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)

Kuwait revokes more citizenships citing state security Cabinet says Kuwait revoked citizenship of 10 people, including activists, in second such move in less than one month. Al-Arab Online [Published On: 11/08/2014] Crackdown on dissent continues KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait has revoked the citizenship of 10 people, including activists, the government said Monday in the second such move in less than a month as part of a crackdown on dissent. The decision announced after a cabinet meeting did not identify those affected by the decision, but local media said they were opposition figures. The cabinet said the decision was based on a provision in the nationality law that allows citizenship to be revoked of those who threaten Kuwait's security, social order or economy. Local media said among those affected were activist Nabil al-Awadhi, who is close to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Saad al-Ajami, a former journalist turned spokesman for the opposition Popular Action Movement. On July 21, Kuwait revoked the citizenship of several people, including the owner of a pro-opposition television station and newspaper, Ahmad Jabr al-Shammari, and former Islamist opposition MP Abdullah al-Barghash along with his family members. Human Rights Watch denounced the action in a statement on Sunday as a "crackdown on people seeking reform". "No government has the right to strip away its people's citizenship simply because it disapproves of them, their opinions, or their actions," said HRW's Joe Stork. "This is yet another downward step in Kuwait's assault on the right to free speech," he added, urging the government to reverse its decision. Last month, the cabinet said the citizenships of Barghash and his relatives were revoked because they had been granted on the basis of false information. OPEC member Kuwait has a native population of 1.25 million, a large number of them through naturalisation, and hosts 2.8 million foreigners. Unlike other Gulf states, it has a democratically-elected parliament.

Islamists sought to turn Lebanon into Iraq: army chief

Arabs vow to confront Islamic State, cooperate with international efforts Sun, Sep 07 14:58 PM EDT image 1 of 6 By Lin Noueihed and Omar Fahmy CAIRO (Reuters) - Arab League foreign ministers agreed on Sunday to take all necessary measures to confront Islamic State and cooperate with international, regional and national efforts to combat militants who have overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria. The Arab League also endorsed in the closing statement of its meeting in Cairo a UN Security Council resolution passed last month calling on member states to "act to suppress the flow of foreign fighters, financing and other support to Islamist extremist groups in Iraq and Syria". Baghdad had earlier submitted a draft resolution endorsing its own efforts to confront militants who have seized large areas for a cross-border caliphate and to condemn Islamic State's actions as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Diplomatic sources said before the meeting that Arab foreign ministers were set to endorse a U.S. aerial campaign against the group and Egypt's official Mena news agency said the ministers would agree to coordinate with the United States. The final text did not directly endorse either the Iraqi or U.S. campaign against Islamic State, but diplomatic sources said the wording clearly offered Arab cooperation to U.S. and Iraqi efforts and could be read as a tacit agreement to back Washington's campaign against the group. At the opening session, several foreign ministers spoke of the gravity of the challenge posed by Islamic State in Iraq as well as the violence that has engulfed Libya and other regions. Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi told the session that the rise of the group in Iraq challenged not merely the authority of the state but "its very existence and the existence of other states" and called for a decisive resolution to confront terrorism militarily, politically, economically and culturally. Arabi suggested that military action could take place under the umbrella of an Arab League joint defense pact. It was not clear whether the Arab commitment to take all necessary action against Islamic State and other militant groups would include direct military involvement in Iraq or Syria. President Barack Obama declared last week that the United States was ready to "take out" leaders of Islamic State, and said NATO allies were prepared to join military action against a movement that he labeled a major threat to the West. U.S. warplanes carried out four strikes against Islamic State militants threatening western Iraq's Haditha Dam early on Sunday, witnesses and senior officials said, broadening Washington's campaign against the fighters. Obama would like Gulf Arab states to consider military action, but also to support Sunni Muslim moderates in Iraq and Syria who could undermine the appeal of Islamic State. He also wants Islamic State's sources of funding cut off, a point on which the closing statement touched. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is to travel to Saudi Arabia and Jordan in the coming week for talks with Gulf leaders to determine whether they are prepared to back up their anti-jihadist rhetoric with action. In a change of position, the Arab League statement also called for Syrian opposition groups to hold talks with the state aimed at creating a reconciliation government. As the Syrian conflict has dragged on and Islamic militants have taken the upper hand, early Arab League support for opponents of Bashar al-Assad has given way to a more cautious tone. (Editing by Rosalind Russell) ======================== Islamists sought to turn Lebanon into Iraq: army chief Tue, Aug 12 03:33 AM EDT image By Samia Nakhoul and Laila Bassam BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State insurgents who seized a Lebanese border town this month planned to turn Lebanon into another Iraq by unleashing sectarian war between Sunnis and Shi'ites that would have endangered the nation's very existence, the army commander said. General Jean Kahwaji told Reuters that radical Islamists on the march in Iraq and Syria still posed a "great threat" to Lebanon, which was torn apart by a 1975-90 civil war and has been badly buffeted by the Syrian conflict. "The army hit them and continues to, smashing their plan," said Kahwaji, 37 of whose soldiers were either killed or captured in the battle for the border town of Arsal. "But this does not mean that the story is over," he said. "They might think of another plan and try another time to cause Sunni-Shi'ite strife," said Kahwaji, 60. The Aug. 2 attack marked the most serious spillover to date of Syria's three-year-old civil war into Lebanon and the first time a foreign invader has taken Lebanese territory since Israel entered the south during its 2006 war with Hezbollah. Battle-hardened in Syria, the insurgents were members of radical Sunni groups including the Islamic State, which has redrawn the borders of the Middle East by seizing territory in Syria and Iraq. The group's advance has accelerated since it seized the Iraqi city of Mosul in June. Dozens of the militants were killed in Arsal during a five-day battle with the Lebanese army, according to army estimates. The militants withdrew into the mountainous border zone last Thursday, taking with them 19 captive soldiers. Kahwaji, dressed in military fatigues, said the Islamists' aim had been to turn the Sunni Muslim town of Arsal into a bridgehead from which to advance on surrounding Shi'ite villages, igniting a sectarian fire storm he said would have destroyed Lebanon. "The strife in Iraq would have moved to Lebanon - 100 percent," said Kahwaji, a Maronite Christian. He said he was basing his assessment on the confessions of an Islamist commander whose detention on Aug. 2 was the immediate trigger for the battle. The commander, Emad Gomaa, had been "fine tuning" the plan at the time of his arrest, Kahwaji said. Gomaa, 30, was a member of the Nusra Front, al Qaeda's affiliate in the conflict, but had recently switched allegiance to the Islamic State. He had previously worked as a purveyor of dairy products, Kahwaji said. His confessions had led to the arrest of a number of militant cells in different parts of Lebanon, he added. "Would there have remained a state? It is a battle for the survival of the Lebanese entity," Kahwaji said. Tensions between Lebanese Shi'ites and Sunnis are already running high, exacerbated by the role played by the powerful Shi'ite group Hezbollah fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria. Lebanese Sunnis have broadly been supportive of the uprising against Assad, a member of the Alawite sect, which is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Lebanon is also now home to an estimated 1.6 million Syrian refugees, most of them Sunnis. Though its arsenal is more powerful than the Lebanese army's, Hezbollah stayed out of the Arsal battle, wary of wider sectarian strife in a country already hit by suicide bombings, gun battles and rocket attacks linked to the Syrian war. The arrival of Islamic State fighters waving the group's black flag on the northeastern border triggered panic in a country that is home to many religious groups at risk from a movement that has beheaded and crucified its opponents. Kahwaji said: "If the world and the people give up, then the black flag will arrive in Lebanon. But the people are with the army and they won't let them arrive." DISMISSES SPECULATION ON PRESIDENCY The army has been crucial to holding the Lebanese state together since the civil war. It recruits from across the religious spectrum and is more widely trusted than other security agencies that have a more sectarian character. Outside Kahwaji's office at the Ministry of Defense in the hills outside Beirut, where he spoke to Reuters this week, a cartoon shows a soldier carrying a map of Lebanon on his back. The Arsal crisis rallied all of Lebanon's main leaders, including Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri, around the army. Kahwaji described Hariri's backing as crucial. He "sensed the degree of danger to Lebanon", he said. Hariri returned to Lebanon on Friday for the first time since 2011, ending his self-imposed exile following the downfall of his government in order to buttress the moderate Sunni camp against radicals who have gained ground during his absence. He brought with him a $1 billion grant from his regional patron Saudi Arabia - aid designed to help the Lebanese security forces fight Sunni