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Embassy of the United States Baghdad, Iraq

The United States continues to accelerate delivery of weapons and ammunition to Iraq consistent with our Strategic Framework Agreement and long-term security partnership. These deliveries are made in response to specific Iraqi requests and pursuant to a holistic counter-terrorism policy that incorporates political, economic, and security measures. On the security side, it is essential that Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) are equipped with modern and effective weaponry given the serious threat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) now poses to Iraq and the region. The United States is determined to help the ISF respond to this threat and protect the population in coordination with local leaders and tribes. Earlier this month, the United States delivered nearly 100 Hellfire missiles together with hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition and M4 rifles. These deliveries addressed a critical assessment of needs conducted jointly by Iraq and U.S. security experts, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Saudi Arabia: besieged and fearful

The Saudi regime has long been considered a pillar of political stability in the Middle East, a country that commanded respect and prudence from all its neighbors. This is no longer true, and the first ones to recognize this are those who are important internal players in the regime. Today, they feel besieged on all sides and quite fearful of the consequences of turmoil in the Middle East for the survival of the regime. Dhee Ayn in Hejaz (also known as Aqabat al-Baha or the Marble Village). A 400-year-old village built on a marble mountain visible for several kilometers as one approaches the village. Even from a distance the place can easily be located by its white glow. The houses of the village itself are not made of marble, but of flake stones and slate. Photo by Hejazi Israel (2010). Via Wikimedia Commons .   This turn-around derives from […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nigeria: Pipeline Vandals Engage Police in Shootout

Pandemonium broke out, weekend, along Ikate-Akute area of Ogun State following a shootout between operatives of the Inspector General of Police Special Task Force on Anti Pipeline Vandalism Unit and pipeline vandals. A suspected pipeline vandal was arrested, while others reportedly escaped, abandoning five of their operational speed boats with 4,000 empty 50-litre jerry cans. The vandals, said to be numbering over 12, reportedly stormed the spot apparently to vandalise a Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, petroleum pipeline on Saturday morning, when the operatives swooped on them. During interrogation, the arrested suspect, who identified himself as Abbey Daniel, said he indulged in vandalism to save Nigerians from fuel scarcity. He said: "I am terribly sorry. But we did it in an attempt to help Nigerians to get fuel, which has become scarce. "Since the scarcity, Nigerians have been suffering, particularly artisans. And since there is high demand for fuel […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Syrian Government Forces Seize Town in a Deep Blow to Opposition

When Syrian government forces on Sunday swept into Yabrud, a town long held by rebels near the Lebanese border, it was a symbolic turning point for insurgents and government supporters alike in a conflict now heading into its fourth year. Yabrud was a rallying point for the government and its allies in the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, who were instrumental in the fight, just as they were when they helped take another crucial border town, Qusayr, last spring. Thirteen Syrian nuns had been held hostage by insurgents in Yabrud until last week, and the government had long said that the town harbored a factory that was making the car bombs that have killed scores in southern Beirut in recent months. For Syrian opposition […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Navy SEALs Take Control of Oil Tanker Hijacked in Libya

United States Navy commandos seized a fugitive oil tanker in the Mediterranean waters southeast of Cyprus on Monday morning, thwarting an attempt by a breakaway Libyan militia to sell its contents on the black market, the Pentagon said. No one was hurt in the operation, the Pentagon said in a statement. The fugitive tanker, called the Morning Glory, had sailed into the Libyan port of Sidra under a North Korean flag but North Korea disavowed the ship and denied providing any authorization. News reports have said it was operated by a company based in Alexandria, Egypt, and that after leaving Libyan waters it appeared to have sailed the Mediterranean in search of a buyer for its oil. In a statement early Monday morning, the Pentagon said that the Libyan and Cypriot governments had requested American help in seizing control of the tanker. President Obama authorized the operation […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. Navy SEALs board tanker carrying oil from Libya rebel port

U.S. Navy SEALs boarded and took control of an oil tanker late on Sunday that escaped earlier this month from a Libyan port with armed men at the helm, the U.S. Department of Defense said. Libyan anti-government rebels, who are calling for a greater share of oil wealth and autonomy, had managed to load crude oil onto the 37,000 tonne-tanker, which escaped the Libyan navy, embarrassing the weak central government and prompting parliament to vote the prime minister out of office. No one was hurt in the boarding operation, approved by U.S. President Barack Obama, requested by the Libyan and Cypriot governments and conducted in international waters southeast of Cyprus, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said. "The Morning Glory is carrying a cargo of oil owned by the Libyan government National Oil Company. The ship and its cargo were illicitly obtained" from the Libyan port of Es […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Partition of Libya looms as fight for oil sparks vicious new divide

No one paid much attention to the 21,000-tonne oil tanker Morning Glory as it churned back and forth along the north African coast earlier this month. Tankers are a common sight, carrying Libya ‘s oil exports around the world. But on 1 March it switched off its satellite transponder and vanished from world shipping maps. Eight days later it appeared at Libya’s biggest oil port, Es Sider, blockaded since the summer by a rebel militia. Within a week its arrival would see a prime minister sacked and Libya on the brink of civil war. Four hundred miles away in the capital Tripoli, prime minister Ali Zeidan, 63, a lawyer and former dissident based in Geneva, was alarmed. He had come to the job 15 months before with high expectations. Libya, freed with Nato help from the Muammar Gaddafi dictatorship, had everything going for it, with Africa ‘s largest oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nigeria Navy destroys 260 illegal oil refineries

The Nigerian Navy says it destroyed 260 illegal oil refineries and burned 100,000 tons of contraband fuel to try to halt oil thefts bedeviling the economy of Africa’s biggest petroleum producer. Commanding officer Capt. Musa Gemu said sailors of the NNS Delta destroyed the refineries in the Warri South-West area of southern Delta region Friday night and arrested five suspects. He spoke Saturday night. Similar missions in the past have failed to slow estimated daily thefts of 200,000 barrels worth more than $20 million. Critics and analysts say most is stolen by politically-connected criminal cartels for sale on the international market. The small-time criminals targeted in such attacks can reconstruct crudely built sites in days. Shell Nigeria, the biggest operator, says it lost $1 billion to oil thefts in 2013.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela's Maduro gives ultimatum to protesters amid 'economic crisis'

Venezuela’s central bank president acknowledged on Sunday that his country was undergoing an "economic crisis" but said measures like a new market-based currency mechanism would help bring rapid improvements. The announcement came amid continuing street protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Unrest has been fueled by a 56 percent annual inflation rate and regular shortages of consumer goods. Late Saturday, Maduro warned protesters in Caracas to clear a square they have made their stronghold , or face eviction by security forces. Plaza Altamira, in upscale east Caracas, has been a focus of anti-government protests and violence during six weeks of unrest around Venezuela that has killed 28 people. "I’m giving the Chuckys, the killers, just a few hours," Maduro said, using the name of a murderous child-doll in a horror film to describe anti-government demonstrators who have made the normally genteel 1940s square a base of operations. "If they don’t […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Venezuela’s Maduro gives ultimatum to protesters amid ‘economic crisis’

Venezuela’s central bank president acknowledged on Sunday that his country was undergoing an "economic crisis" but said measures like a new market-based currency mechanism would help bring rapid improvements. The announcement came amid continuing street protests against the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Unrest has been fueled by a 56 percent annual inflation rate and regular shortages of consumer goods. Late Saturday, Maduro warned protesters in Caracas to clear a square they have made their stronghold , or face eviction by security forces. Plaza Altamira, in upscale east Caracas, has been a focus of anti-government protests and violence during six weeks of unrest around Venezuela that has killed 28 people. "I’m giving the Chuckys, the killers, just a few hours," Maduro said, using the name of a murderous child-doll in a horror film to describe anti-government demonstrators who have made the normally genteel 1940s square a base of operations. "If they don’t […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple