" people were killed in the operation by Iraq-based US commandos trying to capture Abu Sayyaf. ===========================

Maliki refuses to go as Iraqis turn to new leader

Iranian-Saudi agreement on Iraq may be near A UN diplomatic source in Beirut told Al-Monitor that an Iranian-Saudi agreement on the formation of the next Iraqi government was almost done. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the visit by the Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdul Lahian to Saudi Arabia on Aug. 26 was the move that crowned the agreement. Summary⎙ Print While key issues remain, Iran and Saudi Arabia are reportedly close to agreeing on the formation of an Iraqi government, clearing the way to focus on another regional crisis. Author Jean Aziz Posted September 5, 2014 Translator(s)Rani Geha The source said that some felt a few weeks ago that removing Nouri al-Maliki from the Iraqi Prime Ministry and designating Haider al-Abadi on Aug.11 was the final sign of a Tehran-Riyadh agreement on Baghdad. But this impression was not true. According to the diplomatic source, the move followed mutual attempts by the two parties to raise their negotiating ceilings. For its part, Iran tried to harden its stance for known reasons; it gave the impression that removing Maliki happened more because of internal Iraqi Shiite calculations linked to the position of Shiite cleric Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, rather than a Shiite concession to the Sunnis or an Iranian concession to Saudi Arabia in Iraq. These calculations include compensating Maliki’s removal by strengthening his and his team’s position in governing and in the next government, as well as getting paid by the Sunni-Saudi team as a compensation. In contrast, Riyadh also raised the ceiling of its demands after Maliki was replaced. It was as if Saudi officials saw Maliki’s fall as a sign of Iraqi Shiite weakness and of Iranian retreat in Baghdad. So the Saudis thought they could go further and get bigger gains. The UN diplomatic source in Beirut said that the negotiations between Tehran and Riyadh were stuck in tensions and one-upmanship for two weeks, before Lahian’s visit to Saudi Arabia moved the negotiations to the resolution stage. The source said that the information provided to him by those concerned in the file indicated that the initial agreement was based on two major changes: First, assigning the Iraqi Foreign Ministry to a Sunni figure, and second, giving Iraqi Sunnis a major security position in the Iraqi government. It should be noted that the same source wondered how the first item could be achieved, since it would require taking the ministry from the Kurds’ share and reassuring the Shiites about giving a key security post to the Sunnis, especially amid a political-security context that was not encouraging for those two matters. The Baghdad government has moved closer to the Kurdish authorities in Erbil to face the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul and northwestern Iraq; and, the establishment of IS in those areas has triggered concerns about Sunni security units and members, in terms of doubting their loyalty to the government in Baghdad. So, in light of the IS event, how can Baghdad take from the Kurds’ political share and give more to the Sunnis? According to the diplomatic source, these questions will soon be answered. The source has information that the new Iraqi government will be formed before Sept. 10, so the whole truth will be revealed in a few days. And according to the same information, if the Iranian-Saudi intersection is confirmed, then its next step will be the Yemeni file, because the explosive situation in Sanaa is clearly worrying the Saudis. Regarding other files — from Bahrain to Syria and Lebanon — they seem to be deferred to a later stage. Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/09/saudi-arabia-iran-agreement-iraq-government.html#ixzz3CgVD08O7 ======== Khamenei's representative to visit Najaf and says: Sistani optimistic about the stability of Iraq soon Sunday, 31 August / August 2014 20:59 [Follow-Where] The representative of Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei, after visiting the religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy city of Najaf a few days ago that "Sistani optimistic that solves the security and stability in Iraq in the near future." The representative of Iranian leader Qurban Ali Dorri Najaf-Abadi had visited in on Wednesday and Thursday and met with al-Sistani Repertory. Abadi added in a press statement on Sunday that "Sistani was very satisfied with the participation of the Iraqi people in the face of extensive planning terrorist Daash and optimistic to bringing security and stability in Iraq in the near future." He pointed out that "the new Iraqi government began its activities based on cooperation and the protection of religious authority and the sons of the Iraqi society," adding that "the promotion of unity among the currents of religious minorities is the most important trend for the government to approve the security." The Iranian official stressed "the Iraqi people that the response to the appeal of the religious authority confirms the established faith of Islam, which will be recorded for the Iraqi people and the rapid decisive victory against terrorism." Abadi added, "that Sistani stressed that the Iraqi people will not budge in front of Daash terrorist clique, and God willing, and Baltae the Iraqi people's unity and solidarity BE cleanse Iraq of the presence of these hypocrites." The representative of the Iranian leader said, "Sistani praised the comprehensive support provided by the people and the government in the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Iraqi people in the face of terrorist Daash clique." The hundreds of thousands of volunteers in the central and southern governorates entered the ranks of the security forces in response to the call of jihad Ulkipaúa religious authority to protect the