extremists. "He was obliged to return to fill the (Sunni leadership) vacuum," Kahwaji said. The Saudi aid comes on top of a previous pledge of $3 billion in military aid from Riyadh. The Beirut government has asked France to accelerate the delivery of weapons due to be procured with that grant. Kahwaji said his priority was to secure warplanes - both fixed wing and helicopters - to support his land forces. Many Lebanese believe Kahwaji is now more likely than ever to fill the post of the presidency, vacant since Michel Suleiman's term expired in May. The presidency is reserved for a Maronite according to Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system. Suleiman and his predecessor, Emile Lahoud, were both former army commanders. Kahwaji declined to answer questions on Lebanon's political outlook, and dismissed speculation that his chances of becoming head of state had now increased. "What is happening is more important than the subject of the presidency," he said. "If they had succeeded in what they were planning ... the very foundations of Lebanon would have changed." (Writing and additional reporting by Tom Perry; Editing by Will Waterman) Saudi jolts wife by taking 10 and 11-year-old boys to fight in Syria Tue, Aug 12 06:42 AM EDT DUBAI (Reuters) - A Saudi father gave his ex-wife the shock of her life when he informed her he was taking their 10 and 11 year-old-sons to join Islamist militants in Syria, telling her to count them as "birds in heaven", Saudi-owned media reported. The pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper said on Tuesday that the unsuspecting mother had been told that her sons, Abdullah and Ahmed, were going on holiday with their father, identified as Nasser al-Shayeq, in a neighboring Gulf Arab country when she saw an Instagram photo of them in Turkey. Al-Hayat said she telephoned her son to ask about the photo, only to receive a message from her ex-husband, a former Saudi civil servant, to say that he was taking the boys to Syria to join Islamic State, one of the most militant groups fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad. "Count your children as birds in heaven," Shayeq said in his message, according to al-Hayat, suggesting that they may be killed and become young "martyrs". Fellow Islamic State militants later posted a photo of the father and his two sons crouching in front of Islamic State's black flag, with each boy brandishing an AK-47 rifle in one hand. The father was smiling as one of the boys also held a grenade in his other hand. Many Saudis have joined foreign Islamist militant groups but another Saudi newspaper, al-Riyadh, said the involvement of children in this case had jolted the Saudi government into action, setting up a hotline with the Turkish government to try to bring the two boys home. Saudis are among the hundreds of foreign fighters who have joined Islamist militant groups such as Islamic State and al-Nusrah Front in Syria. Islamic State renamed itself last month after it captured swathes of territory in western Iraq and unified them with territories it holds in eastern Syria. (Reporting by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Both Al-Maliki and Sharif have to leave: Dictated Democracy Defined by Department of Defense

Iraq's prime minister seems increasingly isolated . Associated Press By VIVIAN SALAMA and SAMEER N. YACOUB 31 minutes ago . . .. . 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BAGHDAD (AP) — His days in power in Iraq appear increasingly numbered. World leaders, including his biggest ally, Iran, hail the nomination of the man who would be his successor. There's seemingly little left for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to cling to, beyond the support of party stalwarts and high-ranking loyalists in the military. Al-Maliki looked even more isolated Tuesday, a day after Iraq's president appointed Haider al-Abadi as prime minister-designate to form a caretaker government — a move seen as a major step toward breaking the political deadlock that has paralyzed the country since April elections. It also comes after Islamic extremists have swept across northern Iraq, prompting the U.S. to launch airstrikes and directly arm Kurds who are battling the militants. Despite the backing he enjoys among the top military brass, al-Maliki told the Iraqi army Tuesday to keep out of politics and focus on protecting the nation. Al-Maliki, who has been in power for eight years, insists he should keep his post as prime minister of the Shiite-led government for a third term because his bloc won the most seats in the assembly, even though he has lost some support with the main coalition of Shiite parties. U.S. President Barack Obama has called the nomination of al-Abadi a positive step for Iraq, and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday he welcomed the formation of a new government "acceptable to all components of Iraqi society." .. View gallery FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, file photo, … FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013, file photo, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki listens to … Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah sent his congratulations. The official Saudi Press Agency said the king expressed his hope the new prime minister, president and parliament speaker would restore cohesion and unity among the Iraqi people. The move represents a sharp pivot from the bitter relationship that Riyadh and Baghdad had under al-Maliki, when each side blamed the other for sectarian strife and fueling extremism. Even Shiite powerhouse Iran rallied behind al-Abadi as a badly needed unifying figure in the face of the insurgency by the Sunni militants of the Islamic State group. Top Iranian official Ali Shamkhani offered his congratulations to the veteran Iraqi politician, indicating that Tehran, with its considerable influence on the Shiite parties, is further shifting away from al-Maliki. In remarks to reporters in New York, Ban warned against the Iraqi military taking sides in Iraq. "It is imperative that the security forces refrain from intervening in the political process," he said. Since winning his second term in 2010, al-Maliki has worked to craft a military in which the top brass are loyal to him. .. View gallery Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and display placards … Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and display placards bearing a picture of embattled Prime Minist … During a televised discussion with his senior military commanders, al-Maliki urged the armed forces not to interfere in the political process. Heightened security on Monday sparked concerns in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq that security forces might implement a lockdown after President Fouad Massoum appointed al-Abadi. Al-Maliki himself raised the specter of further unrest by saying that Sunni militants or Shiite militiamen might don military uniforms and try to take control of the streets on the pretext of supporting him. But he also warned against such actions. "This is not allowed because those people, wearing army uniforms and in military vehicles, might take advantage of the situation and move around and make things worse," he told the senior army and police commanders. Analysts say the Iraqi armed forces and his remaining political allies prefer to avoid a military confrontation and instead are interested in protecting their own positions. Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurdish politician who formerly served as foreign minister in al-Maliki's government, said military commanders in Baghdad "have assured the president and prime minister-designate that they will not take sides, that they will abide by the constitution and they will support democratic institutions in the country." .. View gallery FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 file photo, Shiite … FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 file photo, Shiite lawmaker Haider al-Abadi speaks to the pres … "Also Shiite armed militias made similar pledges that they will not undermine the security of the people," Zebari said. Austin Long, a member of the Arnold A. Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University, said Washington and Tehran should try to ensure that al-Maliki has a "safe exit" from power. "A lot of people don't want to let go of power because they get a little Messiah complex, but also, they want to be sure that if they peacefully transfer power, then they won't end up swinging from a lamp post," Long said. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged al-Abadi to work quickly to form an inclusive government and said the U.S. is prepared to offer it significant additional aid in the fight against Islamic State militants. The U.S. has already increased its role in fighting the Islamic State militant group, which has threatened the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq. The airstrikes, which began Friday, have reinvigorated Iraqi Kurdish forces. .. View gallery An Iraqi Yazidi man visits the holy Lalish temple in … An Iraqi Yazidi man visits the holy Lalish temple in the Mountains of Shikhan near Dahuk, 260 miles … On Tuesday, a U.S. drone destroyed a militant mortar position threatening Kurdish forces defending refugees near the Syrian border. Another 130 U.S. troops arrived in the Kurdish capital of Irbil in northern Iraq on Tuesday on what the Pentagon described as a temporary mission to assess the scope of the humanitarian crisis facing thousands of displaced Iraqi civilians trapped on Sinjar Mountain. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the deployment in remarks to Marines at Camp Pendleton, California. The 130 are in addition to 90 U.S. military advisers already in Baghdad and 160 in a pair of operations centers — one in Irbil and one in Baghdad — working with Iraqi and Kurdish security forces. They are in addition to about 455 U.S. security forces and 100 military personnel working in the Office of Security Cooperation in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.. "This is not a combat boots on the ground kind of operation," Hagel said. "We're not going back into Iraq in any of the same combat mission dimensions that we once were in in Iraq," he added, referring to the eight-year war that cost more than 4,400 U.S. lives and soured the American public on military involvement in Iraq. .. View gallery Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and display placards … Iraqis chant pro-government slogans and display placards bearing a picture of embattled Prime Minist … Another defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide additional details on the sensitive mission, said the extra troops are Marines and special operations forces whose mission is to assess the situation in the Sinjar area and to develop additional humanitarian assistance options beyond current U.S. efforts there. Still another official said the mission for the 130 troops could last less than one week. They are to work with representatives of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to coordinate plans with international partners and non-government organizations to help thousands of members of the Yazidi minority trapped on Sinjar Mountain in northwest Iraq. The Kurdish-speaking Yazidis follow an ancient religion, with roots in Zoroastrianism, which the Islamic State group considers heretical and has vowed to destroy. On Tuesday night, U.S. Central Command said four U.S. Air Force cargo planes dropped 108 bundles of food and water intended to help the trapped Yazidi civilians on Sinjar Mountain. It was the sixth such humanitarian relief mission conducted by U.S. planes since last week. An Iraqi military helicopter providing aid to civilians fleeing the militants crashed near the Sinjar mountains in northern Iraq, killing the pilot, army spokesman Qassim al-Moussawi said in a statement. The helicopter crashed after too many civilians tried to board it. The New York Times reported one of its reporters, Alissa J. Rubin, was in the helicopter and suffered an apparent concussion and broken wrists in the crash. France and Britain stepped up support Tuesday for thousands of people fleeing the Islamic militants in northern Iraq, pledging more air drops, money and equipment to ease suffering and bolster fighters battling the Sunni insurgents. Britain fast-tracked 3 million pounds ($5 million) in aid. The European Union said it wants to "bring vital assistance to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians trapped by the fighting" and was increasing its aid by 5 million euros ($7 million) for a total of about $23 million this year. EU Aid Commissioner Kristalina Georgieva said the funding will help "vulnerable Iraqis, including the minority groups besieged in the mountains of Sinjar" and the communities hosting a growing number of refugees. In other violence reported Tuesday, a car bomb exploded in the Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniya, killing four people and wounding 13 others, police said. Another bomb detonated in the commercial district of Karrada, killing eight, according to medical officials in a nearby hospital. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. ___ Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin in Baghdad, Adam Schreck in Dubai, Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington, Edith M. Lederer in New York, and Juergen Baetz in Brussels contributed to this report. ====== Fearing Iraq's downfall, power brokers chose safe bet Abadi Tue, Aug 12 16:09 PM EDT image By Michael Georgy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to step aside had become unbearable. Sunnis, Kurds, fellow Shi'ites, regional power broker Iran and the United States all wanted him out. Maliki calculated he may have one more chance to hold onto power after eight years in office, even though alarmed allies had run out of patience as Islamic State jihadis swept government forces aside in much of western and northern Iraq. Maliki's plan would require persuading Iraq's most influential cleric that he alone could reform and unite a country that had slid back into a civil war fueled by what critics view as his sectarian politics. A week ago, he sent a delegation from his Islamic Dawa Party to try to meet Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the sacred Shi'ite city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, according to an Iraqi minister and a source close to the clergy. It was unclear if they succeeded in gaining an audience with the reclusive 83-year-old cleric, but they did get a response on paper, if not the one that Maliki was hoping for: "Sistani made it clear that he wanted change. He put it in writing - the first time that a leader of Iraq's Shi'ite clergy did such a thing," the minister told Reuters. Sistani's word is law in majority Shi'ite Muslim Iraq so the fate of Maliki - an unknown when he first came to power in 2006 with help from Iraq's then U.S. occupiers - was sealed. Maliki has been caretaker prime minister since an inconclusive parliamentary election in April. But his chances of a third term appear over, with a party colleague named as prime minister-designate and drawing endorsements from home and abroad. While Maliki kept digging in, the main Iraqi and foreign players moved on to wondering who could replace him. Several names came up. One was Ahmad Chalabi, the smooth-talking, secular Shi'ite who played a role in persuading the United States to topple Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. Maliki's immediate predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari was also a candidate. But he had failed to ease sectarian violence during his year in office. Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, a nuclear scientist tortured in Saddam's jails, seemed promising, people familiar with the discussions said. A SAFE CHOICE But, officials said, in the end it came down to a choice between Vice President Khudhaier al-Khuzaie and former Maliki lieutenant Haider al-Abadi, a deputy speaker of parliament. Both were also members of Maliki's Dawa Party but Khuzaie was seen as too sectarian, too like Maliki in that regard. Abadi was selected because all parties agreed the low-key figure got along with leaders of the Kurdish minority and had a decent chance of appeasing Sunni Muslims, whose disgust with Maliki prompted some to join the Islamic State militants. Abadi also appealed to religious leaders and others because the engineer appears not to be motivated purely by political ambition. He spent more than two decades in exile, working in business in Britain while promoting the Islamic ideals of the Dawa party.

"Everyone decided enough is enough. Maliki was turning Iraq into a dictatorship and ruining its democracy. People were losing patience. This came to a head when the Islamic State invaded," said Haqim al-Zamili, a parliamentary ally of the influential Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "The clergy made their point in Friday sermons. They sent representatives to Baghdad - to pressure Shi'ites to push for change."

Abadi returned to Iraq after the fall of Saddam, who had had two of his brothers executed. He eventually served as an adviser to Maliki as premier and telecommunications minister. The decision to select Abadi was also based on a desire by all parties for a successor who would not remain in thrall to Maliki. While in office Maliki placed loyal allies in influential positions in all the main institutions of state. Abadi fit the bill - a member of Dawa but not part of Maliki's inner circle so the selection would neither alienate a core Shi'ite constituency nor, they hoped, simply give Maliki the chance to remain the power behind the throne. Aside from marginalising the Sunnis and infuriating the Kurds by challenging their long-standing dream of independence, Maliki's mistake was to alienate fellow Shi'ites, especially his long-time ally Iran. Abadi is not seen as a forceful figure who can antagonise, so he appealed to everyone from leaders in Tehran and the top clergy on Najaf to Sunni cities and towns where the Islamic State has capitalised on anti-Shi'ite resentment. Maliki had become so divisive, that some feared he would provoke a conflict among Shi'ites, further fragmenting the country. After Muslims celebrated the end of the fasting month of Ramadan in late July, the Najaf religious powers sent a letter to Abadi through Shi'ite lawmaker Abdul Hadi al-Hakim encouraging him to accept the nomination of prime minister. He accepted. "Abadi was selected by the Shi’ites and also approved by the clergy as he was not from Maliki's tight circle. This means no way Maliki could control him in future," said an member of parliament from the main Shi'ite coalition. "Abadi was most acceptable for all parties, including Sunnis and Kurds. That would definitely help to smooth the sectarian tension that emerged." OLD FRIEND IRAN SHIFTS POSITION Even Maliki's long-time supporter Iran decided it was time to part ways and start looking for an alternative. Like its enemy the United States, Iran had been closely watching the Islamic State's advances in northern Iraq, fearful at the prospect of violence spilling over the border. A senior Iranian official said Iranian and American officials held discussions on who could rescue Iraq, a major oil exporter. "Iranians and Americans held talks over possible candidates and after at least three sessions, they agreed on Abadi," said the official. "He is Shi'ite and given the sensitivity of the situation in Iraq and desperate need to create a united front, Iran agreed to convince Shi'ite groups to support Abadi. Some Iranian clerics based in Najaf were involved and lobbied for him." A U.S. official denied Washington, which has launched air strikes on the Islamic State militants, had tried to push Abadi into power, saying his name had come up through the Iraqi political system. "It’s not like we were leading this charge," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "The Saudis, the others who are active in the region, basically said ‘we are not going to do anything for Iraq if Iraq is not going to do something for itself.’ They had basically had it with Maliki." Another Iranian official said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had signed off on Abadi after long discussions with a group of seven advisers. "Abadi for the time being is a good choice and we have also talked to various Shi'ite groups in Iraq and hope he will be successful," said a high-ranking Iranian official. The Iraqi minister said Sistani had contacted Iran's supreme leader weeks ago to set the groundwork for a new prime minister. "He asked Iran to accept the Iraqi people's choice for a leader and the Iranians agreed," said the minister. Sistani, who favours a behind-the-scenes role, called on Iraqis to take up arms against the Islamic State. Like many Iraqis, he feared sectarian tensions would play into the hands of the Sunni jihadis who believe the majority Shi'ites are infidels who should die. Using Friday sermons, Sistani repeatedly urged Iraqi leaders to stop clinging to their posts - a clear reference to Maliki, who drew comparisons with Saddam Hussein, the man he plotted against for years from exile. Behind the scenes he also used his weight to push Shi'ite politicians to ditch Maliki. Saying no to a man who is revered by millions of Iraqis is not an option. The Shi'ite politicians caved in and sent a delegation to see Sistani three weeks ago to ask for more specific directions, according to members of the main Shi'ite coalition. "This was not easy, it was a very difficult mission. We became really embarrassed and under pressure from the religious establishment," said a Shi'ite politician who pushed for Abadi. "The clergy kept on pressuring us. So it became a must for us. This was beyond politics; it became a duty." In the end Sistani's tough stand plus a swirl of pressures - including the fear of the Islamic State gaining more Sunni followers and making good on its threat to march to Baghdad - prompted six members of the main Shi'ite coalition to act. They held a meeting and formally agreed on Abadi, whose favourite quotation according to his Facebook biography is "the key to leadership is tolerance". "We drafted the decision and signed it," said one of the members of the National Alliance. They then handed it to President Fouad Masoum who immediately appointed Abadi. Now millions of Iraqis, the United States, Iran and other regional powers such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey will be watching to see if he is the man who can contain the Islamic State, and end the daily kidnappings, bombings and execution killings. As for Maliki, he has dire predictions for a country whose very survival as a unified state is in jeopardy. "I have been speaking with Maliki. He is worried. He believes Iraq will be a failed state, a nation of militias," said Salam al-Maliki, a prominent sheikh in the former prime minister's tribe. (Additional reporting by Ahmed Rashid and Raheem Salman in Baghdad, Parisa Hafezi in Ankara and Mariam Karouny in Beirut, Arshad Mohammed in Washington; editing by David Stamp) ==== Bomb explodes near PM-designate Abadi’s house By Staff of Iraq Oil Report Published Tuesday, August 12th, 2014 At least eight people were killed in a bombing in the Karrada neighborhood near the house of Haider al-Abadi, who is nominated to be the next Prime Minister.A senior Interior Ministry official said 30 people were also injured in the blast, which took place around 6 p.m."A car bomb parked at the side of the road exploded in Karrada Dakhil near Abdulmajeed Hospital, about less than 150 meters from the new Prime Minister's house," the official said.Abadi's nomination has sparked a new p... ==== U.S. ready to help new Iraq leader, Iran welcomes choice Tue, Aug 12 07:51 AM EDT image By Michael Georgy and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's new prime minister-designate won swift endorsements from both the United States and Iran on Tuesday as he called on political leaders to end crippling feuds that have let jihadists seize a third of the country. Haider al-Abadi still faces a threat closer to home, where his Shi'ite party colleague Nuri al-Maliki has refused to step aside after eight years as premier that have alienated Iraq's once dominant Sunni minority and irked Washington and Tehran. However, a senior government official said commanders of military forces that Maliki deployed around Baghdad on Monday had pledged loyalty to President Fouad Masoum and to respect the head of state's decision to ask Abadi to form a new government. As Western powers and international aid agencies considered further help for tens of thousands of people driven from their homes and under threat from the Sunni militants of the Islamic State near the Syrian border, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would consider requests for military and other assistance once Abadi forms a government to unite the country. Underscoring the convergence of interest in Iraq that marks the normally hostile relationship between Washington and Iran, the head of Tehran's National Security Council congratulated Abadi on his nomination. Like Western powers, Iran has been alarmed by the rise of Sunni militants across Syria and Iraq. Abadi himself, long exiled in Britain, is seen as far less polarizing, sectarian figure than Maliki, who is also from the Shi'ite Islamic Dawa party. Abadi appears to have the blessing of Iraq's powerful Shi'ite clergy. Iraqi state television said Abadi "called on all political powers who believe in the constitution and democracy to unite efforts and close ranks to respond to Iraq’s great challenges". One politician close to Abadi told Reuters that the prime minister-designate had begun contacting leaders of major groups to sound them out on forming a new cabinet. The president said on Monday he hoped he would succeed within the next month. Maliki angrily dismissed Abadi's nomination on Monday as illegal. But there was no further sign of opposition on Tuesday. U.S. OFFER While U.S. officials have been at pains not to appear to be imposing a new leadership on Iraq, three years after U.S. troops left the country, President Barack Obama was quick to welcome the appointment. Wrangling over a new government since Iraqis elected a new parliament in April has been exploited by the Islamic State to seize much of the north and west. Obama has sent hundreds of U.S. military advisers and last week launched air strikes on the militants after they made dramatic gains against the Peshmerga forces of Iraq's autonomous ethnic Kurdish region, an ally of the Baghdad authorities. U.S. officials have said the Kurds are also receiving direct military aid and U.S. and British aircraft have dropped food and other supplies to terrified civilians, including from the Yazidi religious minority, who have taken refuge in remote mountains. Kerry, who on Monday had warned Maliki not to resort to force to hold on to power, said on Tuesday that Abadi could win more U.S. military and economic assistance. "We are prepared to consider additional political, economic and security options as Iraq's government starts to build a new government," he told a news conference in Australia, where he also reaffirmed that Washington would not send combat troops. "The best thing for stability in Iraq is for an inclusive government to bring the disaffected parties to the table and work with them in order to make sure there is the kind of sharing of power and decision-making that people feel confident the government represents all of their interests," Kerry added. It remains unclear how much support Maliki, who remains acting premier, has to obstruct the formation of a new administration. One senior government official told Reuters that his fears of a military standoff in the capital had eased: "Yesterday Baghdad was very tense," he said. "But key military commanders have since contacted the president and said they would support him and not Maliki." (Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Sydney; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; editing by David Stamp) ==== 11 August 2014 Last updated at 17:49 Share this pagePrint ShareFacebookTwitter Profile: Haider al-Abadi, Iraqi PM in waiting By Mohamed Madi BBC News Iraqi newly elected parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi (C) stands between his deputies Haidar Al Abadi (L) and Aram Sheikh Mohamad (R) in Baghdad on July 15, 2014 Haider al-Abadi faces a stiff challenge, even from within the State of Law coalition he is part of Continue reading the main story Struggle for Iraq Rise of Islamic State Reluctant US return Why Irbil matters The peacock people Iraq's deputy speaker Haider al-Abadi has been nominated as the new prime minister by President Fuad Masum. One of Iraq's most senior politicians, he has held several high-profile posts since returning to Iraq from exile in 2003. He appears to have succeeded in usurping Nouri al-Maliki as the preferred candidate of the Shia State of Law parliamentary coalition, although Mr Maliki bitterly disputes his appointment. He has been charged with forming a new government within 30 days, and faces the task of rebuilding trust between the Iraqi government and the country's Kurds and Sunnis, who felt increasingly alienated under Mr Maliki. If successful, Mr Abadi will take over at a time of deep national crisis, as Islamic State militants have taken over large swathes of northern Iraq. Suffered under Saddam Born in 1952 in Baghdad, Mr Abadi studied electrical engineering at the University of Baghdad in 1975. In 1981, he completed a PhD at the University of Manchester in the UK. He worked as an industry adviser and consultant in the UK during this time. For much of the 80s and 90s, he was exiled from Iraq because he was a member of the Islamic Dawa party, an Iraqi Shia opposition organisation. A file picture dated 01 July 2014, showing Iraqi lawmaker Haider al-Abadi Haider al-Abadi has been at the top of Iraqi politics since returning from exile in 2003 Mr Abadi says two of his brothers were killed and another imprisoned for 10 years during Saddam Hussein's rule. They were all Islamic Dawa members. After returning to Iraq in 2003, he became minister of communications in the Iraqi governing council, and has served as an MP since 2006. He has headed several Iraqi parliamentary committees, including those for finance and economics. Moderate but firm Mr Abadi has long been tipped as a potential prime-ministerial candidate, having been in contention for the top job in both 2006 and 2010. Analysts are generally agreed that Mr Abadi is a less divisive figure than Nouri Maliki. However, this tells us little as the bar for that comparison is so low. The political background of both is rooted in the Islamic Dawa party, which in the 1970s waged an armed insurgency against the Baath regime. Former foreign office diplomat Gerard Russell says that because of this, Mr Abadi is not too distant politically from his rival. Iraqi President Fuad Masum (2nd L) shakes hands with deputy parliamentary speaker Haidar al-Abadi who has been tasked with forming a government ( image from Iraqi state TV) The president (2nd left) has asked Mr Abadi (right) to form a government "He comes from a very similar background" he says. But he adds that, within the Dawa party, both men have taken differing approaches. "Al-Abadi is a very clever man, and is a politician by background. Maliki had something more of an underground background" he says. He will also be more attractive abroad, Mr Russell says. "His name would probably not have been put forward without the approval of the Americans and the Iranians" he says. "Of the three elected post-war prime ministers, he's certainly the most fluent in English and understands the West better" he adds. Ranj Alaaldin, an Iraq specialist and visiting scholar at Columbia University, met Mr Abadi in April, during the Iraqi parliamentary elections. He says Mr Abadi is seen as a moderate within the Dawa party, and has shown more of a willingness to compromise than his predecessor. "He is very engaging, articulate and direct" he says. He warns however though that we shouldn't expect radical changes from Mr Abadi, who still largely represents a specific subset of Iraqi society. "He is still a politician with constituencies mainly in the south of Iraq among the Shias, and so his policies will reflect that" Mr Alaaldin says. IS threat When it comes to halting the advance of the self-declared "caliphate" of the Islamic State, Mr Abadi is unlikely to give an inch. He told the Huffington Post in June that he would be prepared to "take any assistance, even from Iran" in the fight against IS militants. Supporters of outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki carry his pictures and placards reading in Arabic "Maliki is our choice' during a demonstration in central Baghdad, Iraq, 11 August 2014. Nouri al-Maliki still has supporters who could make life difficult for Mr Abadi "If US air strikes [happen], we don't need Iranian air strikes. If they don't, then we may need Iranian strikes" he said in the interview. But he also admitted that there had been "excesses" by Iraqi security forces. "We have to listen to the grievances, some of which are right and some of which are false". Ranj Alaaldin says that during the militant insurgency in Anbar province, Mr Abadi believed that a strong military response was required in the short term but "stressed the importance of national dialogue and reconciliation in the longer term". Mr Abadi's confirmation as prime minister is still not a foregone conclusion, as Mr Maliki and his remaining allies are mounting a fierce last stand. If confirmed however, Mr Abadi's troubles will have only just begun. He faces the unenviable task of defeating a fearsome militant foe with a rattled army and vast areas of the country outside his control. He will need to bring to bear all his powers of persuasion and influence to stand a chance. ================= Hanif Zarrabi-Kashani | August 11, 2014 5:00pm Iran Headlines: Nuri al-Maliki, Tehran Plane Crash, and Bijan Zangeneh Iran Iraq Iran Press Report Iranian Economy iraqi government islamist extremism Share on emailShare on twitterShare on facebookShare on linkedin Share on google_plusone_shareShare on stumbleuponShare on redditShare on print Iraqis gather to support Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad. IRAQ A hard-line Javon Online report asks, “Who is the United States at war with, (Nuri) al-Maliki or the Islamic State (ISIS)?” The writer cites that “for the past two months ISIS sized the important city of Mosul, committed mass murder, pillaged property, and violated the dignity of the Iraqi people…so why is the United States now finally intervening?” The writer concludes that “the primary goal of the United States is to use ISIS as a tool to persuade and force (Prime Minister Nuri) al-Maliki to step down.” In a Khabar Online interview, Tehran University professor Hojatoleslam Rasoul Jafarian claimed that Nuri al-Maliki is politically “finished.” Jafarian also warned that, “American air strikes against ISIS in Iraq won’t accomplish much,” and that “although combat troops on the ground is the only way to destroy ISIS, history show us that the Kurds never venture out of their region (to fight).” A hard-line Raja News editorial concludes, “With religious-political leaders Ammar al-Hakim, (the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq), and Muqtada al-Ṣadr seemingly united behind Haider al-Ibadi, (the newly named Prime Minister of Iraq) is in a better political position than Nuri al-Maliki.” ECONOMY AND ENERGY An ISNA report described last week’s widely reported oil-for-goods deal with Russia as an “ambiguous memorandum of understanding (MoU) that was signed in silence in Moscow by Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.” The report asks, “Where is (Bijan) Zanganeh?” And additionally inquires as to why neither Zangeneh, nor his deputies will respond or clarify details about the deal. According to Mehr News Agency, during an event with Chinese business officials in Qom, Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani emphasized Iran’s long standing trade ties with China and said, “Based on our recent negotiations with Chinese officials, we look forward to signing a number of trade and investment agreements in the near future.” During a meeting with Iran’s ambassadors, President Hassan Rouhani was quoted as saying, “We have brought the 45 percent inflation rate down 14 percent and we are determined to bring it below 25 percent by the end of the year.” SOCIETY A senior official in Iran’s Health Ministry told ISNA that the eight survivors of yesterday’s plane crash in Tehran are currently being treated at Shahid Beheshti hospital, and that “two of the surviving passengers are doing better but remain in the intensive care unit, two survivors are well enough to be discharged, while the remaining four other survivors will continue to receive treatment at the hospital.” According to reports, 39 people were killed on August 10, when an Iran-140 Sepahan Air passenger plane crashed after takeoff from Tehran's Mehrabad Airport. Parvin Dadandish, a women's affairs adviser to President Hassan Rouhani was quoted by ISNA as describing a recent plan to reduce the role of women in office-management jobs as “unfair,” and added, “This is a huge injustice, and this type of oppression is inconsistent with religious piety.” ================================= المرجع الاعلى للشيعة علي السيستاني يزيل لقب اية الله العظمى من موقعه على الانترنت في خطوة وصفها متخصصون بانها جاءت تواضعاً. 2014 is the first elections Maliki won. In 2006 and 2010 others won and he became PM. So can his supporters chillax about the votes issue. @waaltaee @mashabani other Shia parties got almost same percentage of vote as he did, if Iraqis didn't oppose they certainly didn't support. Maliki will most likely split from Dawa and form his own party out of SoL remnants (a la Jaafari) Walaa Al-Taee ‏@waaltaee 1h @mashabani @SajadJiyad Not a supporter, but Aside from Sunnis/Kurds, very few Iraqis opposed Maliki until Sistani implied he needed to go. Maliki claims foul play as Abadi’s support grows Maliki claims foul play as Abadi’s support grows Iraqis hold giant portraits of Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a demonstration to support him on Aug. 11, 2014 in Baghdad's central Saadoun Street after Maliki said he was filing a complaint against the president for violating the constitution. (AMER AL-SAEDI/AFP/Getty Images) By BEN LANDO AND STAFF of Iraq Oil Report Published Monday, August 11th, 2014 Three quarters of the members of the pan-Shia National Alliance turned against Nouri al-Maliki on Monday, backing Deputy Parliament Speaker Haider al-Abadi, a former Maliki stalwart and Dawa Party leader, to take over as prime minister. By late afternoon, Abadi was on television with President Fuad Massum and other former Maliki allies being formally and publicly tasked with forming the next government. Meanwhile, Maliki's remaining supporters took to local and social media, threatening laws... ========= Meet Haider al-Abadi, the man named Iraq’s new prime minister More By Adam Taylor August 11 at 10:17 AM Iraq's president on Monday named Haider al-Abadi as the country's new prime minister, an appointment that came amid speculation that the embattled incumbent, Nouri al-Maliki, would cling to power even after his country had dissolved into chaos and the United States made it clear that it would not support him as leader anymore. But who is Abadi? Born in Baghdad in 1952, Abadi was educated at the University of Baghdad and later received a doctorate from the University of Manchester in Britain. He lived in Britain for many years after his family was targeted by Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime. He was trained as an electrical engineer, but he entered politics after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He became minister of communications in the Iraqi Governing Council in September 2003, then was a key adviser to Maliki in Iraq's first post-invasion elected government. Just weeks ago, he was elected deputy speaker of parliament, and he has been considered a contender for prime minister after the past two elections. The bigger question, however, is whether Abadi will be able to overcome the challenges confronting Iraq more successfully than Maliki. Like Maliki, he's a Shiite Muslim and is a member of the ruling State of Law coalition. One of the chief criticisms of Maliki was that he entrenched Iraq's sectarian politics, filling the government with Shiite politicians and limiting Sunni and Kurdish power. Earlier this summer, Abadi gave a striking interview to the Huffington Post's Mehdi Hasan in which he discussed the possibility of Iranian intervention in the fight against the Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group that has taken over vast swaths of Iraq. "We are waiting for the Americans to give us support," he said in the June interview. "If U.S. air strikes [happen], we don't need Iranian air strikes. If they don't, then we may need Iranian strikes." Abadi has also had differences with Iraq's Kurdish community at points: Last year he warned that a dispute over Iraqi Kurdistan's oil exports could lead to the "disintegration" of the country, and he was criticized by Kurdish politicians during the negotiations over the 2013 budget. However, Abadi does seem to be aware that the Iraqi government and security forces have made serious mistakes in the current conflict. He told Hasan that the government needs to listen to stories of the "excesses" of the security forces to decide how to respond. And he was clear that Iraq needed to avoid being dragged into the type of war the Islamic State clearly desires. "We have to be careful not to become involved in a sectarian war," he told Hasan. "Shias are not against Sunnis and Sunnis are not against Shias." Reidar Visser, an academic expert on Iraqi politics, says that although Abadi comes from the same political faction as Maliki, he enjoys much broader support, especially from Kurds and Sunnis.

Part of this is his more distinguished background. "Many of the elites from the governing council-era consider him one of their own in terms of a prestigious family background, whereas Maliki was seen as more of an upstart from humble origins," Visser notes in an e-mail. "Things like that count in the (old-fashioned and traditional) Iraqi establishment."

