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Sunni Discontent Fuels Growing Violence In Iraq's Anbar Province

Iraqi Sunni masked protesters burn tires to block the main highway to Jordan and Syria, outside Fallujah, Iraq, on Dec. 30, 2013. Violence has returned to Iraq’s Anbar province, with discontented ordinary Sunnis joining forces with al-Qaida-linked militants battling the Iraqi government. AP Violence has reignited in western Iraq, with Islamist fighters taking over much of Anbar province three months ago. A renegade al-Qaida group has set up its headquarters in Fallujah – the city where hundreds of U.S. soldiers died a decade ago, trying to wrest it from insurgent control. But this time, the enemy isn’t the U.S. and it’s not just extremists fighting. Ordinary Sunnis in Anbar, furious at what they call years of discrimination by the Shiite-dominated government, have joined the militants’ battle against the Iraqi army. There’s another difference: This group has better training and weapons , drawing strength and fighters from the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Sunni Discontent Fuels Growing Violence In Iraq’s Anbar Province

Iraqi Sunni masked protesters burn tires to block the main highway to Jordan and Syria, outside Fallujah, Iraq, on Dec. 30, 2013. Violence has returned to Iraq’s Anbar province, with discontented ordinary Sunnis joining forces with al-Qaida-linked militants battling the Iraqi government. AP Violence has reignited in western Iraq, with Islamist fighters taking over much of Anbar province three months ago. A renegade al-Qaida group has set up its headquarters in Fallujah – the city where hundreds of U.S. soldiers died a decade ago, trying to wrest it from insurgent control. But this time, the enemy isn’t the U.S. and it’s not just extremists fighting. Ordinary Sunnis in Anbar, furious at what they call years of discrimination by the Shiite-dominated government, have joined the militants’ battle against the Iraqi army. There’s another difference: This group has better training and weapons , drawing strength and fighters from the […]

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Bomb in Shopping Street in Iraqi Capital Kills 3

Officials in Iraq say a bomb planted on a street full of shoppers in the capital, Baghdad, has killed three people and wounded five. Police officers say the explosion took place in the capital’s predominantly Shiite neighborhood of al-Ameen on Friday morning. Health officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to journalists. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, but Sunni insurgent groups have stepped up attacks across the country since last year, in a bid to undermine the Shiite-led government. The uptick in violence comes at a crucial time, as Iraqis prepare to hold parliamentary elections on April 30, the first such vote since U.S. forces left Iraq in 2011.

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Kidnapping, attacks cripple northern Iraq oil sector

Militants have disabled Iraq’s northern export pipeline since March, and are now targeting other energy infrastructure. Anti-government militants have detonated the pipeline feeding crude to the Baiji refinery and have kidnapped the head of the Haditha refinery, as northern Iraq’s energy sector increasingly suffers from their push to destabilize Iraq.Less than two weeks before pivotal national elections, the anti-government fighters – which include the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), an al-Qaida splinter group, as well as other Sunni Muslim militias and tribes – have succeeded in creating chaos that…

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Analysis: Iraq-Turkey treaty restricts Kurdistan exports

If Turkey allows Kurdistan to export oil without Baghdad’s permission, it would likely break a treaty with Iraq, adding a huge layer of legal risk to KRG oil sales. Nearly five months after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) finalized a strategic energy agreement with Turkey, the deal has lost momentum: more than 1.5 million barrels of crude from Kurdistan have been pumped into tanks by the Turkish shore, ready for sale to international buyers – but they remain unsold.One key reason for the holdup is that Turkey may not lawfully be able to facilitate autonomous KRG exports unless Baghdad agrees, according to an international treaty between Iraq and…

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Libya expecting oil sector to recover

Libya’s oil sector may be able to make up for losses incurred by a rebel blockade as soon as production and export levels return to normal, a spokesman said. The central government in Tripoli brokered a deal April 6 with eastern rebel leaders to re-open export terminals. An eight-month blockade from rebels seeking more autonomy for the region known as Cyrenaica cut Libya’s oil export potential drastically. Mohamed al-Harari, a spokesman for Libya’s state-run National Oil Corp., told pan-Arab daily news agency Asharq al-Awsat the ports of Ras Lanuf and Sidra could open next month following further talks with rebel leaders. "Talks must resume to open the remaining ports," he said in an interview published Thursday. "We have suffered great losses from this [crisis], but we will be able to make up these losses once production and export levels are back to normal." The re-opened ports, Zuetina and Harega, […]

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Refining sector strong in March, API said

WASHINGTON, April 18 (UPI) — API Chief Economist said U.S. refineries produced more petroleum products than the nation’s economy needed last month. The production of gasoline and other products increased in March. Gasoline production in particular increased 4.7 percent year-on-year to 9.3 million barrels per day, a level the American Petroleum Institute said was a record for the month of March. "March brought strong demand for both gasoline and distillate fuel, but refinery production actually outstripped demand for all four major products," Felmy said in a statement Thursday. "Fortunately, the rest of the world is also eager to buy the output of U.S. refineries." Legislation enacted in the wake of the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s restricts crude oil exports from the United States, though other products are delivered. API has lobbied for a reversal of the ban. The organization said U.S. petroleum deliveries, a measure of demand, […]

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Advanced U.S. Weapons Flow to Syrian Rebels

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have supplied Syrian rebel groups with a small number of advanced American antitank missiles for the first time in a pilot program that could lead to larger flows of sophisticated weaponry, people briefed on the effort said. The new willingness to arm these rebels comes after the failure of U.S.-backed peace talks in January and recent regime gains on the battlefield. It also follows a reorganization of Western-backed fighters aimed at creating a more effective military force and increasing protection for Christian and other religious minorities—something of particular importance to Washington. This shift is seen as a test of whether the U.S. can find a trustworthy rebel partner able to keep sophisticated weapons out of the hands of extremists, Saudi and Syrian opposition figures said. The U.S. has long feared that if it does supply advanced arms, the weapons will wind up with radical […]

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Egypt: Cabinet – No Rise in Electricity, Diesel's Prices

Following the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Cabinet Spokesman Ambassador Hossam el-Qawish said that the subsidy system will be restructured in a way that does not affect the limited income brackets. He further urged the citizens to rationalize consumption in electricity He asserted that there are no rises in prices of electricity or diesel, adding that next summer would not witness a lot of blackouts. He pointed out that there would specific times for blackouts until a radical solution to the electricity crisis is reached. Copyright © 2014 Egypt State Information Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ( allAfrica.com ). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica publishes around 2,000 reports a day from more than 130 news organizations and over 200 other institutions and individuals , representing a […]

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Egypt: Cabinet – No Rise in Electricity, Diesel’s Prices

Following the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Cabinet Spokesman Ambassador Hossam el-Qawish said that the subsidy system will be restructured in a way that does not affect the limited income brackets. He further urged the citizens to rationalize consumption in electricity He asserted that there are no rises in prices of electricity or diesel, adding that next summer would not witness a lot of blackouts. He pointed out that there would specific times for blackouts until a radical solution to the electricity crisis is reached. Copyright © 2014 Egypt State Information Service. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media ( allAfrica.com ). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. AllAfrica publishes around 2,000 reports a day from more than 130 news organizations and over 200 other institutions and individuals , representing a […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple