Crisis In Iraq

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah Jun 21, 2014   The most respected voice for Iraq's Shiite majority on Friday suggested that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki needed to recast his approach or step down . Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani's thinly veiled reproach was the most influential to place blame on the Shiite prime minister for the nation's spiraling crisisas Sunni militants have joined forces with the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). "It is necessary for the winning political blocs to start a dialogue that yields an effective government that enjoys broad national support, avoids past mistakes and opens new horizons toward a better future for all Iraqis," al-Sisanti said in a message delivered by his representative Ahmed al-Safi in the holy city of Karbala. Al-Sistani's Friday sermon also called for the newly elected parliament to begin work and start the process of forming the next government without de...

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah Jun 19, 2014   The U.S. has advised senior officials in Iraq that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki must step down. There is a growing sentiment in Washington that Nouri al-Maliki is part of the problem. The story comes a day after President Barack Obama met with congressional leaders to talk about what the United States may do to slow down and stop Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) troops as they take city after city on their way to Iraq's capital Baghdad Maliki, a Shiite strongman whose sectarian policies had marginalized Sunnis throughout his eight-year rule, he has refused calls for his resignation as government forces continue to battle Sunni militants attempting to take control of the biggest oil refinery in the crisis-hit country. Mr Maliki's spokesman, Zuhair al-Nahar, said the west should support the Shia-led government's military operation against al-Qa'ida splinter group Isis   instead of ca...

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah Jun 19, 2014   President Obama said Thursday he is planning to send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq to help retrain Iraqi security forces as they battle an insurgent invasion. Obama added that "American forces will not be returning to combat" but will help Iraqis "take the fight to terrorists who threaten the Iraqi people, the region and American interests as well." According to a White House statement, Obama went over efforts to "strengthen the capacity of Iraq's security forces to confront the threat" from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters, "including options for increased security assistance." The president, holding back on more aggressive measures such as airstrikes, addressed the crisis in Iraq and the U.S. response after meeting for hours with his national security team. Speaking in the White House briefing room. The president also said the U.S. is tak...

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah Jun 18, 2014   Iraq's army claimed Wednesday it had repelled an attack on the nation's largest oil refinery and killed 40 militants "The militants have managed to break in to the refinery. Now they are in control of the production units, administration building and four watch towers. This is 75 percent of the refinery," an official speaking from inside the refinery in Beiji told Reuters on Wednesday. The official said fighters of the al Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) began their attack on the Beiji refinery, some 155 miles north of Baghdad late Tuesday night. The attack continued into Wednesday morning, with fighters targeting it with mortar shells. A small fire started on the facility's periphery, he said. Reuters reported officials saying that at one point the militants occupied 75 per cent of the refinery, including the administration building and four watchtowers, before the...

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah Jun 18, 2014   Sunni militants captured a key northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar along the highway to Syria early on Monday, after a two-day battle with security forces – the third major centre to fall to the insurgents in less than a week. Tal Afar is a city of 200,000 with an ethnic mix of Shiite and Sunni Turkomen, was overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, after heavy clashes with Iraqi army units and Turkmen tribal fighters, according to Turkey’s semi-official Anatolia news agency. Tal Afar is a short drive west from Mosul, the north's main city, which [ISIS] seized last week,and seized Tikrit, Saddam Hussein ’s hometown. Better equipped and numerically superior Iraqi army and police units abandoned their posts and fled. Tal Afar is only 93 miles from the border with Syria, where ISIS is fighting against President Bashar Assad's government and controls territory abutting the Iraqi border. Meanwhi...

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah Jun 16, 2014   Sunni militants captured a key northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar along the highway to Syria early on Monday, after a two-day battle with security forces – the third major centre to fall to the insurgents in less than a week. Tal Afar is a city of 200,000 with an ethnic mix of Shiite and Sunni Turkomen, was overrun by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, after heavy clashes with Iraqi army units and Turkmen tribal fighters, according to Turkey’s semi-official Anatolia news agency. Tal Afar is a short drive west from Mosul, the north's main city, which [ISIS] seized last week,and seized Tikrit, Saddam Hussein [Unlink]’s hometown. Better equipped and numerically superior Iraqi army and police units abandoned their posts and fled. Tal Afar is only 93 miles from the border with Syria, where ISIS is fighting against President Bashar Assad's government and controls territory abutting the Iraqi border. ...

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah   Jun 16, 2014   Secretary of State John Kerry   said Monday that United States is considering U.S. air strikes to help the Iraqi government fend off an Islamist insurgency as well as Obama administration would be willing to talk with Iran over deteriorating security conditions in Iraq In an interview with Yahoo! News,Kerry said the White House was open to working with Iran, Mr. Kerry said, “I wouldn’t rule out anything that would be constructive to providing real stability, a respect for the Constitution, a respect for the election process and a respect for the ability of the Iraqi people to form a government that represents all the interests of Iraq.” Iran and the United States do not have formal diplomatic ties, talks between US and Iranian officials could come as early as this week on the sidelines of scheduled negotiations on Tehran's nuclear ambitions in Vienna. "At this moment, I think we need to go ste...

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah Jun 16, 2014   The Sunni militant group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has released a series of images purporting to show the mass executions of scores of Shi'ite Iraqi soldiers. ISIS on Friday a tweet on what was claimed to be an Twitter account that its members killed at least 1,700 Shiites and posted pictures show masked fighters of ISIL, loading the captives onto flatbed trucks before forcing them to lie face-down in a shallow ditch with their arms tied behind their backs. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the images purportedly posted by ISIS. The photos followed the State Department's announcement Sunday that it had relocated additional security personnel to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, while temporarily evacuating some staff members to more stable consulates or to neighboring Jordan. The ISIL and associated Sunni rebel forces have taken control of large territories in Iraq in t...

 Written : Mohamed Abdel fattah Jun 15, 2014  Former British prime minister Tony Blair said on Sunday it was "profoundly wrong" to think that the 2003 Anglo-U.S. invasion of Iraq helped stoke the current crisis. Blair was speaking on UK morning TV shows after writing a lengthy essay setting out how to respond to the Iraq crisis, including his belief that the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not the cause of the country's implosion. He said: "We have to liberate ourselves from the notion that 'we' have caused this. We haven't. We can argue as to whether our policies at points have helped or not; and whether action or inaction is the best policy and there is a lot to be said on both sides. But the fundamental cause of the crisis lies within the region not outside it," he wrote. Mr Blair said the idea that Iraq today would be stable if Saddam had been left in place was "simply not credible". He said: "Some peop...