Hayder al-Khoei, an associate fellow at Chatham House in London who follows Iraqi politics, says that Abadi has a reputation for skilled diplomacy, and has a much better chance of forming a national-unity government than his predecessor. "Without Maliki it isn't going to be easy," Khoei explains, "[But] with Maliki it will be impossible." Khoei added that it remains to be seen exactly how Maliki will react to the appointment. "To give you an indication of how bad the situation is, many are now worried about Abadi's physical security," he said. President Fouad Massoum, a Kurd, seemed confident Monday that Abadi could lead the country. “Now the Iraqi people are in your hands,” he said as he shook Abadi's hand. Now Iraq waits to see whether Maliki will acquiesce. Rick Noack contributed to this report. ======================== Noticed several Kurds begin questioning Abadi nomination because of Baghdad-KRG dispute and that he has similar policies & views as Maliki Maliki defiant as his special forces deploy in Baghdad ==== Iraq president names new PM but Maliki hangs tough Mon, Aug 11 12:13 PM EDT image 1 of 13 By Michael Georgy and Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's president named a new prime minister to replace Nuri al-Maliki on Monday, urging him to form a broad government that can stem communal bloodshed, but it was unclear whether Maliki would bow to U.S. and Iranian pressure to step aside. A Shi'ite Muslim blamed by erstwhile allies in Washington and Tehran as well as Baghdad for driving the alienated Sunni minority into revolt, Maliki deployed loyal militias and special forces in the capital on Monday after making a defiant speech accusing the head of state of abusing the constitution. Militants from the Islamic State, who routed Maliki's army in the north in June, made new gains over Kurdish forces despite three days of U.S. air strikes and Baghdad, long braced for the Sunni fighters to attack the city, was now tensing for possible clashes between Maliki and rivals within the Shi'ite majority. There was no immediate reaction from Maliki to the naming of Haider al-Abadi as prime minister. However, Maliki's son-in-law, a close political ally, told Reuters that he would seek to overturn the nomination in the courts. President Fouad Masoum asked Abadi, a leader of Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party, to lead an administration that can win the support of a parliament elected in April. In remarks broadcast on television, Masoum, an ethnic Kurd, urged him to "form a broader-based government" over the next month. Abadi himself, who spent decades in exile in Britain during the rule of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, urged national unity against the "barbaric" Islamic State, which has driven tens of thousands from their homes as it swept Baghdad's troops from the north and west to consolidate a "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria. "We all have to cooperate to stand against this terrorist campaign launched on Iraq and to stop all terrorist groups," he said in broadcast remarks after meeting Masoum. Maliki, 60, who emerged from obscurity to become prime minister in 2006 under U.S. occupation, may not go quietly. "We will not stay silent," his son-in-law Hussein al-Maliki said. "The nomination is illegal and a breach of the constitution. We will go to the federal court to object." U.S. WARNING After Washington endorsed Masoum's attempts to break three months of post-election political deadlock that have hamstrung Baghdad's response to the Islamic State, Secretary of State John Kerry called on Maliki not to resort to force or "stir the waters" when Iraqis were seeking a change of leader. In pointed remarks, he said: "The government formation process is critical in terms of sustaining stability and calm in Iraq and our hope is that Mr. Maliki will not stir those waters. "There will be little international support of any kind whatsoever for anything that deviates from the legitimate constitution process that is in place and being worked on now." As police and elite armed units, many equipped and trained by the United States, locked down the capital's streets, Kerry added: "There should be no use of force, no introduction of troops or militias in this moment of democracy for Iraq." Serving in a caretaker capacity since the inconclusive election on April 30, Maliki has defied calls by Sunnis, Kurds, fellow Shi'ites, regional power broker Iran and Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric to step aside for a less polarizing figure. "Maliki knows it is very difficult to gain a third term and is playing a high-stakes game to try and ensure his authority and influence continue into the new government, despite who may officially become prime minister," said Kamran Bokhari, a Middle East specialist at analysis firm Stratfor. Washington is losing patience with Maliki, who has placed Shi'ite political loyalists in key positions in the army and military and drawn comparisons with Saddam, the man he plotted against from Iranian exile for decades. Before Abadi's nomination, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman reaffirmed support for a "a prime minister who can represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people by building a national consensus and governing in an inclusive manner". "We reject any effort to achieve outcomes through coercion or manipulation of the constitutional or judicial process," she said in a statement, adding that the United States "fully supports" Masoum as guarantor of Iraq's constitution. MILITARY AID U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Iraqi politicians to form a more inclusive government that can counter the growing threat from the Islamic State, though he has rejected calls in some quarters for a return of U.S. troops other than in the form of several hundred military advisers sent in June. The group, which sees Iraq's majority Shi'ites as infidels who deserve to be killed, has ruthlessly moved through one town after another, using tanks and heavy weapons it seized from soldiers who have fled in their thousands. On Monday, police said the fighters had seized the town of Jalawla, 115 km (70 miles) northeast of Baghdad, after driving out the forces of the autonomous Kurdish regional government. Washington and its European allies are considering requests for more direct military aid from the Kurds, who have themselves differed with Maliki over the division of oil resources and took advantage of the Islamists' advance to expand their territory. On Sunday, a government minister said Islamic State militants had killed hundreds of people from the small, Kurdish-speaking Yazidi religious sect, burying some alive and taking women as slaves. No confirmation was available of the killings. Thousands of Yazidis have taken refuge in the past week on the arid heights of Mount Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The bloodshed could increase pressure on Western powers to do more to help those who have fled the Islamic State's offensive. They have already dropped supplies and U.S. aircraft have been bombing the militants since Friday. (Writing by Alastair Macdonald; editing by David Stamp) =========== Exactly, the excuse was that even if their "larger" bloc had the right to nominate whomever they want, it has to be from the Qanoon "the biggest group in the bloc" , 3bady seems to fit that criterion, so things should move on. =============================== I mean besides his party, everyone wants him out, so that is the majority and democracy at work, what is his deal? may be he is trying to protect the theft by his clan. Who knows where the truth lies. I hope its just twitter talk, but right now, Google News is full of reports if u write "Iraq Coup" under the search section. Whats also weird is, the facebook and twitter pages of State of Law are contradecting each other, one in support the other (twitter account), said; "the prime-minister is representing himself and only himself in the speech". It later on got deleted and reopened with pro-Maliki statements. Like Jeleel said, in his speech he did an attack on the president. 90 minutes before the speech, there was troop movement. By the end of the speech, they had secured all the strategic areas in Baghdad, sourrounded Al-Rasheed hotel (where a lot of politicians are) and sorrounded the Green Zone. Something a police official said is only seen during a state of emergency. Yet, on tv. I only see Sharqiyah News and Al-Arabiyah working on this news. There could be 3 possibilities. 1. Maliki is bluffing and showing them his strength, "just in case" they decide to choose someone with more hair and charisma, like he said in his speech, the actions of the president will have grave consequences. 2. Its a coup. Allah Yustoor. 3. Its nothing, just a security movement. Last edited by Al-Kazmawi : Yesterday at 08:22 PM. I dont think my work connections within the Sports Ministry, Olympic Fedaration nor the Football Association can help much but many of the members in here, of aliraqi, seem to come from the aristrocratic elite of Iraq. They know everything, their sources are mainly; "my cousin", "my brother", "my uncle"... continued by "who works for..." and then a long line of bullshit serving their sectarian agenda. As for the Coup/no-Coup... I dont know, my sources right now, are the people i follow on twitter - people with actual connections and not the guys in here with invisible friends. That said, I'm not happy with the amount of sources i have, thats why im asking you people if ur hearing anything. The sources i read on twitter or choose to follow are creating scenarios and are watching this, asking themselves; what the hell is happening? why now, why after the speech, why sorround these areas? and why is the state of law doing a cyber war on itself? and so on. Giving their knowledge on Iraqi political history, thats why this news is hyped up. We've seen this a dozen of times before and even if it isnt a coup... this might "just" be some muscle flexing... the disturbing part about that, would be... Malikis strength and how fast he managed to close down Baghdad.. and this is very dangerous to know, because he is most likely not going to continue as PM and what will he do next time, if thats the case? On the other hand, the bull*****rs on twitter are saying there is bombs, gunfights, maliki doing a one and one knife fight with Masum and etc. Obviously bullshit. You'll know from the way they write, a bunch of 3arabanchiyah with a twitter account. خطيه العبادي صار كبش الفداء وبعد يومين يطلع بوجه مصخم عندما تقول المحكمة الاتحادية كلمة الفصل Linear Abadi had become a scapegoat after two brief in Federal Court says mskhm when your chapter (Translated by Bing) مبروك للعراق ! ======== : أبارك جميع العراقيين من دهوك الى البصرة ومن الانبار الى ديالى بالتداول السلمي للسلطات الثلاثة. ما تزال هناك عدة شواغر يجب ملئها قريباً لغرض المباشرة بتوحيد صفوف العراقيين من كل القوميات والاديان والطوائف لمحاربة اعداء العراق من ارهابيي القاعدة وداعش والمليشيات خارج القانون. على السلطات الثلاثة البدأ بسن قانون تحديد دورات رئيس الوزراء بإثنين لكي لا يمر العراق بمثل هذه المحنة مرة اخرى. كما وعليهم اعادة بناء الجيش العراقي على اسس وطنية وليست قومية وطائفية. كما وادعوهم الى ان يباشروا بحملة تنمية روح المواطنة وشعور الانتماء للعراق اولاً لكي يشعر ابناء كربلاء بأن الحكومة تمثلهم مثلما يشعر ابناء اربيل وابناء نينوى بانهم ينتمون لهذا البلد الذي يجمعنا تحت خيمة واحدة وراية واحدة اسمه ((( العراق ))) الف مبروك لكل من نادى للديموقراطية الف مبروك لدعاة الحق و العدل الف مبروك لرافضي الطغاة و السلاطين الف مبروك لجميع العراقيين و نعم للتغيير و النصر للعراق . جعل الله مقدمه مقدم خير على العراقيين و نهاية الاستئثار و التشبث بالسلطة و المناصب . 