ISIS – IRAQ - KURDISTAN : NEWS THREAD

[Anthea]

BBC News Middle East

Arab states 'offer help with air strikes' against Islamic State

Several Arab countries have offered to take part in air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq, US officials say.

But any action is subject to approval from the Iraqi government, they add.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says he is "extremely encouraged" by promises of military assistance to tackle the extremist group.

He spoke in Paris after a whirlwind tour of the Middle East trying to drum up support for action against IS.

France is due to host an international conference on Monday about Iraqi security and tackling IS.

On Saturday, the militant group released a video showing the beheading of UK hostage and aid worker David Haines. The group has threatened to kill a second Briton, Alan Henning, who also appeared in the video.

'Flawed plan'

Earlier, Australia announced it was sending 600 troops to the region ahead of possible combat operations against IS militants in Iraq.

However, Mr Kerry said in remarks to CBS on Sunday that the US was not seeking troops on the ground at the moment.

Islamic State is now in control of large parts of Iraq and Syria and the CIA estimates that the group could have as many as 30,000 fighters in the region.

Last week, US President Barack Obama presented a strategy to fight the group in both Iraq and Syria.

So far, nearly 40 countries, including 10 Arab states, have signed up to a US-led plan to tackle the extremist group.

In a BBC interview, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, said President Obama's plan to build a coalition against Islamic State without Syria was flawed.

"His strategy lacks a lot of very important elements. Syria fought against terrorism and we shall be in the centre of any real and serious battle against terrorists."

Ground troops

The US has already targeted IS in Iraq with air strikes in recent weeks and President Obama has vowed to "hunt down" the group after it beheaded two American journalists.

"We have countries in this region, countries outside of this region, in addition to the United States, all of whom are prepared to engage in military assistance, in actual strikes if that is what it requires," US Secretary of State John Kerry told CBS's Face the Nation programme on Sunday.

He acknowledged that some countries were willing to put troops on the ground, without identifying them, but said that this was not an option "at this moment anyway".

White House chief of staff Denis McDonough said Mr Kerry would reveal "over the coming days" which countries had offered ground assistance.

"Ultimately to destroy ISIL we do need to have a force, an anvil against which they will be pushed - ideally Sunni forces," he told NBC on Sunday.

Securing agreement to use regional bases and air space for military operations was key and this seems to have been forthcoming from Gulf states, says the BBC's Barbara Plett-Usher in Paris.

US officials continually stress that the strategy is much broader than a military campaign and say intervention by religious leaders in Egypt and Saudi Arabia to counter the extremist ideology of IS is as important as dropping bombs on targets, our correspondent adds.

Analysis: Jeremy Bowen, Middle East editor, Damascus

"You cannot fight terrorism when you collaborate with those who created these terror groups including in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and others," Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told me.

Those countries deny they've ever backed Islamic State. But Qatar and Saudi Arabia have provided weapons to Sunni rebel groups, some of whose members have moved to Islamic State.

Turkey has let Sunni fighters, including jihadists from al-Qaeda and IS across its border into Syria.

Mr Mekdad said that as well as Syria an effective coalition would also have to include Russia and Iran: the Assad regime's key allies.

He repeated Syria's view that any air strikes on its territory without its permission would be an act of war, a violation of the UN charter and a disaster not just for Syria but for the region.

Analysis by Tom Esslemont, BBC News, Washington

John Kerry has said he's got "all bases covered" in the United States' coalition of partners.

He and President Obama have made clear the goal is to empower the moderate Syrian opposition to take up the fight against Islamic State - if there are to be any boots on the ground than they won't be American.

This view is met with scepticism by those who believe US troops need to be more, not less, involved. One Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, said it was fantasy to "outsource" what was essentially a war America's army needed to fight.

On the whole, the White House appears to have the required backing for his plan of training and equipping Syrian opposition fighters - a move on which Congress is expected to vote.

The speaker of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, John Boehner, has urged his party to give the president the extra authority he is asking for.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29198494

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Reuters

Islamic State attracts female jihadis from U.S. heartland

U.S. law enforcement is investigating a new phenomenon of women from the American heartland joining Islamic State as President Barack Obama vows to cut off the militants' recruiting at home.

At least three Somali families in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have female relatives who have gone missing in the past six weeks and may have tried to join Islamic State, said community leader Abdirizak Bihi. He said that while the reasons for their disappearance were unclear, he had told the families to contact police.

In a separate case, a 19-year-old American Somali woman from St. Paul snuck away from her parents on Aug. 25 saying she was going to a bridal shower. Instead, she flew to Turkey and joined IS in Syria.

Home to the biggest Somali community in the United States, the Twin Cities area of Minnesota has been plagued by terrorist recruiting since the Somali group al-Shabaab began enlisting in America around 2007.

This year, law enforcement officials say they learned of 15-20 men with connections to the Minnesota Somali community fighting for extremist groups in Syria. They included Douglas McAuthur McCain, a convert to Islam, who was killed in battle this summer.

The St. Paul woman is the first case of an area female joining IS that has been made public although her family have asked for her name to be kept private because it fears retaliation from Islamists.

Greg Boosalis, FBI division counsel in Minneapolis, said law enforcement was investigating the possible recruitment in the area by Islamist extremists of other females, as well as males, but refused to comment on specific cases.

"We are looking into the possibility of additional men and women travelers," he said.

Somali leaders and sources close to police worry that the reports of female would-be jihadis from the region could mark a new trend.

The St. Paul woman is highly likely to have been recruited by IS through Islamist sympathizers in the United States, rather than joining the group on her own, they said. At least one other woman is suspected of helping her leave the United States.