country from terrorist gangs Daash. The promise of supreme religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in his fatwa of jihad Ulkipaúa that all of the kills in defense of his country is a martyr, while stressing the need to exercise the highest degree of restraint and prevent armed manifestations outside the law, denying at the same time to be calling upon the basis of sectarian but for all Iraqis to defend their country and themselves. And locked the government battles against gangs Daash, which seized control in 10 of the last June and beyond the areas in Mosul, Salahuddin and Anbar, Diyala and Babel but succeeded security forces and popular mobilization to stop its advance to other areas, and these efforts decoding siege terrorists for hand Amerli Aleom.anthy ============= Suicide bomber kills 37 in western Iraq: police officers, medical official Sun, Aug 31 13:37 PM EDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Thirty seven people were killed when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-packed Humvee military vehicle into a construction site, used by the army and police, according to two police officers and a medical official. The blast killed 22 security personnel and 15 civilians, the medical and police sources said. The nine-story building under construction, used as a base by security personnel, was located in the center of Ramadi in western Anbar province. Ramadi and its sister city Falluja have been plagued by fighting between the security forces and the extremist Islamic State and other armed groups since January. (Reporting By Ahmed Rasheed, Writing by Ned Parker) ============================= Jubilant Iraqi forces break two-month siege of Amerli: officials Sun, Aug 31 15:51 PM EDT image 1 of 6 By Ahmed Rasheed and Isabel Coles BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi security forces backed by Shi'ite militias on Sunday broke the two-month siege of Amerli by Islamic State militants and entered the northern town, officials said. The mayor of Amerli and army officers said troops backed by militias defeated fighters from the Islamic State (IS) to the east of the town. Fighting continued to the north of Amerli in several villages. "Security forces and militia fighters are inside Amerli now after breaking the siege and that will definitely relieve the suffering of residents," said Adel al-Bayati, mayor of Amerli. It was hailed as a huge strategic victory for the Iraqi security forces and the militia fighters who joined them after a summer that saw the Islamic State lead other Sunni armed groups in seizing almost one-third of the country's territory. "Amerli's battle is a golden victory registered by the Iraqi security forces who are still fighting the terrorist groups in north and south areas of Amerli," said military spokesman Qassim al-Attta. Atta described Amerli as a launching pad to retake the northern province of Salahuddin, including its capital, which was captured by IS in June. "The next step will be holding the ground tightly and liberating all the areas which link Amerli to Salahuddin," Atta said on state television. "Our forces will gather in thousands in Amerli to march towards Tikrit." While Kurdish fighters, backed by US air strikes, had beat back the Islamic State after losing terrain in August, the collection of Shi'ite security forces and militias had yet to score a significant military win. The advance of the Iraqi forces in Amerli comes after the U.S. military carried out air strikes overnight on IS militant positions near the town and airdropped humanitarian supplies to the trapped residents there. More aid was dropped from British, French and Australian planes. The Pentagon said the warplanes hit three Humvee patrol vehicles, a tank and an armed vehicle held by militants in addition to a checkpoint controlled by the group, according to the military's Central Command, which runs U.S. operations in the Middle East. U.S. ROLE CRITICAL One Kurdish fighter on a base north of Amerli described the American role as critical in ending the siege. "It would have been absolutely impossible without the American planes," the Kurdish peshmerga fighter said. "The strikes prevented the Islamic State from moving freely and targeted them with 100 percent accuracy." Residents of Amerli expressed relief. "I can see the tanks of the Iraqi army patrolling Amerli's streets now. I'm very happy we got rid of the Islamic State terrorists who were threatening to slaughter us," said Amir Ismael, an Amerli resident, by phone. Armed residents had managed to fend off attacks by IS fighters, who encircled the town and regarded its majority Shi'ite Turkmen population as apostates. More than 15,000 people had remained trapped inside Amerli. North of Amerli, Shiite militia and Kurdish peshmerga fighters were deployed. The armed men were a reminder of how militia fighters have gained in popularity since the beginning of June when IS launched its blitz across northern Iraq. "Our goal is all the same to fight IS and repel terrorism," said a fighter from the Peace Brigades, an offshoot of cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The mobilization of Shi'ite militias to take Amerli had created a fluid situation where the armed groups who once fought the American military were benefit ting from U.S. air strikes. One Shi'ite fighter, who declined to give the name of his group, said all Shi'ite militia groups were present, including Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataib Hezbollah and Sadr's Peace Brigades. "Everyone is here," the fighter said speaking on condition of anonymity. "We came to break the siege of Amerli. We came out of humanity. When the siege of Amerli is broken we will go back to our normal lives." Fighting raged elsewhere in Iraq. In the western city of Ramadi, where Iraqi forces have been battling Sunni groups dominated by IS since January, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed Humvee military vehicle, according to two police officers and a medical official. The blast, targeting an unfinished nine-floor building, killed 22 security personnel and 15 civilians, the medical and police officials said. The building, used by security personnel, was in the centre of Ramadi in western Anbar province. (Reporting by Isabel Coles and Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Ned Parker and Stephen Powell) ===================================== Maliki refuses to go as Iraqis turn to new leader By Alexander Dziadosz and Raheem Salman BAGHDAD Wed Aug 13, 2014 9:17am EDT 2 Comments in Share . Share this Email Print Iraqis carry portraits of incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as they gather in support of him in Baghdad August 13, 2014. Maliki said on Wednesday the appointment of Haider al-Abadi to replace him as prime minister was a 'violation' of the constitution and 'had no value'. REUTERS-Ahmed Saad Iraqis carry a portrait of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as they march in support of him in Baghdad, August 11, 2014. REUTERS-Ahmed Saad 1 of 2. Iraqis carry portraits of incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as they gather in support of him in Baghdad August 13, 2014. Maliki said on Wednesday the appointment of Haider al-Abadi to replace him as prime minister was a 'violation' of the constitution and 'had no value'. Credit: Reuters/Ahmed Saad Related News Car bomb in eastern Baghdad kills at least 10: police, medical sources Related Topics World » Iraq » (Reuters) - Nuri al-Maliki stuck to his guns and refused to accept his removal as Iraq's prime minister on Wednesday, but his hold on power was tenuous as Iran's supreme leader, a long-time Maliki ally, publicly backed his replacement. Taking to state television as acting premier, Maliki said the supreme court must rule on this week's move to ask his Shi'ite Islamist party colleague Haider al-Abadi to form a new government - a change that Iran, the United States and many Iraqis see as vital to halt the advance of Sunni militants. But while the loyalty of at least some Shi'ite militia and government forces remains uncertain, there were further signs that Maliki, blamed for alienating the Sunni minority during his eight years in power, is isolated, even among fellow Shi'ites. U.S. President Barack Obama - whose European allies followed his lead on Wednesday to arm Kurdish forces that have taken the recent brunt of fighting with the Sunni Islamic State - has already offered Abadi its endorsement. Washington lost patience with Maliki, who rose from obscurity during the U.S. occupation. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, bound to Tehran's U.S. adversary by a common interest in curbing the rise of Sunni jihadists in Syria and Iraq, offered his personal endorsement to Abadi. He very publicly distanced himself in the process from Maliki, who has looked for support from Iran, where he spent years in exile opposing Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein. "I hope the designation of the new prime minister in Iraq will untie the knot and lead to the establishment of a new government and teach a good lesson to those who aim for sedition in Iraq," Khamenei said in a statement on his website. Iranian media carried reports that Khamenei sent an envoy last month to take part in discussions with Iraqi Shi'ite political and religious leaders to find an alternative to Maliki, who had held on since a parliamentary election in April despite being blamed by many for fuelling sectarian hatreds. Those leaders, including Iraq's reclusive top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, last week rallied around Abadi, who long ran a British engineering company, as a compromise figure who could bring moderate Sunnis into power to cooperate on holding off the militant offensive in the north. LEGAL ACTION Maliki has complained to the Federal Court that, as leader of the largest bloc in the new parliament, he must by right be given the first chance to form a new government. The appointment by President Fouad Masoum of Abadi as prime minister-designate on Monday was therefore a breach of the constitution, he said. "The violation that occurred has no value, and its consequences have no effect," Maliki said on television. "This government is continuing, and will not be changed except after the Federal Court issues its decision." In theory, Maliki should continue as acting premier, with limited powers, until a new government is sworn in. He has had the personal loyalty of senior commanders of the police and armed forces as well as irregular Shi'ite militia units. It is unclear he would try to resist his removal by force, however. On Tuesday, he urged commanders to keep out of politics. With ethnic Kurdish Peshmerga forces pushed back on the defensive by the Islamic State this month, France announced it was joining the United States in urgently supplying arms to the autonomous regional force, and EU officials said European Union foreign ministers could meet on Friday to discuss the crisis. In addition to arming the Peshmerga and, in the case of Washington, bombing militant positions, Western powers have been trying to help aid agencies drop supplies and provide refuge for tens of thousands of people, many of them from non-Sunni communities, who have fled attacks by the Islamic State. The militant group, which already controlled large parts of Syria and has announced a religious caliphate straddling the desert border, took advantage of political paralysis in Baghdad following April's election to seize huge swathes of territory. That has been accompanied by an increase in sectarian violence elsewhere. In the city of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, five Sunnis were killed on Wednesday when Shi’ite gunmen stormed a mosque and shot them as they prayed, security sources said. (Additional reporting by Michael Georgy in Baghdad and Mehrdad Balali in Dubai; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Will Waterman)