6 hrs · Unlike · 1 Whether Imam Hussein A.S or Imam Sistani is with Al-Maliki or not but his own DAWA to dump him soon. Those who rode and came to Power on American's wish need to listen ringing bell otherwise, its too late. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=755426691186297 زين اذا الكل ما تريده ، رشحوا غيره كونوا كتلة وقدموا مرشح وماكو اسهل من حصوله على الاغلبية حتى كتلته تكدر تسوي نفس الشئ المشكلة ماكو احد دا يقدم اسماء بديلة تطلع وتحجي و تقترح و تعلن الكل معترض بس ماكو تقديم اسم بديل لانه اذا صوتوا اكثرية ضده خلص، يركع راسه بالحايط الموضوع شكله ابتزاز سياسي ممكن بعده الموافقة على المالكي بعد سعر و ثمن معين اشار الكاتب الاماراتي عبدالله جمعة الحاج في مقال له في صحيفة "الاتحاد" الاماراتية الى ان "دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي تنظر إلى العراق على أنه ميدان صراع ضمن صراعها الجيوستراتيجي الأوسع مع إيران، بمعنى أن المكاسب السياسية التي تحققها ايران في العراق ينظر إليها على أنها بمثابة مكاسب لإيران ذاتها وخسائر للدول الخمس". وحذر الكاتب من تحول العراق "أرضاً جديدة لتفريخ الجماعات والمنظمات الإرهابية التي ترى نفسها بأنها في حرب مع أنظمة الحكم في المنطقة ومع دول الغرب كافة، انطلاقاً من مبدأ دار الإسلام ودار الحرب، فمثل هذه المنظمات يطيب غرامها وتنمو وتنتعش في المناطق والدول التي توجد بها حروب طائفية وأهلية، والأمر الثاني هو أنه بوجود الحرب الأهلية الدائرة الآن في العراق، عندما يضاف إليها ما يحدث في سوريا ولبنان، فإن الأمر سيعني صراعاً طائفياً على أساس مذهبي وطائفي واسع النطاق يبدأ من سوريا ولبنان مروراً بالعراق وربما دول خليجية أخرى". 1 hr · بعض الناس اختفوا من الفيس يذكروني بجماهير الريال والبرشا من واحد بيهم يخسر!! Some people disappeared from the Elvis they remind me of the real walbrsha fans of one of them lost!! (Translated by Bing) احلى شي من تكون انت مهتم بالدوري الانكليزي و تظل تضحك على الصوبين.. هم البرشا و هم الريال!!! هيه هاي احله شي زي حلاتنه راحوا يدربون على اللواكه الجديده هههه سبحان الله عبالك الي اب گلبي كتبته ============= Iraqi Shi'ite coalition close to nominating prime minister Mon, Aug 11 05:00 AM EDT image 1 of 13 By Michael Georgy BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A bloc comprising Iraq's biggest Shi'ite parties is close to nominating a prime minister, the deputy speaker of parliament said on Monday, directly challenging Nuri al-Maliki who has refused to give up his bid for a third term. Haider al-Abadi's comments in a tweet came after police sources said special forces and Shi'ite militias personally loyal to Maliki had been deployed in strategic areas of Baghdad after he made a defiant speech on television suggesting he would not cave in to pressure to drop his bid to stay in office following a parliamentary election held in April. Abadi is seen as a possible successor to Maliki, who has been premier since 2006 but has alienated some allies, including the United States, who blame him for failing to forge consensus and so fuelling sectarian violence that is breaking Iraq apart. In his tweet, Abadi said government forces were moving around the capital in anticipation of security breaches. Police set up checkpoints at major intersections, some with armored vehicles, and many roads were closed. Maliki accused Iraqi President Fouad Masoum, from the ethnic Kurdish minority, of violating the constitution by missing a deadline for him to ask the biggest political bloc in the new legislature to nominate a prime minister and form a government. "I will submit today an official complaint to the federal court against the president of the Republic for committing a clear constitutional violation for the sake of political calculations," Maliki said in the televised speech. Serving in a caretaker capacity since the inconclusive election in April, Maliki has defied calls by Sunnis, Kurds, some fellow Shi'ites, regional power broker Iran and Iraq's top cleric to step aside for a less polarizing figure. Critics accuse Maliki of pursuing a sectarian agenda which has sidelined minority Sunni Muslims and prompted some of them to support Islamic State militants, whose latest sweep through northern Iraq has alarmed the Baghdad government and its Western allies, prompting U.S. air strikes in recent days. "Maliki knows it is very difficult to gain a third term and is playing a high-stakes game to try and ensure his authority and influence continue into the new government, despite who may officially become prime minister," said Kamran Bokhari, a Middle East specialist at analysis firm Stratfor. MALIKI UNDER FIRE Washington seems to be losing patience with Maliki, who has placed Shi'ite political loyalists in key positions in the army and military and drawn comparisons with executed former dictator Saddam Hussein, the man he plotted against from exile for years. A State Department spokeswoman reaffirmed Washington's support for a "process to select a prime minister who can represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people by building a national consensus and governing in an inclusive manner". "We reject any effort to achieve outcomes through coercion or manipulation of the constitutional or judicial process," she said in a statement, adding that the United States "fully supports" Masoum as guarantor of Iraq's constitution. U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Iraqi politicians to form a more inclusive government that can counter the growing threat from the Islamic State. But Maliki, an unknown when he first took office in 2006 with help from the United States, is digging in. "Now we can see unprecedented deployment of army commandos and special elite forces deployed in Baghdad, especially sensitive areas close to the green zone and the entrances of the capital," one of the police sources said. "These forces are now taking full responsibility of securing these areas of the capital." Iraq's Interior Ministry has told police to be on high alert in connection with Maliki's speech, a police official told Reuters. MORE U.S. AIR STRIKES The Islamic State has capitalized on the political deadlock and sectarian tensions, making fresh gains after arriving in the north of the country in June from Syria. The group, which sees Iraq's majority Shi'ites as infidels who deserve to be killed, has ruthlessly moved through one town after another, using tanks and heavy weapons it seized from soldiers who have fled in their thousands. Islamic State militants have killed hundreds of Iraq's minority Yazidis, burying some alive and taking women as slaves, an Iraqi government minister said on Sunday, as U.S. warplanes again bombed the insurgents. Human rights minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani accused the Sunni Muslim militants - who have ordered the community they regard as "devil worshippers" to convert to Islam or die - of celebrating what he called a "a vicious atrocity". No independent confirmation was available of the killings. Thousands of Yazidis have taken refuge in the past week on the arid heights of Mount Sinjar, close to the Syrian border. The bloodshed could increase pressure on Western powers to do more to help tens of thousands of people, including many from religious and ethnic minorities, who have fled the Islamic State's offensive. The U.S. Central Command said drones and jet aircraft had hit Islamic State armed trucks and mortar positions near Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region which had been relatively stable throughout the past decade until insurgents swept across northwestern Iraq this summer. That marked a third successive day of U.S. air strikes, and Central Command said that they were aimed at protecting Kurdish peshmerga forces as they face off against the militants near Arbil, the site of a U.S. consulate and a U.S.-Iraqi joint military operations center. The Islamists' advance in the past week has forced tens of thousands to flee, threatened Arbil and provoked the first U.S. attacks since Washington withdrew troops from Iraq in late 2011, nearly nine years after invading to oust Saddam Hussein. WOMEN HELD AS SLAVES Consolidating a territorial grip that includes tracts of Syrian desert and stretches toward Baghdad, the Islamic State's local and foreign fighters have swept into areas where non-Sunni groups live. While they persecute non-believers in their path, that does not seem to be the main motive for their latest push. The group wants to establish religious rule in a caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq and has tapped into widespread anger among Iraq's Sunnis at a democratic system dominated by the Shi'ite Muslim majority following the U.S. invasion of 2003. Sudani said: "The terrorist Islamic State has also taken at least 300 Yazidi women as slaves and locked some of them inside a police station in Sinjar and transferred others to the town of Tal Afar. We are afraid they will take them outside the country. "In some of the images we have obtained there are lines of dead Yazidis who have been shot in the head while the Islamic State fighters cheer and wave their weapons over the corpses," he added. "This is a vicious atrocity." Iraqis have slipped back into sectarian bloodshed not seen since 2006-2007 - the peak of a civil war. Nearly every day police report kidnappings, bombings and execution-style killings. The Sunni militants routed Kurds in their latest advance with tanks, artillery, mortars and vehicles seized from fleeing Iraqi troops. The militants are now just 30 minutes' drive from Arbil. In their latest sweep through the north, the Sunni insurgents seized a fifth oil field, several more villages and the biggest dam in Iraq - which could give them the ability to flood cities or cut off water and power supplies - hoisting their black flags along the way. After spending more than $2 trillion on its war in Iraq and losing thousands of soldiers, the United States must now find ways to tackle a group that is even more hardline than al-Qaeda and has threatened to march on Baghdad. (Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Alastair Macdonald) ============= Sun, Aug 10 22:23 PM EDT image 1 of 13 By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Special forces loyal to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were deployed in strategic areas of Baghdad on Sunday night after he delivered a tough speech indicating he would not cave in to pressure to drop a bid for a third term, police sources said. Pro-Maliki Shi'ite militias stepped up patrols in the capital, police said. An eyewitness said a tank was stationed at the entrance to Baghdad's Green Zone, which houses government buildings. In a speech on state television, Maliki accused Iraq's Kurdish President Fouad Masoum of violating the constitution by missing a deadline for him to ask the biggest political bloc to nominate a prime minister and form a government. "I will submit today an official complaint to the federal court against the president of the Republic for committing a clear constitutional violation for the sake of political calculations," said Maliki. Serving in a caretaker capacity since an inconclusive election in April, Maliki has defied calls by Sunnis, Kurds, some fellow Shi'ites, regional power broker Iran and Iraq's top cleric for him to step aside for a less polarising figure. Critics accuse Maliki of pursuing a sectarian agenda which has sidelined Sunnis and prompted some of them to support Islamic State militants, whose latest sweep through northern Iraq has alarmed the Baghdad government and its Western allies. Washington seems to be losing patience with Maliki, who has placed Shi'ite political loyalists in key positions in the army and military and drawn comparisons with executed former dictator Saddam Hussein, the man he plotted against from exile for years. The United States voiced its support for Masoum after Maliki, whom Washington has blamed for stoking Iraq's security crisis, criticised him.

