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Iraqi Kurds take over two oil fields in north amid growing dispute with govt.

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July 11, 2014 – 16:14 AMT

180663Iraqi Kurds have taken over two oil fields, Iraq’s oil ministry says, amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad, BBC News reported.

Kurdish peshmerga forces seized control of production facilities at Bai Hassan and the Kirkuk oil fields, in the north of Iraq, on Friday, July 11 the ministry adds.

Kurdish MPs have also withdrawn from Iraq’s central government.

They did so after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists.

Kurdish forces have moved into areas of north-western Iraq abandoned by the Iraqi army during the advance of Islamist insurgents led by the Isis (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) group over the past month.

The Kurds have since declared plans to hold a referendum on independence in the areas seized, escalating tensions with Iraq’s central authorities.

Photo: Khalid Mohammed / AP

Kurdish ministers to boycott Iraq Cabinet meetings

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Iraqi Kurds say they will withdraw their ministers from the Cabinet and suspend their participation in the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in protest at his remarks.

370696_Masoud-BarzaniThe Kurdish political bloc made the announcement on Thursday after Maliki accused the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of becoming a safe haven for terrorist groups fighting Baghdad a day earlier.

Maliki said the region has turned into an operation center for the Takfiri militants and Ba’athist terrorists, adding Kurds have taken advantage of the circumstances and expanded their grip on Iraqi lands.

Deputy Prime Minister Roz Nouri Shawez, a senior Kurdish official in the government, told reporters that such remarks “are meant to hide the big security fiasco by blaming others, and we announce our boycott of Cabinet meetings.”

Kurds also hold posts for foreign affairs, trade, health and immigration and displacement in the Cabinet of Maliki’s government.

The president of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masoud Barzani, said in a statement posted on his website late Wednesday that Maliki “has become hysterical and has lost his balance.”

On Wednesday, Maliki also warned the KRG against a decision to hold a referendum on the fate of Kirkuk, saying Kurds are burning bridges with Baghdad, which would backlash, as both the militants and Kurdish leadership will eventually lose.

This came as Barzani said earlier this month that measures are being taken for holding a referendum on Kurdistan’s future within months.

 

 

Iraqi PM Maliki accuses Kurds of ISIS ties

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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has accused Kurdistan of assisting ISIS fighters. The accusation could further fray cross-cultural ties in the multiethnic country.

Maliki Accuses Kurd On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki accused Kurdistan of becoming a haven for fighters for the “Islamic State,” until recently known as ISIS, an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.

During the fighting, Kurdistan’s Peshmerga militia (pictured) has taken control of several areas previously disputed with Iraq’s central government. The accusations come days after Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani asked the regional parliament to set a date for an independence referendum, which Maliki has called unconstitutional.

“We cannot stay silent as (Kurdish capital) Erbil is turning into a headquarters for operations pursued by the Islamic State, the outlawed Baath, al Qaeda and terrorists,” Maliki said Wednesday, vowing action, though he did not provide any evidence to support his allegations.

In power since 2006, Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, faces stiff opposition in his bid for a third term. His critics accuse him of monopolizing power and marginalizing Iraq‘s Sunni Muslim minority.

Whether Maliki will continue as prime minister has dominated talks on forming a new government that would represent Iraq’s major ethnic groups. Those talks have reached an impasse more than once.

Meanwhile, south of Baghdad on Wednesday, Iraqi police announced that they had found 53 dead bodies with their hands tied and shot in various places.

‘A moral duty’

The archbishops of Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk have said that Christians could completely abandon Iraq. War and sectarian conflict have shrunk the population to about 400,000 Christians from the 1.5 million there before the US-led invasion in 2003. Now even those who stayed through the worst of it have begun to leave for Turkey, Lebanon and Europe, the prelates said on a visit to Brussels Wednesday to seek EU help.

“Europeans have a moral duty vis-a-vis Iraq,” said the country’s most senior Christian leader, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako, who flew into Brussels to meet with EU officials, including European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. At a news conference on Wednesday, Sako called himself “extremely anxious” about the fate of Christians fleeing areas held by ISIS fighters, though they “so far have not been targeted as a group.”

Kirkuk’s Chaldean Catholic archbishop, Youssif Mirkis, added that, even in the safer Kurdish zone, he has seen members of the community leave at a rate of several hundred a day: “Our presence was a symbol of peace, but there’s so much panic and few Christians see their future in Iraq,” he said.

mkg/hc (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)

France: Eradication of Eastern Christians, The Assyrian-Syriac Chaldéeens and angry

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Tuesday, July 8, to political inertia and indifference of some media face the tragedy currently affecting Christians of the East, particularly in Iraq and Syria, about 400 Assyro-Chaldeans and Syriacs gathered in front of the Assembly National Place Edouard Herriot, to show their anger over the deafening silence surrounding the slaughter inflicted on Christianity in the East.