Another U.S. teenager, nurse's aide Shannon Conley, 19, from Colorado, pleaded guilty this week to trying to travel to the Middle East to enroll in IS. She was arrested at Denver International Airport in April with a one-way ticket and had been recruited online by a male militant in Syria.

Nipping domestic extremism in the bud before Americans try to join terrorist groups is part of Obama's strategy against Islamic State announced in a televised address last week.

Along with an aerial bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria, Obama pledged that the government would "intervene with at-risk individuals before they become radicalized toward violence and decide to travel abroad to Syria and Iraq to join ISIL."

He said authorities would offer "tailored domestic programs to prevent violent extremism and radicalization" but gave no more details.

The Somali woman from St. Paul who traveled to Syria attended a mosque near the eastern bank of the Mississippi River which had previously attracted suspected extremists. In June, the mosque banned an Egyptian-American man it said was spreading radical ideology.

The woman told a relative after leaving the United States that she wanted to help children in IS-controlled territory in Syria.

"The nature of the recruitment of these crazy organizations is how they use the element of surprise. Now they have surprised us again by going for the girls," said Bihi, speaking about the St. Paul woman who he said was targeted by recruiters.

Bihi's teenaged nephew was killed in Somalia in 2009 after being persuaded to join al-Shabaab while in Minnesota.

"BABY FACTORIES"

While foreign women who join Islamic State often envision aiding a holy war or at least playing an active role in establishing a purist Islamic nation, the reality can be more mundane.

Monitoring of extremists' social media accounts and other writings shows that male jihadis regard women counterparts as little more than mating partners, said Mia Bloom, from the Center for Terrorism and Security Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

"ISIS is recruiting these women in order to be baby factories. They are seeing the establishment of an Islamic state and now they need to populate the state," Bloom said.

Scores of European Muslim women, mostly from Britain and France, have joined IS in the Middle East.

Denver teenager Conley became engaged to an Islamic State militant in Syria who she met online. Jihadist groups like al Qaeda and IS usually only put women near the frontline in emergencies, Bloom said.

Some young foreign women have been deployed to Islamic State checkpoints in northern Syria where they pat down other women to search for weapons and force local females to abide by strict Islamic dress codes.

But snapshots on social media of the female jihadis' lives in Syria more often show that, "the girls go around making cookies. It's almost like a jihadi Tupperware party," Bloom said.

The main worry for law enforcement is that U.S. militants will one day return to the United States and attack targets.

"The obvious fear is of individuals coming back and committing a terrorist act here," said the FBI's Boosalis. The FBI has been working with the Somali community in Minnesota for years to help it combat radical Islamists.

(Editing by Marilyn Thompson and Ross Colvin)

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/1 ... MC20140914

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Reuters

Fighting the Islamic State in Photos





Reuters photographer Ahmed Jadallah captures the conflict and the human toll of the fight against the Islamic State.

Link to more photos:

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/1 ... INRTR460ID

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MESOP TODAY’S OPINION:

“ISIS Is Weaker Than It Looks,”
By Balint Szlanko

The extremist group known variously as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or simply Islamic State, has maneuvered itself into a difficult situation over the last couple of months. Fanatical groups like this are prone to violent overreach and they often end up with everybody else ganging up on them. ISIS is no different and now it will pay the price. It may also be far weaker than it looks, for it’s only really been able to shine against much weaker enemies.

ISIS’ big gains in Iraq (they took Mosul in early June and the Sinjar region in early August) have led to a situation where most of the region’s players have allied themselves against it, including archenemies like Iran and the U.S.—and that was before the Obama administration started building a broad international coalition against them. The Iraqis have already got rid of their incompetent prime minister, Nour al Maliki, whose sectarian policies are largely responsible for driving many Sunnis into the arms of Islamic State. The new Iraqi government seems to have a broader political and sectarian basis, although whether that will have anyeffect on the ground remains to be seen. As it has been pointed out elsewhere, Iraqi governments usually have a broad confessional basis, the problem is that this doesn’t really get reflected in policy outputs.

More important is that the military cooperation between the Iraqis, the U.S. and the forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government is already delivering results. The Kurds have got a much-needed morale boost from the American airstrikes against ISIS and the Western military aid that is already being flown into Kurdistan (so far small arms, ammunition and anti-tank weapons have arrived, ministry of peshmerga officials told me in Erbil, but heavy weapons have been promised as well). They pushed back ISIS forces around the Mosul Dam Lake, west of Erbil, and in the south of the KRG around Jalawla, though Jalawla itself remains under ISIS control.

The Iraqi Army, helped by Shiite militias, has also gained some ground (though it may be more accurate to say that Shiite militias, helped by the Iraqi Army, have gained ground, which is bound to cause big problems later). Even in Syria we are seeing some results by anti-ISIS forces: the militants have been stopped north of Aleppo by a coalition of moderate rebels who have even retaken some of the villages they lost in August. In the east, the Kurdish militia, the YPG, drove them all the way down to the south of Hasaka city. To be sure, these frontlines all have their own dynamic and developments there should be analysed more or less independently. But the fact remains that ISIS is now facing determined adversaries on several very long frontlines both in Iraq and Syria, clearly a big problem for any state or insurgent group. It will soon face more U.S. airstrikes too.

The bottom line is that while ISIS looks strong, it really isn’t as strong as its fearsome reputation suggests. It is an organised, highly motivated guerilla group with lots of experienced fighters. It builds on the weaknesses of its enemies by sending its highly mobile, quick-moving forces to places where they are least expected, uses suicide bombers as just another battlefield tool, and it magnifies the fear created by its shocking brutality with effective publicity. And now it has also got a significant amount of heavy weapons and armour, captured from the Iraqis, plus an influx of men, some from disenchanted Syrian rebel groups, some from Sunni tribes and other Iraqi insurgent group. It also has a lot of money, some from robbery, some from kidnappings and some from protection rackets.

And yet ISIS have only really been successful in areas where it faced no serious resistance: in the political and military vacuum of the Sunni heartland, in eastern Syria and central and western Iraq. Its significant battlefield successes have really only been against disorganized and undermotivated enemies, such as the Iraqi Army or Syria’s disparate rebels, or isolated outposts of the Syrian Army, under siege for a very long time. Whenever it had to confront a determined and organised adversary, such as the Kurdish YPG in northeastern Syria, it has always been bested. Even Syria’s ragtag rebels managed to kick it out of northwestern Syria early this year, though that was before its big Iraqi victories and associated growth in strength. The same thing is likely to happen now, if only because launching surprise attacks against largely undefended cities is very different from defending the large geographic area it now controls against coordinated attacks (and the U.S. Air Force).

This means that ISIS can be contained, its abilities degraded, perhaps quite severely. It doesn’t mean it can be destroyed, not with these tools alone. For that, the disfunctional policies of the Sunni heartland would have to be addressed, its institutions strengthened, so that their own moderate parties can contain the impulses that have led to ISIS’ emergence, without the need for American airstrikes and Kurdish or Shiite militias. Clearly this is the real challenge and there is no obvious solution in sight. ISIS’ brutality may or may not lead to local resistance—so far those who have tried paid dearly. The Sunni tribes, the heartland’s only visible institutions, are too weak, as are Syria’s moderate rebels. The Syrian and Iraqi states, or what has remained of them, are discredited. It is probably impossible to put these countries back together again. But that doesn’t mean ISIS cannot be contained in a manageable geographic area. My bet is that it’s likely to stick around for a while but in a much weakened form.

By Balint Szlanko – @balintszlanko. Balint Szlanko is a freelance journalist who has covered Syria since early 2012 and has recently completed two trips to the Kurdish areas

http://www.mesop.de/2014/09/14/mesop-t- ... t-szlanko/

[Anthea]

PDKI

The PDKI didn’t ask “am I my brother’s keeper?”
By Kenny Young

On paper, our sister party in Iranian Kurdistan – the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) is similar to the Labour Party. The PDKI was founded with “an explicit commitment to democracy, liberty, social justice and gender equality”. They share the values we prize in a region whose regimes are often lacking in all of the above. When you look for bastions of democracy and progress in the Middle East, our comrades in the PDKI are a good place to start. But that’s a longer article for a gentler time.

Over the past few weeks, thousands of Kurds have joined the PDKI’s Peshmerga units and have marched south to face Islamic State (IS) fanatics in towns and villages across northern Iraq/southern Kurdistan. Veterans from Kurdistan’s wars against the Iranian regime’s repression; new recruits; women fighters as well as men, have all put aside old factional disputes with other groups to stand alongside the Kurdish Regional Government’s forces against an enemy universally agreed to be cruel and murderous.

The Islamic State was made to look unstoppable, because the Iraqi army melted away in the face of a group that has made terror and extreme, almost maniacal, violence its trademark. After liberating a village from IS control in Gewar, one PDKI Peshmerga is reported as saying “we do not fear these terrorists”. Perhaps one side-effect from standing almost alone against Iranian regime oppression is that it has bred a particularly hardy volunteer force, dedicated to tolerance and the idea of a safe, secure Kurdistan.

After gaining air support, Peshmerga forces have proven an effective bulwark against the fanatical hatred of this misnamed “Islamic State”, but it is still extremely early days. PDKI statements say they have liberated several villages and handed IS prisoners over to the Government. Following this success, it now looks as though PDKI units will be used as reserve forces, standing behind Kurdish Regional Government troops – on alert but back from the frontline for now.

It remains to be seen what further contribution the Socialist International’s comrades in Iranian Kurdistan will make during this crisis, but I was able to speak to my friend Loghman Ahmedi, the PDKI’s Head of International Relations, over the past few days. He was clear that IS forces pose a threat to Kurdistan as a whole, but also that:

“It is our duty to both protect the defenceless civilians in the region against this brutal organisation and to preserve the democratic and progressive government in Iraqi Kurdistan.”

So it’s a war of necessary survival, but it’s also about standing against crimes that – in principle – we assume are beyond the pale: beheadings; forced starvation; torture; rape and genocide. They are only beyond the pale if someone will stop them.

Chronicles of our time will mark the killings in Rwanda and the atrocities of Srebrenica as events that happened because nobody would step in. It remains to be seen what will happen in Kurdistan and Iraq. We do not yet know if the torture inflicted on the Yazidi will end in a completed genocide, but what we do know is that the men and women of the PDKI didn’t ask “am I my brother’s keeper?”.

They marched to the front line – some reports say with 60 bullets each – not because it was expedient, nor because they share a faith with all of those being victimised, but because they were in a position to do something and they wouldn’t stand by.

As the crisis continues, the world must give them – and the other Kurdish forces they fight alongside – the support they need to continue protecting civilians from IS forces.

Kenny Young previously worked as press officer for Gordon Brown and Ed Milliband of the Labour Party in the United Kingdom

http://pdki.org/english/the-pdki-didnt- ... rs-keeper/

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Shafaq News

Hundreds of France residents are linked with fighting in Syria and Iraq

French Interior Minister , Bernard Cazeneuve announced to , Le Journal du Dimanche weekly newspaper that 930 people of the population of France are currently involved in fighting alongside Islamists in Iraq and Syria.

He said that "930 French or foreigners residing in France are currently involved in fighting in Syria and Iraq."

"350 are located in the field, including 60 women as left about 180 in Syria while about 170 are heading to the region."

"230 people also expressed the intention to go so the total number is 930 people added to 36 killed there."

According to a parliamentary report released recently in France, about 950 people are linked to fighting and distributed as follows: 350 people on the ground , 150 are turning to fight back , 180 returned and 220 intend to go.

In regard to the cases that have been prevented from going to fight in recent months in the wake of the establishment of a reporting platform, which has been opened in the spring, which is a metaphor for a phone number against jihad that has been opened to families who are afraid that one of its members might leave, Cazeneuve confirmed that " 70 people At least were prevented from leaving out of 350 notices , 80 of which were related to minors and 150 to women. "

Asked about the tales of French participants in the fighting after their return, the minister said that "some people adopt what he did and expressed willingness to return, but others expressed shock of violence or atrocities witnessed or participated in, and refused to return it."

He added “ some also confirms that they have gone for the humanitarian purpose but we have confirmed information proving that they fought in the ranks of the jihadists."

In relation to Mehdi Namosh, accused of carrying out the attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels, in which Belgium charged him with "murder on terrorist background," the French minister said that "from the evils of the terrorist jihad system is the implementation of a terrorist act does not necessarily require to receive an order to do a mission ".

He explained, "When people are exposed daily to scenes of extreme violence as cut head and other barbarism acts, they lose all moral controls.

http://english.shafaaq.com/index.php/po ... a-and-iraq

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Shafaq News

Peshmerga destroy “boat of death “West of Hemrin Lake

A security source in Diyala said that Peshmerga forces managed to destroy a boat carrying weapons and munitions on board and three gunmen who tried to cross Hemrin Lake from the west side.

The source told “Shafaq News", that “ Peshmerga detachments stationed west of Hemrin Lake managed to foil an attempt of militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria "ISIS" organization to transport weapons to Saadia sub-district across the boat tried to cross the lake and killed three gunmen on board.”

The source added that “ Peshmerga forces deployed detachments about around west area of Hemrin Lake, "55 km northeast of Baquba," to prevent the arrival of supplies and weapons to ISIS elements in Saadia via boats called "boats of death", which was carrying arms and ammunition to militants in Saadia during previous years.

Peshmerga forces managed earlier to control the west side of Hemrin Lake in a security operation that killed dozens of insurgents and destroyed a number of vehicles.

Peshmerga forces confirmed control on the west side of Hemrin Lake, cut military supplies and logistics for the gunmen, and imposed a blockade on them fully since several days.

http://english.shafaaq.com/index.php/se ... emrin-lake

[Anthea]

BBC News Middle East

Islamic State crisis: Kerry to lead talks in Paris

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet foreign ministers from around the world in Paris on Monday to discuss how to defeat Islamic State (IS) militants.

French President Francois Hollande said the beheading of a British aid worker showed the world must act against 15IS.

About 40 countries, including 10 Arab states, have signed up to a coalition to help fight IS in Iraq and Syria.

Several Arab countries have offered to take part in air strikes on IS fighters in Iraq, US officials say.

Mr Kerry says he is "extremely encouraged" by promises of military assistance to tackle the militant group.

He spoke after a whirlwind tour of the Middle East to try to drum up support for a plan of action unveiled by US President Barack Obama last week.

The US strategy to weaken the group centres around military support for Iraq but also includes plans to stop foreign fighters from joining the group, cutting its funding streams and trying to counter its ideology.

The Paris conference, which will be attended by UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond among others, will focus on how these plans can be put into place.

It is being co-hosted by Iraqi President Fouad Massoum.

Representatives from the 10 Arab states who are part of the coalition - Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates - are expected to attend.

Conference criticism

Iran dismissed the talks as "just for show" after voicing its unhappiness at not being on the "selective guest list".

The US-led coalition also came under fire from Syria, who said President Obama's plans would fail without involving Iraq's neighbour.

"Syria fought against terrorism and we shall be in the centre of any real and serious battle against terrorists," Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad, told the BBC.

The brutal murder of British hostage David Haines by IS militants, shown in a video released by the group on Saturday, has added momentum to the plans being discussed in Paris, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson.

In a statement on Sunday, the UN Security Council condemned the murder as "heinous and cowardly" and said that IS "must be defeated".

Australia announced at the weekend that it was sending 600 troops and up to eight fighter jets to the UAE ahead of possible combat operations in Iraq.

However, Mr Kerry told US broadcaster CBS that the US was not seeking troops on the ground at the moment.

Islamic State controls large parts of Iraq and Syria and the CIA estimates that the group could have as many as 30,000 fighters in the region.

Since August, US fighter jets have conducted about 160 air strikes on IS positions in Iraq.

Analysis: Barbara Plett, BBC News

Mr Kerry has declared his coalition-building efforts in the Middle East a success, saying he won "full-throated" support from Sunni governments in the region for America's campaign against Islamic State militants who've taken over one third of Syria and Iraq.

But few specifics have been presented to flesh out this upbeat assessment in the scramble to craft a coherent plan from contributions offered by at least 40 countries worldwide in time for the UN General Assembly next week.

The cornerstone of the trip was a communique signed in Jeddah by 10 Sunni Arab governments agreeing to "do their share" in the comprehensive fight against Islamic State, including participation in a coordinated military campaign.

The military details, at least, seem to be falling into place.

Link to Article Video Pics:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29201317

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BBC News Middle East

Islamic State crisis: Hollande warns of global threat

French President Francois Hollande says the global threat posed by Islamic State (IS) militants must meet a global response.

He was opening an international summit of foreign ministers in Paris aimed at combating the jihadist group.