"We reaffirm our support for a process to select a prime minister who can represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people by building a national consensus and governing in an inclusive manner," Deputy State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement. "We reject any effort to achieve outcomes through coercion or manipulation of the constitutional or judicial process," Harf said, adding that the United States "fully supports" Masoum in his role as the guarantor of Iraq's constitution.

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Iraqi politicians on Saturday to form a more inclusive government that can counter the growing threat from the Islamic State. But Maliki keeps digging in. "Now we can see unprecedented deployment of army commandos and special elite forces deployed in Baghdad, especially sensitive areas close to the green zone and the entrances of the capital," one of the police sources said. "These forces are now taking full responsibility of securing these areas of the capital." Iraq's Interior Ministry has told police to be on high alert in connection with Maliki's speech, a police official told Reuters. The Islamic State has capitalised on political deadlock and sectarian tensions that have made it easier for the group to make fresh gains after arriving in the north in June from Syria. The group, which sees Shi'ites as infidels who deserve to be killed, has ruthlessly moved through one town after another, using tanks and heavy weapons it seized from soldiers who fled in the thousands. Islamic State militants have killed hundreds of Iraq's minority Yazidis, burying some alive and taking women as slaves, an Iraqi government minister said on Sunday, as U.S. warplanes again bombed the insurgents. Human rights minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani accused the Sunni Muslim insurgents - who have ordered the community they regard as "devil worshippers" to convert to Islam or die - of celebrating what he called a "a vicious atrocity". No independent confirmation was available of the killings of hundreds of Yazidis, bloodshed that could increase pressure on Western powers to do more to help tens of thousands of people, including many from religious and ethnic minorities, who have fled the Islamic State's offensive. The U.S. Central Command said drones and jet aircraft had hit Islamic State armed trucks and mortar positions near Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region which had been relatively stable throughout the past decade of turmoil until the insurgents swept across northwestern Iraq this summer. That marked a third successive day of U.S. air strikes, and Central Command said in its statement that they were aimed at protecting Kurdish peshmerga forces as they face off against the militants near Arbil, the site of a U.S. consulate and a U.S.-Iraqi joint military operations centre. The U.S. State Department said on Sunday it had pulled some of its staff from the Arbil consulate for their safety. The Islamists' advance in the past week has forced tens of thousands to flee, threatened Arbil and provoked the first U.S. attacks since Washington withdrew troops from Iraq in late 2011, nearly nine years after invading to oust Saddam Hussein. Iraqi rights minister Sudani told Reuters in a telephone interview that accounts of the killings had come from people who had escaped the town of Sinjar, an ancient home of the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking community whose religion has set them apart from Muslims and other local faiths. "We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic State have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar," he said. "Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar." Consolidating a territorial grip that includes tracts of Syrian desert and stretches toward Baghdad, the Islamic State's local and foreign fighters have swept into areas where non-Sunni groups live. While they persecute non-believers in their path, that does not seem to be the main motive for their latest push. The group wants to establish religious rule in a caliphate straddling Syria and Iraq and has tapped into widespread anger among Iraq's Sunnis at a democratic system dominated by the Shi'ite Muslim majority following the U.S. invasion of 2003. Obama warned on Saturday that there was no quick fix for the crisis that threatens to tear Iraq apart. Kurdish regional president Masoud Barzani urged his allies to send arms to help his forces hold off the militants, who have bases across the Syrian border. During a visit by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Barzani said: "We are not fighting a terrorist organisation, we are fighting a terrorist state." Another senior Kurdish official said Kurds retook two towns southwest of Arbil, Guwair and Makhmur, with the help of U.S. strikes. But he did not expect a rapid end to the fighting. In Jalawla, 115 km (70 miles) northeast of Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed 10 Kurdish forces and wounded 80 people on Sunday. Kurdish fighters and Islamic militants are locked in fierce clashes in the town. Fabius, noting how Islamic State fighters had taken the upper hand after seizing heavy weaponry from Iraqi troops who fled in June, said the European Union would look into bolstering the Kurds' arsenal to help them hold out and hit back. TAKEN AS "SLAVES" Sudani said: "The terrorist Islamic State has also taken at least 300 Yazidi women as slaves and locked some of them inside a police station in Sinjar and transferred others to the town of Tal Afar. We are afraid they will take them outside the country. "In some of the images we have obtained there are lines of dead Yazidis who have been shot in the head while the Islamic State fighters cheer and wave their weapons over the corpses," he added. "This is a vicious atrocity." U.S. military aircraft have dropped relief supplies to tens of thousands of Yazidis who are trapped on the desert top of nearby Mount Sinjar, seeking shelter from the insurgents. A spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency in Iraq said some 30,000 Iraqis had since Friday reached safety in Kurdistan after travelling on the Syrian side of the border from Sinjar. At the Vatican, Pope Francis held a silent prayer for victims of the Iraq conflict: "Thousands of people, among them many Christians, banished brutally from their houses, children dying of hunger and thirst as they flee, women kidnapped, people massacred, violence of all kinds," he said in a Sunday address. "All of this deeply offends God and deeply offends humanity." MALIKI CRITICISM France joined the calls for Iraq's feuding leaders to form an inclusive government capable of countering the militants. "Iraq is in need of a broad unity government," Foreign Minister Fabius said in Baghdad. "All Iraqis should feel they are represented to take part in this battle against terrorism." The pressure from France came a day after Obama described the upheaval in the north as a "wake-up call" to Iraqis who have slipped back into sectarian bloodshed not seen since 2006-2007. Nearly every day police report kidnappings, bombings and execution-style killings in many cities, towns and villages. In Baghdad, police were on Sunday manning some squares in armoured personnel carriers, an unusual sight. The Islamic State has met little resistance. Thousands of U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers fled when its Arab and foreign fighters swept through northern Iraq from eastern Syria in June. The collapse of the Iraqi army prompted Kurds and Shi'ite militias to step in, with limited success. The Sunni militants routed Kurds in their latest advance with tanks, artillery, mortars and vehicles seized from fleeing Iraqi troops, calling into question the Kurds' reputation as fearsome warriors. Iranian-trained Shi'ite militias may stand a better chance than the Kurds but they are accused of kidnapping and killing Sunnis, playing into the hands of the Islamic State, which also controls a large chunk of western Iraq. After hammering Kurdish forces last week, the militants are just 30 minutes' drive from Arbil, the Iraqi Kurdish capital, which until now has been spared the sectarian bloodshed that has scarred other parts of Iraq for a decade. The possibility of an attack on Arbil has prompted foreigners working for oil companies to leave the city and Kurds to stock up on AK-47 assault rifles at the arms bazaar. In their latest sweep through the north, the Sunni insurgents seized a fifth oil field, several more villages and the biggest dam in Iraq - which could give them the ability to flood cities or cut off water and power supplies - hoisting their black flags up along the way. After spending more than $2 trillion on its war in Iraq and losing thousands of soldiers, the United States must now find ways to tackle a group that is even more hardline than al-Qaeda and has threatened to march on Baghdad. (Additional reporting by Mohammad Zargham and Missy Ryan in Washington; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sandra Maler)