Assyrian-FranceSeveral prominent politicians have joined the protesters by showing their support, as the deputy mayor of Sarcelles François Pupponi, saying “We will not let kill Christians. Even if the government does things, it takes longer. “ Like the deputy mayor of the 16th Goasguen Claude François Pupponi is committed to bring the matter before the government. In addition, he and a delegation together parliamentarians Valérie Boyer, Henri Jibrayel and Claude Goasguen, received representatives of associations Assyrian-Chaldean and Syriac, supported by the presence of co-chair of CFC Ara Toranian and Antoine Bagdikian , President of the Armenian Institute of France, who tell them their grievances. A little later in the afternoon, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Vice-President, François Rochebloine interpellait Laurent Fabius on the issue. “What is Europe? What is the UN? “Has he said. According to what transpired at the end of the meeting, bringing together thirty members, the least we can say is that the Quai d’Orsay said he was “concerned.” A catch-all phrase of diplomacy is not to measure the extremely serious situation of Christians as portrayed by many witnesses, which the hints of a bitter past times experienced by the Armenians themselves themselves. Where are the measures we are entitled to wonder, eradication of Eastern Christians is underway.

Outside the walls of the Assembly, after a heavy rain has befallen the Edouard Herriot place, protesters, particularly determined chained slogan slogan on “Media, political, wake up! “; “Today the East, the West tomorrow! “. Or “Murder, ransoms, exile, we do not want it! “. Several speakers were succeeded to denounce the prevailing inertia, and also support the events by their brothers in Iraq and Syria. Thus, Monsignor Barbarin, Cardinal-Archbishop of Lyon and Primate of Gaul, sent a message read at the rally, referring to the testimony of a bishop on the spot: “He told me that the situation is frightening, but much more threats serious are yet to come. The eradication of religious minorities is unfortunately not collateral damage mad strategy murderers … “Bressolette Bishop, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Paris for the Catholic Eastern Churches, also supported.

Jean Eckian + photos (Required)

Iraq tells UN ‘terrorist groups’ seized former chemical weapons depot

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UNITED NATIONS – Reuters

 n_68873_1-iraq A member loyal to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) waves an ISIL flag in Raqqa June 29, 2014. REUTERS Photo

Iraq’s government has lost control of a former chemical weapons facility to “armed terrorist groups” and is unable to fulfill its international obligations to destroy toxins kept there, the country’s U.N. envoy told the United Nations.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, made public on Tuesday, Ambassador Mohamed Ali Alhakim said the Muthanna facility north of Baghdad was seized on June 11. He said remnants of a former chemical weapons program are kept in two bunkers there.

“The project management spotted at dawn on Thursday, 12 June 2014, through the camera surveillance system, the looting of some of the project equipment and appliances, before the terrorists disabled the surveillance system,” Alhakim wrote in the letter dated June 30.

The Sunni Muslim group known as the Islamic State is spearheading a patchwork of insurgents who have taken over large swaths of Syria and Iraq. The group, an al Qaeda offshoot, until recently called itself the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“The Government of Iraq requests the States Members of the United Nations to understand the current inability of Iraq, owing to the deterioration of the security situation, to fulfill its obligations to destroy chemical weapons,” he said.

Iraq would resume its obligations when the security situation improves and it has regained control of the facility, Alhakim said.

U.S. Defense Department spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said last month that the United States’ best understanding was that “whatever material was kept there is pretty old and not likely to be able to be accessed or used against anyone right now.”

“We aren’t viewing this particular site and their holding it as a major issue at this point,” Kirby said. “Should they even be able to access the materials, frankly, it would likely be more of a threat to them than anyone else.”

July/09/2014

ISIL’s Baghdadi orders Muslims to ’obey’ him

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BAGHDAD – Agence France Presse

The leader of the Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, purportedly ordered all Muslims to obey him in a video released July 5 on social media.

n_68721_1The hitherto elusive Baghdadi, who on June 29 proclaimed a “caliphate” straddling Syria and Iraq, made his appeal in a sermon delivered on Friday in the militant-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

“I am the wali (leader) who presides over you, though I am not the best of you, so if you see that I am right, assist me,” he said, wearing a black turban and robe.

“If you see that I am wrong, advise me and put me on the right track, and obey me as long as I obey God in you.”

AFP was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the video purportedly showing Baghdadi, of whom there were previously only two known photographs.

The video is the first ever official appearance by Baghdadi, according to Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on Islamist movements, though the jihadist leader may have appeared in a 2008 video under a different name.

“God gave your mujahedeen brothers victory after long years of jihad and patience… so they declared the caliphate and placed the caliph in charge,” he said.

“This is a duty on Muslims that has been lost for centuries,” he added, sporting a long and slightly greying beard, as he addressed the faithful from the mosque’s pulpit.

ISIL renamed itself simply as the Islamic State (IS). The militant group released 32 Turkish drivers in northern Iraq on July 3, but still holds 49 staff members of the Turkish consulate in Mosul after it abducted them on June 11.