About 40 countries, including 10 Arab states, have signed up to a coalition to help fight IS in Iraq and Syria.

The conference follows a whirlwind tour of the Middle East by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Mr Kerry, who is also attending the summit, has been drumming up support for a plan of action unveiled by President Barack Obama last week.

The murder of British aid worker David Haines by IS militants, shown in a video released by the group on Saturday, has added momentum to the plans, says the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Paris.

Islamic State controls large parts of Iraq and Syria. The CIA estimates that the group could have as many as 30,000 fighters in the region.

'Bigger threat'

Iraqi President Fuad Masum, who is co-hosting the conference, said the international community must pursue the jihadists wherever they were.

He told Europe 1 radio: "They must intervene quickly because they are late. If this intervention and support to Iraq is late, that means that Islamic State could occupy more territory and the threat it poses will be even bigger."

In his opening remarks, Mr Hollande called for support to moderate rebels in Syria.

"Chaos plays into the terrorists' hands," he said.

"Therefore we have to support those who are able to negotiate and make the necessary compromise in order to preserve the future of Syria, and for France those are the forces of the democratic opposition."

Earlier, France said it had begun surveillance flights over Iraq. Britain revealed in August that its aircraft had been gathering intelligence over Iraq.

Several Arab countries have offered to take part in air strikes on IS fighters in Iraq, US officials say.

Turkey, however, will only allow humanitarian and logistical operations from the Nato air base on its soil.

Mr Kerry said he was "extremely encouraged" by promises of military assistance to tackle the militant group.

The US strategy to weaken the group centres on military support for Iraq but also includes plans to stop foreign fighters from joining the group, cutting its funding streams and trying to counter its ideology.

The Paris conference is aimed at defining the role each member state will play.

The 10 Arab states who are part of the coalition are Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Neither Iran nor Syria are being allowed to take part.

Last week Mr Kerry ruled out co-operation with Iran citing its "engagement in Syria and elsewhere".

But Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that Iran had rejected a US request for co-operation early in Islamic State's advance into Iraq.

"I said no, because they have dirty hands," he said.

Australia announced at the weekend that it was sending 600 troops and up to eight fighter jets to the UAE ahead of possible combat operations in Iraq.

However, Mr Kerry told US broadcaster CBS that the US was not seeking troops on the ground at the moment.

Since August, US fighter jets have conducted about 160 air strikes on IS positions in Iraq.

Link to Article and Videos:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-29201317

[Anthea]

WHAT

global threat

???????????????????????

I thought what he was referring to was the crazy Islamic State Jihadists running around the Middle East causing mayhem - torturing and killing people

Very similar to the way Turkey spent many years torturing and killing the Kurds who refused to call themselves Turkish

If - as the CIA state - there are only 20,000-30,000 of these Jihadists located in the one region

WHY are they being classified as a "global threat"

And WHY is the new Iraqi PM involved in the meeting when his predecessor was one of the main causes of the problems between the Shiite and Sunni in Iraqi - and he himself has done very little to encourage the Sunnis to take a more active role in the new Iraqi parliment

Surely the people who should be involved in the conference are those with the most to lose and the most to gain

The Yazidis and The Kurds Should be part of any such conference

[Anthea]

Reuters

Washington wins diplomatic support for campaign in Iraq; Syria trickier
By John Irish and Jason Szep

World powers backed military measures on Monday to help defeat Islamic State fighters in Iraq, boosting Washington's efforts to set up a coalition, but made no mention of the tougher diplomatic challenge next door in Syria.

France sent fighter jets on a reconnaissance mission over Iraq, a step closer to becoming the first ally to join the United States in new bombing there since President Barack Obama declared his plans to establish a broad coalition last week.

Paris also hosted an international conference, attended by the five U.N. Security Council permanent members, European and Arab states, and representatives of the EU, Arab League and United Nations. All pledged to help the government in Baghdad fight against Islamic State militants.

But a statement after Monday's conference made no mention at all of Syria - the other country where Islamic State fighters hold a wide swathe of territory. Iraq attended Monday's meeting but Syria did not, nor did its main regional ally, Iran.

Obama pledged last week to establish a coalition to defeat Islamic State fighters in both Iraq and Syria, plunging the United States into two separate civil wars in which nearly every country in the Middle East has a stake.

"All participants underscored the urgent need to remove Daesh from the regions in which it has established itself in Iraq," said a statement after Monday's talks, using an Arabic acronym for the group which now calls itself Islamic State.

"To that end, they committed to supporting the new Iraqi Government in its fight against Daesh, by any means necessary, including appropriate military assistance...." it said.

Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said French aircraft would begin reconnaissance flights over Iraq. A French official said two Rafale fighter jets and a refueling aircraft had taken off on Monday for Iraq.

"The throat-slitters of Daesh - that's what I'm calling them - tell the whole world 'Either you're with us or we kill you'. And when one is faced with such a group there is no other attitude than to defend yourself," Fabius told a news conference at the end of the talks.

Iraqi President Fouad Massoum told Monday's conference he hoped the Paris meeting would bring a "quick response".

"Islamic State's doctrine is either you support us or kill us‎. It has committed massacres and genocidal crimes and ethnic purification," he told delegates.

VOTE OF CONFIDENCE

Monday's conference was an important vote of confidence for the new Iraqi government, formed last week, led by a member of Iraq's Shi'ite majority, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and also including minority Sunnis and Kurds in important jobs.

Iraq's allies hope that Abadi will prove a more consensual leader than his predecessor Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite whose policies alienated many Sunnis. They hope that the new Iraqi government will win back support from Sunnis who had backed the Islamic State's revolt.

Monday's conference shows that Abadi enjoys broad international good will, which means Washington will probably face little diplomatic pushback over plans to use air strikes against Islamic State fighters on that side of the frontier.

Syria, however, is a much trickier case. In a three year civil war, Islamic State has emerged as one of the most powerful Sunni groups battling against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, a member of a Shi'ite-derived sect.

Washington remains hostile to Assad, which means any bombing is likely to take place without permission of the government in Damascus. Russia, which has a veto at the U.N. Security Council and supports Assad, says bombing would be illegal without a Security Council resolution. Turkey and other countries are wary of measures against Islamic State that might help Assad.

Islamic State fighters set off alarms across the Middle East since June when they swept across northern Iraq, seizing cities, slaughtering prisoners, proclaiming a caliphate to rule over all Muslims and ordering non-Sunnis to convert or die.

The United States resumed air strikes in Iraq in August for the first time since the 2011 withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, fearful the militants would break the country up and use it as a base for attacks on the West.

Obama's plans, announced last week, would involve stronger military action in Iraq and extend the campaign across the frontier to Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry has said he believes he can forge a solid alliance despite hesitancy among some partners and questions over the legality of action.

U.S. officials said several Arab countries have offered to join the United States in air strikes against Islamic State targets, but declined to say which countries made the offers. Ten Arab states committed last week to joining a military coalition, without specifying what action they would take.

Britain, Washington's main ally when it invaded Iraq in 2003, has yet to confirm it will take part in air strikes, despite the killing of British aid worker David Haines by Islamic State fighters this past week.

France has said it is ready to take part in bombing missions in Iraq but is so far wary of action in Syria. French officials say the coalition plan must go beyond military and humanitarian action, arguing there must also be a political plan for once Islamic State has been weakened in Iraq.

The absence from Monday's conference of Iran, Assad's main ally and by far the most influential neighbor among Iraq's Shi'ite majority, shows how difficult joint action can be in the Middle East. French officials said Arab countries had blocked Tehran's presence.

"We wanted a consensus among countries over Iran's attendance, but in the end it was more important to have certain Arab states than Iran," a French diplomat said.

Norwegian daily VG quoted Foreign Minister Boerge Brende as saying Oslo, which is at the Paris conference, was considering a military presence in Iraq.

"First and foremost we have said that there would an additional contribution to humanitarian work. But we are also considering whether we will, separately to the humanitarian help, also contribute with military capacity building," he said.

"This could be training of personnel, but it will depend on the demand we get," he added.

(Additional reporting by Alexandria Sage in Paris and Gwladys Fouche in Oslo; Writing by Mark John; Editing by Peter Graff)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/ ... F920140915

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PUK Media

20 civilians killed and wounded in Baghdad

On Monday, September 15th, a car bomb exploded in the downtown of Bagdad, the explosion resulted in killing and wounding 20 civilians.

A security source announced that evening Monday a car bomb exploded in Abu- Dshir, resulted in killing 13 civilians and wounding 7 others.

http://www.pukmedia.com/EN/EN_Direje.aspx?Jimare=21676

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PUK Media

UN HUMANITARIAN CHIEF CALLS FOR MORE SHELTER AND PROTECTION FOR DISPLACED IRAQIS AHEAD OF WINTER

After concluding a three-day visit to Iraq, UN Humanitarian Chief Valerie Amos said today that additional support is needed ahead of the long winter months for people who have been displaced by fighting, and for the communities supporting them.

Iraq is facing an escalating emergency with up to 1.8 million Iraqis displaced since January. The crisis has affected over 20 million people across the country.

Speaking about her visit to Khanke camp and other sites in Dohuk in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Amos said people told her they urgently need shelter and protection.

“There is a serious humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Brought on by the violence and brutality meted out by terrorist organizations,” said Ms. Amos.

“I met families who are living camps, schools and unfinished buildings. They have had to flee their homes and are terrified. I was introduced to a girl who asked to meet me. She had one request: to return to school. She insisted that was all she wanted. The humanitarian community will do all it can to help those in need of protection, shelter and basic assistance, including education and healthcare,” she added.

There are half a million displaced Iraqis in the Dohuk area. The number in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as a whole has increased to over 850,000 displaced since January.

During her visit Valerie Amos held talks with Iraq President Masum and with Dr. Mutlaq, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the High Level Committee for IDPs, and Prime Minister Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

“The newly formed Government is facing significant challenges in making sure that the displaced get the assistance needed. UN agencies and their partners in Iraq will continue to work to ensure that all Iraqis, regardless of their ethnicity or religious beliefs, are being given the best support,” she added.

“Thanks to the generosity of donors, especially from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, we’ve been able to build camps, deliver food and water as well as care for the sick. But further funding will be needed as people are refusing to return home. They don't feel safe. This will take time and requires a concerted effort by all,” concluded USG Amos.

Uniraq.com

http://www.pukmedia.com/EN/EN_Direje.aspx?Jimare=21668

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The National Opinion
By Hassan Hassan

Moderates should provide an antidote to extreme Islamists

Can the Muslim Brotherhood serve as an antidote to jihadist groups such as ISIL? Attempts to answer this question often turn into a blame game. Those who oppose the Brotherhood equate the group with violent extremists, while sympathisers portray it as an essentially non-violent movement that shoulders no blame for the rise of extremism.

Opponents of the group argue that the Brotherhood’s doctrine, as defined by its founder Hassan Al Banna, is no different from the slogans currently used by ISIL: the Quran is our constitution, jihad is our way and death in the path of God is our wish. They also rightly point out that the teachings of Brotherhood ideologue Sayyid Qutb have heavily influenced today’s jihadists. But its defenders maintain that the Brotherhood has evolved and adopted peaceful political means.

