| Syria opposition says jihadists 'serve regime interests' Posted: 01 Jan 2014 01:21 PM PST  Syria's opposition National Coalition on Wednesday accused an Al-Qaeda-linked group in the country of ties to the Syrian regime, saying it was serving the government's interests. The criticism is the strongest yet by the coalition of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and comes after the group reportedly tortured and killed an opposition doctor in northern Syria. "The Coalition believes that ISIL is closely linked to the terrorist regime and serves the interests of the clique of President Bashar al-Assad, directly or indirectly," it said in a statement.
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| Sunni militants storm Iraq police stations to free prisoners Posted: 01 Jan 2014 01:07 PM PST  By Kamal Namaa FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - Islamist militants stormed police stations in several cities of Iraq's western province of Anbar on Wednesday, seizing weapon caches and freeing prisoners after security forces dismantled a Sunni Muslim protest camp on Monday. The attacks on three police stations in Falluja, Ramadi and Tarmiya represent a serious escalation in the confrontation between Iraqi Sunni groups and the Shi'ite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
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| AP's Martin remembered as mentor, friend, talent Posted: 01 Jan 2014 12:48 PM PST  ATLANTA (AP) — Known as a master of his craft, longtime Associated Press photographer Dave Martin collapsed on the field of the Georgia Dome after taking one of his signature photos: the coach getting doused by his players.
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| Iraq PM to deploy more troops to combat Anbar unrest Posted: 01 Jan 2014 12:27 PM PST  Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Wednesday reversed a decision to withdraw soldiers from Anbar cities and ordered reinforcements to the mainly Sunni Arab province to tackle attacks by militants. Clashes broke out in Anbar, west of Baghdad, as security forces tore down a year-old Sunni Arab protest camp outside the provincial capital Ramadi on Monday. On Wednesday, police reportedly left many positions in the Anbar city of Fallujah, while militants torched police stations both there and in Ramadi.
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| UN: Iraq sees highest annual death toll in years Posted: 01 Jan 2014 10:42 AM PST  BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations said Wednesday that violence claimed the lives of 7,818 civilians in Iraq in 2013, the highest annual death toll in years.
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| Iraq militants free prisoners, burn police stations Posted: 01 Jan 2014 08:56 AM PST  Ramadi (Iraq) (AFP) - Militants freed more than 100 prisoners, clashed with security forces and burned police stations in cities west of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, police and an AFP journalist said. Gunmen attacked the headquarters in the city of Fallujah but gave the police a chance to leave, which they took, officers said, after which the militants freed 101 prisoners and stole weapons. In Ramadi, farther west, security forces clashed sporadically with militants, who burned four police stations in the city, an AFP journalist said. The journalist saw four torched police stations in Ramadi, one of which was still on fire, and said two military vehicles had also been burned.
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| The invisible man: Bill Burns and the secret Iran talks Posted: 01 Jan 2014 07:59 AM PST  By Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The night before a round of high-stakes nuclear talks with Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama told his chief of staff he had "absolute confidence we have the right team on the field." Obama was not referring to his public negotiating team, led by senior State Department official Wendy Sherman, nor even to his secretary of state, John Kerry, who was soon to sweep in from Tel Aviv to join the early November discussions in Geneva. Rather, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough recalled, Obama was talking about a secret group led by Bill Burns, Kerry's discreet, disciplined and self-effacing deputy. At times using U.S. military aircraft, hotel side entrances and service elevators to keep his role under wraps, Burns undertook arguably the most sensitive diplomatic mission of Obama's presidency: secret talks with Iran to persuade it to curb its nuclear program. In picking Burns, seen by his peers as a leading U.S. diplomat of his generation, Obama gave the envoy, who speaks Arabic, French and Russian, a chance to ease more than 30 years of estrangement between the United States and Iran.
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| Lebanese intelligence questioning Saudi militant, security source says Posted: 01 Jan 2014 07:49 AM PST  Lebanese intelligence agents are interrogating the Saudi leader of a militant group that claimed a double suicide attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut last November, a Lebanese security source said on Wednesday. U.S. national security sources on Tuesday confirmed the detention of Majid bin Muhammad al-Majid, reported leader of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which operates throughout the Middle East and has links to al Qaeda. The Lebanese source, who declined to be named, said Majid had been arrested by the Lebanese army together with another Saudi militant, but did not say when they were captured or identify the second man. He said Majid had been living in the city of Sidon.
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| Iraq suffers worst year of violence since 2008 Posted: 01 Jan 2014 05:17 AM PST  Violence in Iraq surged in 2013 to its worst level in five years, figures released Wednesday showed, fuelled by discontent among the Sunni Arab minority and the civil war in neighbouring Syria. Bombs tore through markets, cafes, football fields and mosques, militants assaulted prisons, police stations and other government facilities, and families were killed in their homes. And while Iraqi security forces carried out widespread operations targeting militants, they have yet to curb the violence, and the mass arrests they sometimes make may ultimately contribute to the problem. "One has to go back to 2008 to find comparable levels of violence," Iraq Body Count, a Britain-based NGO that tracks violence in Iraq, said in a statement.
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