Category: Iraq

Crude oil from Iraqi Kurdistan has started flowing via a new pipeline to the Turkish Mediterranean export hub of Ceyhan but will not be shipped to world markets without the consent of Baghdad, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said on Thursday. Yildiz hopes a deal can be reached this month for exports to begin, he told a news conference in Ankara. Flows through the pipeline would start at 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) and rise to 400,000, he said. Turkey signed a multi-billion-dollar energy package late last year with Iraqi Kurdistan (KRG) under which the semi-autonomous region plans independent energy exports via Turkey. Kurdistan could eventually export some 2 million bpd of oil to world markets and at least 10 billion cubic metres per year of gas to Turkey. Its bid to export oil and gas independently from Baghdad has infuriated officials […]

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Radical Sunni militants aligned with Al Qaeda threatened Thursday to seize control of Falluja and Ramadi, two of the most important cities in Iraq, setting fire to police stations, freeing prisoners from jail and occupying mosques, as the government rushed troop reinforcements to the areas. Dressed in black and waving the flag of Al Qaeda, the militants commandeered mosque loudspeakers to call for supporters to join their struggle in both cities in the western province of Anbar, which have increasingly become centers of Sunni extremism since American forces withdrew from the country at the end of 2011. For the United States, which asserted at the time that Iraq was on track to become a stable democracy, Anbar holds grave historical significance — as a place for America’s greatest losses, and perhaps its most significant success, of the eight-year war. Nearly one-third of the American soldiers killed in […]

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Iraqi security forces and allied tribesmen on Thursday battled al Qaeda-linked gunmen who ran rampant in two main Sunni cities, emboldened by mounting sectarian tensions between minority Sunnis and the Shiite-led government. The al Qaeda branch, known as the Islamic State in Iraq and al Sham, appeared to be trying to exploit Sunni anger after Iraqi police broke up a Sunni protest camp in Ramadi on Monday, leaving at least 13 people dead, and authorities arrested a senior Sunni politician accused of terrorism. Those moves added new fuel to sectarian violence that has escalated since the American withdrawal. Tension has been running high in the Sunni-dominated province of Anbar since thousands of antigovernment tribal fighters took over local government buildings in Fallujah and Ramadi on Wednesday after the army pulled back in an attempt to calm the situation. Soon after the pullout, militants launched the simultaneous assaults in Ramadi, […]

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An Iraqi government spokesman says security forces have arrested a controversial Shiite cleric who leads an Iranian-backed militia. The Interior Ministry spokesman, Saad Maan Ibrahim, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Wathiq al-Batat, the leader of the so-called Mukhtar Army, was arrested in Baghdad on Wednesday. Al-Batat last year formed his Iranian-backed militia to protect Shiites from attacks by Sunni extremists. Earlier, he was a leader in Iraq’s Hezbollah Brigades, which is not related to the better-known Lebanese Hezbollah. Al-Batat claimed responsibility in November for firing six mortar shells at a region of Saudi Arabia bordering Iraq and Kuwait, describing it as retaliation for Saudi religious decrees that allegedly insult Shiites and encourage killing them. He also claimed responsibility for attacks on a camp hosting an Iranian opposition group. © 2014 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, […]

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Iraqi security forces and protesters clashed throughout Anbar province Monday after SWAT teams entered protest camps to forcibly take down tents, putting at risk an agreement reached Sunday that would have seen Anbaris voluntarily end their protests and the release of a member of Parliament who was detained Saturday in a deadly pre-dawn raid."The Iraqi Army and Federal Police took the protest squares tents down earlier today by force," a senior Interior Ministry official said late Monday. "U…

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Maliki targets protesters as Anbar security crisis deepens Tensions are rising in Anbar province between Sunni protesters and Iraq’s Shia-dominated central government, as pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to push back against a rising tide of violence.Protesters in Anbar have rejected renewed threats from Maliki, who claims the demonstrations have been infiltrated by terrorists and has warned of imminent crackdowns. It has been a full year since protesters in Sunni-majority provinces across Iraq took to the streets to decry the… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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An Iraqi government spokesman says Sunnis in a flashpoint western city have ended their months-long protest after a deal with the country’s Shiite-led government. Mohammed al-Askari says police in the city of Ramadi on Monday dismantled the protesters’ tents and removed their sit-in site along a main highway linking Baghdad with neighboring Jordan. Al-Askari says there was no violence during the police action. He says the Ramadi Sunnis agreed late on Sunday to end the protest after the authorities warned their gathering was sheltering al-Qaida fighters. The protest organizers were not immediately available to comment. Since last December, Iraq’s Sunni minority has been staging protests against what they claim is second-class treatment at the hands of the Shiite majority, demanding an end to some laws they believe unfairly target them. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, […]

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Iraqi security forces arrested a Sunni Muslim member of parliament in the western city of Ramadi and clashed with his bodyguards on Saturday, killing at least five people, police sources said. The dead included three bodyguards, a sister and a brother of the lawmaker, Ahmed al-Alwani, a member of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc who has been critical of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, the sources said. "Army troops with police special forces were trying to arrest Alwani from his house, but fierce fighting erupted. Five bodies, including one woman, were taken to Falluja hospital," one police source said. Police said a two-hour firefight broke out when bodyguards and members of Alwani’s tribe resisted police and army forces who went to arrest Alwani on charges of "terrorism" from his house in the center of Ramadi. Alwani has been an influential figure in a Sunni protest movement centered […]

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Maliki targets protesters as Anbar security crisis deepens Tensions are rising in Anbar province between Sunni protesters and Iraq’s Shia-dominated central government, as pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to push back against a rising tide of violence.Protesters in Anbar have rejected renewed threats from Maliki, who claims the demonstrations have been infiltrated by terrorists and has warned of imminent crackdowns. It has been a full year since protesters in Sunni-majority provinces across Iraq took to the streets to decry the… This content is for registered users. Please login to continue. If you are not a registered user, you may purchase a subscription or sign up for a free trial .

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