Political Islam in general serves as a tributary for extremism, for reasons that I will expand on later, and yet the Brotherhood does not equal ISIL. But that is an endless debate, and there is a more practical way to gauge whether the Brotherhood has served as an antidote to militant factions. To do so, let us look at Syria.

The Brotherhood has links with dozens of fighting factions inside Syria. According to multiple sources inside the country, fighting groups affiliated to the Brotherhood tend to be well-equipped. Some Syrians even suspect that the Brotherhood- affiliated groups stockpile weapons rather than use them against the regime or ISIL.

These factions have played little or no role in the fight against extremist groups, although some Brotherhood-financed groups in Aleppo and Idlib did fight ISIL as part of a broader rebel alliance.

Compare that with groups such as the secular-leaning Syrian Revolutionary Front or even Salafist groups such as Al Asala Wattanmiya, which initiated campaigns to expel ISIL from their areas. It is not an exaggeration to say that most of the groups that actively fought ISIL were driven by a thorough rejection of its ideology.

Other groups partly funded and influenced by the Brotherhood, such as Liwa Al Tawhid in Aleppo and Ajnad Al Sham near Damascus, have half-heartedly fought ISIL. For example, when the Northern Storm Brigade waged war against ISIL this time last year in the border town of Ezaz, there were expectations that Liwa Al Tawhid would join forces against ISIL after the Brigade publicly appealed for help. The Liwa did not join the fight, although it helped mediate a truce. Ajnad Al Sham only recently denounced ISIL publicly and pledged support for the Salafist Jaish Al Islam, which was one of the earliest groups to fight ISIL.

The Syrian Islamic Council (SIC) is another example. The 128-member council is dominated by the Brotherhood and was established with a stated mission to serve as a religious authority for all Sunnis in Syria. But since its formation in April, the council has not spoken out against ISIL atrocities.

And yet, when the United States announced that it would extend airstrikes in Syria, SIC suddenly found its voice: rejecting the international coalition against ISIL, echoing an earlier statement by the Brotherhood.

This is not the first time that Islamists in Syria have taken such a stance. When Washington designated Jabhat Al Nusra as a terrorist group last year, former opposition chief Moaz Al Khatib, who is also a member of SIC, rejected the designation and described the Al Qaeda affiliate as “our brothers”. There are plenty of examples of Islamists in Syria following this pattern, and it is not hard to discern a tendency among Islamist-leaning opposition figures to downplay the acts of ISIL.

It is hard to imagine a more urgent period in history for moderate Islamists to start serving as an antidote to extremists. But whether in power or struggling to gain power, the Brotherhood has often provided an environment for extremism to operate and flourish in – as the events in Syria over the past few years demonstrate so powerfully.

Hassan Hassan is an analyst with the Delma Institute in Abu Dhabi Twitter: @hxhassan

http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/moder ... -islamists

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Reuters

U.S. scouts for Sunni allies on the ground in Iraq
By Oliver Holmes, Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Jason Szep and Ned Parker

Unwilling to send U.S. troops back to Iraq, Washington is trying to persuade armed Sunni factions and tribal figures to fight Islamic State militants in an echo of the "Awakening" movement that drove al Qaeda from the country six years ago.

"There is a lot of traffic right now,” James Jeffrey, a veteran diplomat who was U.S. ambassador to Iraq from 2010-2012 and maintains close ties to the government in Baghdad.

"There were meetings in Arbil. There were meetings in Amman," he said, referring to talks between tribal groups and U.S. officials in the capitals of the relatively neutral Iraqi province of Kurdistan and neighbouring Jordan.

The plan is far from easy, since many Sunnis regard the Awakening as a failure and a betrayal and see the Sunni Islamic State's sweep into predominantly Sunni northern and western Iraq as the lesser of two evils, despite its mass killings.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say it is not a rehash of the Awakening but will incorporate Sunnis into a "National Guard", a security force intended to decentralise power from Baghdad, addressing Sunni demands to stop oppression from the majority Shi'ite security forces.

Past promises by the Americans and Iraqi officials to integrate the minority into the Iraqi state in return for its help were never realised. Instead, the movement's leaders found themselves hunted by both jihadists and the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government.

Recent U.S. and Iraqi air strikes on Islamic State targets have not helped since they are hard to distinguish between and local leaders say the latter have hit residential areas, even after a recent government call to avoid civilians.

Yet a host of talks are going on between U.S. and Iraqi officials and Iraqi Sunni groups, security officials from Iraq and the U.S. say.

“Americans of all provenances are talking to all kinds of Iraq Sunnis as we speak," a western diplomat in the region said on condition of anonymity. "Amman is full of these guys."

Sunni militants who fought U.S. troops and the Shi'ite led government after Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein was overthrown are also being approached.

Talking to insurgent groups who killed U.S. troops will be contentious in the United States as well as in Iraq, where some of the Shi'ite majority are concerned about Washington supporting Sunni militants.

SUNNI DIVISIONS

One key Sunni intermediary for the Americans is Ahmed Abu Risha, a leader of forces which fought al Qaeda in Iraq. He said there are more than 20 tribal leaders from Iraq's western Anbar province who are speaking to U.S. representatives.

"These leaders are willing to assist the U.S. forces in fighting (Islamic State) and they have been reorganising the Awakening forces, which currently has 22,000 members still fighting against (Islamic State)."

He said 32,000 fighters from the Awakening were ready to fight alongside the U.S and an Iraqi security official said the main forces being spoken to are a mixture of tribal groups and Sunni militants amounting to around 60,000 fighters.

Obama has promised to destroy Islamic State (IS) using "a systematic campaign of air strikes", and said NATO allies were prepared to join military action against a movement that he labelled a major threat to the West.