July/05/2014

Mosul: Najafi calls for an indepedent Sunni province

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(IraqiNews.com) The governor of Nineveh province, Ethel Nujaifi, called for the formation of an autonomous Sunni Province, pointing out the loss of confidence in the Central Government’s military forces, which have indepedent-Sunni-provincerecently suffered major setbacks against insurgents belonging to the organization of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS or DAASH.

Najafi said in a statement that self-determination has become an urgent need for Iraqi Sunnis and that Sunnis cannot accept the status quo in which they have been marginalized by successive governments as well as indirectly targeted through anti-terrorism laws and de-Baathification programs.

He said that the political project of an autonomous Sunni province must be linked to the formation of an internal security force and sources of funding for the project.

Saudi Arabia deploys 30,000 troops at border after alleged Iraqi withdrawal

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Saudi Arabia has deployed 30,000 troops to its 800km border with Iraq following an alleged withdrawal of Iraqi border guards amid the ongoing battles against Sunni Islamist militants. Baghdad denied pulling off the guards.rtr29j8w.si

Saudi state-owned news channel Al Arabiya released a video apparently showing Iraqi soldiers saying the government ordered them to retreat from their positions along borders with Syria in the west and Saudi Arabia in the south despite no evident danger.

“We didn’t know why,” an officer says in the video, which was obtained by Al Arabiya’s sister channel Al Hadath. The report didn’t clarify whether the alleged withdrawal includes Iraq’s borders with Jordan and Kuwait, both in the southern part of the country, or Turkey in the north.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately verified, but the withdrawal report was denied by an Iraqi government spokesman.

“This is false news aimed at affecting the morale of our people and the morale of our heroic fighters,” the spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassim Atta, told reporters in Baghdad. He added that the frontier was “fully in the grip” of Iraqi border troops.

The Thursday deployment by Saudi King Abdullah is meant to protect the Sunni Islamic state against potential “terrorist threats” Saudi state news agency SPA commented.

Thousands of Indian Muslims volunteer to protect holy shrines in Iraq

Iraqi Shiite government is struggling to fend off the advancement of Sunni fundamental Islamists, who want to create an Islamic state on territories carved out of Iraq and Syria. Baghdad received only limited military assistance from the US, as Washington said it does not want to deploy ground troops in the country it once occupied.

The idea of such a deployment was also objected by Saudi Arabia, a fundamental Sunni monarchy and a long-time ally of the US.

So far the biggest military help Iraq has apparently received is from Shiite Iran.

Great Day of Mobilisation and Action against the disappearance of Christians in Iraq

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“France, turn your gaze to Iraq: people are dying before your eyes”

# ChutOnTue SaveIraq # ChretiensDIrak

arton101325-480x480At a time when the world has its eyes riveted on Brazil, Assyrian-Chaldean Christians in Iraq, the indigenous people of this country suffer martyrdom and risk permanent loss in general indifference. Two actions are organized in Paris on July 8 and Sarcelles. These actions will be followed by many more!

For the first time since 1600 years, no Mass is no longer celebrated on Sunday in Mosul where there are no more Christian. The country’s second city, near Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire, fell to jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (EIIL).

The terrorists threaten to besiege EIIL other cities and villages predominantly Christian. The Assyro-Chaldeans in France and around the world fear extermination of Christians in Iraq. It is simply an ethnic cleansing.

“The eradication of religious minorities is unfortunately not collateral damage mad murderers strategy: it is their stated goal. (…) “, Alerted the Chaldean Patriarch Raphael Luis Sako.

Indeed, the Assyro-Chaldeans in Iraq, who aspire only to live freely and in perfect harmony with their brothers Kurds, Sunni and Shiite, have continued to be victims of atrocities and abuses since U.S. invasion of 2003. Today, there is not more than 400,000 Christians in Iraq against more than a million and a half before the first Gulf War in 1991. regions and cities, including Baghdad, have been widely emptied of their Christian inhabitants.

The international community and particularly France, historical protector of Eastern Christians can not remain insensitive and indifferent to the plight of Christians face in this country. The Christianization and the end of multiculturalism in the Middle East would have serious consequences on the global equilibrium and endanger social peace in the Middle East.

Therefore, the community and the Assyrian-Chaldean church France launched a Great Day of Mobilisation and Action for Christians in Iraq Tuesday, July 8, 2014.

DSC03650-2-480x299-480x299The Assyro-Chaldeans of France will gather to 14h before the National Assembly for a symbolic action to educate the French public and government about the plight of Christians in Iraq.

he rally will be followed to 19h, a silent march in Sarcelles. The procession will leave the sub-prefecture of Sarcelles and leads to the Place des Martyrs Assyrian-Chaldeans and then to St. Thomas Church where a funeral ceremony will be held in honor of all civilians killed in Iraq since 2003.

With the support of his church and its associations, the Assyrian-Chaldean community calls all enamored of secularism, democracy and freedom to join as part of this day of action unprecedented. This day, which is part of a global movement launched in early July 2014 by the Assyro-Chaldeans worldwide.

Press Contact: Antoni Yalap-06 13 74 12 11

Saima Altunkaya: info@saima-altunkaya.com