Unlike the Awakening, the U.S. will not have ground troops working with Sunni militants, making the operation much harder to control, and more difficult to defuse confrontations between the fighters and Baghdad.

Abu Risha is himself a polarising figure, whose support of the last prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, in attacking militants in Anbar this year has alienated many in his province, where hundreds of thousands were displaced under aerial bombardment.

The danger remains that a new force under Abu Risha's command will push other Sunni tribal figures to fight him and side with Islamic State.

A U.S. diplomat said that there are a number of Iraqi Sunni “moderate” tribal leaders who have been travelling to Sunni states and U.S. allies Qatar and Saudi Arabia in recent weeks and asking for support from the Gulf to kick IS out.

DEALS

A senior Iraqi government official said Iraqi Sunni groups have been talking with Baghdad since June and offered to fight Islamic State in return for greater devolution of power and amnesties for those who fought the government.

"All these groups meet with government officials for deals. They say they will give us control of the areas provided they get what they want," he said on condition of anonymity, adding that the government wanted to see what the groups could deliver.

A tribal leader from Anbar who is being courted said he was approached indirectly by the Americans to get his supporters on board. He listed others, from former members of Saddam's secular Baath party to Islamists who had been committed to the violent overthrow of the Baghdad government.

He told Reuters the Americans met with the Sunni Islamist-led Islamic Army and the Baathist Naqshabandi. "Some elements within the Iraqi government have also started dialogue with these groups to get them on their side to fight IS," he said.

Another insurgent source involved in the matter said more formal talks were being prepared between the Islamic Army and United States.

New Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formed a government last week despite divisions, but the sensitive interior and defence posts are still vacant and while many Sunnis voted for him, tribal sheikhs and former Baathist commanders.

A high-level Iraqi security official also confirmed that talks had occurred between the Americans and armed groups opposed to both the previous and present Iraqi government.

A U.S. State Department official denied State had reached out to such groups, but did not rule out the possibility another government branch -- which could refer to the CIA -- had put out feelers to the factions.

SUNNI RESENTMENT

Many Sunnis resent the U.S. support for Baghdad, which cracked down on Sunni protests over the past two years and uses barrel bombs to hit Islamic State fighters who hide among civilians and has yet to meet their demands for greater rights.

“Unfortunately the Americans are not changing their strategy only their tactics ... They are seeing their interests in Iraq more and more with the Shi'ites. They are seeing a common interest with Iran," the same tribal sheikh said.

Sheikh Lawrence Hardan, a tribal leader from Hardan tribe in Garma, a frontline in the war for Anbar, cautioned that even now ordinary Sunnis in his province had a hellish existence.

"In our opinion there need to be certain steps taken first like stopping the bombing of the cities so displaced people can return to their houses. There are sieges in some cities, no electricity and no public services," he said by telephone.

Only about five percent of recent Iraqi air attacks hit Islamic State and the rest hit civilians, he said on Friday.

On Saturday Abadi announced he had ordered a freeze on air strikes in civilian areas two days before. But reports of strikes around Fallujah and Ramadi have continued since his decree, suggesting the difficulty of executing a ban.

On Thursday, 14 barrel bombs were dropped on Falluja city, killing 22 civilians, a source at a hospital in the city said, while an air strike killed three people in Ramadi on Friday.

An Iraqi Police Intelligence Officer in Anbar warned that many Sunnis assumed any air strike in Anbar was American, whether or not it was. "It’s not helping," he said. “Islamic State is using it as propaganda.”

He also said U.S. intermediary Abu Risha, one of the leaders who fought al Qaeda, had since lost his influence. "He is not respected anymore. We are talking about a new leadership of tribes all over the Anbar."

Sheikh Ali Hatem Suleiman, one of the leaders of the Sunni revolt against the Shi'ite-led government, is also reported to be being courted by the U.S. to turn against the Islamic State. His brother, AbdulRazaq, told Reuters that Suleiman, who left Anbar at the end of April, met with U.S. representatives to discuss the formation of the next government. It was not possible to confirm the talks or find out how they went.

NATIONAL GUARDS

Washington is also speaking to Gulf Arab allies with the aim of expanding training and arming of anti-IS Syrian rebels, to hit Islamic State on both sides.

But in Syria, weapons delivered to the western-backed Free Syrian Army have been stolen and sometimes sold to Islamic State, highlighting issues with funding Sunni militants there.

To avoid this in Iraq, a senior State Department official said the U.S. Government is working closely with Abadi to build a "National Guard", a government-run body that will incorporate the Sunni militants and go a long way towards meeting their key demand for the military to withdraw from their provinces.

The National Guard proposal has also been touted by Abadi as a way to absorb Shi'ite militias or volunteers, who have been fighting for their sect, under a nominal state chain of command, since the fall of Mosul in June.

An assessment is now being carried out to determine how big it needs to be, where the soldiers should be deployed and what screening and training would need to be done.

Iraq's parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri told Reuters in an interview this week that the National Guard would allow provinces to be responsible for their own safety.

But the second insurgent source worried the National Guard’s dual track - integrating Shi’ite militias as well - would allow the Shi'ites to get close to Sunni areas, although he said the Islamic Army and others had told officials they backed the freeze on air strikes on residential areas.

“I told them this is a good step but that the government has to get going on the amnesty law ... and differentiate between Daesh (IS) and the resistance groups that fought the occupier,” the source said, referring to U.S. troops.

“Give me a justification -- I can go to my base and followers and inform them these people are serious in finding solutions. This is what we are waiting for.”

(Additonal reporting by Warren Strobel in Washington, Amena Bakr in Doha and William Maclean in Dubai; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/09/1 ... D720140916