Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Suspect in Jewish museum killings went to Syria
• Army must do more to protect pipeline, says Iraq deputy PM
• Al-Qaida decentralized, but not necessarily weaker
• Al-Qaida has changed shape, but is it weaker?
• Kuwait's emir makes landmark visit to Iran
• Iraq says crude oil exports rise slightly in May
• France arrests suspect in Brussels Jewish museum shooting
• Campaigning wraps up for Syria vote set to sweep Assad to power
• Attacks kill 16 as May toll tops 900
• ISIL kills 102-year-old man, family in Syria: NGO
• Iraq oil exports continue rebound in May
• Iran executes prisoner linked to opposition group
• Iraq threatens legal action against any buyer of piped Kurdish oil
• U.S. insists Assad must go, but expects he will stay
• UN says Iraq violence killed 799 people in May
• US soldier released after 5 years of captivity
• Nearly 800 killed in Iraq's bloodiest month this year: U.N.
• Men Must Fight Domestic Violence
• UN: Iraq violence kills 799 people in May
• Once on the edge of defeat, Syria's Assad runs again for president
• Iran executes man for links to exiled opposition group: Fars
• Iran executes man despite international pressure
• Iran hangs prisoner linked to opposition group
• Today in History
• Turkey driven by 'greed' in Kurd oil row: Iraq deputy PM

Suspect in Jewish museum killings went to Syria Posted: 01 Jun 2014 03:46 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — A suspected French jihadist who spent time in Syria has been arrested over the shooting deaths of three people at a Belgian Jewish museum, prosecutors said Sunday, crystalizing fears that European radicals will parlay their experiences in Syria into terrorism back home.

Army must do more to protect pipeline, says Iraq deputy PM Posted: 01 Jun 2014 11:19 AM PDT Iraq's army must do more to protect a northern oil pipeline and should pay as much attention to it as it does to fighting militants, Iraq's top energy official told AFP Sunday. The rare criticism of the security forces comes with the pipeline, which connects the northern province of Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, having been disabled for three months as a result of militant attacks as the army grapples with a year-long nationwide surge in violence. "I have pointed out repeatedly that this -- protection of the export pipeline -- should be a national priority, no less than confronting the terrorists in Fallujah or elsewhere," Hussein al-Shahristani, deputy prime minister responsible for energy affairs, said in an interview. He was referring to battles between security forces and anti-government fighters who have held sway over Fallujah, a city a short drive west of Baghdad, since the beginning of the year.

Al-Qaida decentralized, but not necessarily weaker Posted: 01 Jun 2014 10:45 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Al-Qaida has decentralized, yet it's unclear whether the terrorist network is weaker and less likely to launch a Sept. 11-style attack against the United States, as President Barack Obama says, or remains potent despite the deaths of several leaders.

Al-Qaida has changed shape, but is it weaker? Posted: 01 Jun 2014 10:33 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Al-Qaida has decentralized, yet it's unclear whether the terrorist network is weaker and less likely to launch a Sept. 11-style attack against the United States, as President Barack Obama says, or remains potent despite the deaths of several leaders.

Kuwait's emir makes landmark visit to Iran Posted: 01 Jun 2014 10:30 AM PDT Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on Sunday started a landmark visit to Tehran focused on mending fences between Shiite Iran and the Sunni-ruled monarchies in the Gulf. The two-day visit comes amid a thaw in ties between Tehran and six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) since the election of Iran's moderate President Hassan Rouhani in June 2013. Sheikh Sabah, on his first visit to Tehran as head of state, flew in at the head of a high-level delegation including the foreign, oil, finance, commerce and industry ministers.

Iraq says crude oil exports rise slightly in May Posted: 01 Jun 2014 10:10 AM PDT Iraq's crude oil exports increased slightly in May despite constant militant attacks that have left a vital oil pipeline idle, the Oil Ministry said Sunday. The oil exports averaged 2.582 million barrels ...

France arrests suspect in Brussels Jewish museum shooting Posted: 01 Jun 2014 10:07 AM PDT By Ingrid Melander and Adrian Croft PARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A 29-year-old Frenchman believed to have returned recently from fighting with Islamist militant rebels in Syria has been arrested for the killing of three people at Brussels' Jewish Museum last month, prosecutors said on Sunday. Mehdi Nemmouche was detained on Friday after a random check at a bus terminal in the French city of Marseille showed he was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle, another gun and ammunition similar to those used in the shooting last weekend, French and Belgian prosecutors said. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters Nemmouche had been carrying a video where a voice resembling his own claims responsibility for the shootings. European governments have become increasingly worried that citizens going to fight in Syria will import Islamist militancy on their return.

Campaigning wraps up for Syria vote set to sweep Assad to power Posted: 01 Jun 2014 10:00 AM PDT Syria entered its final day of campaigning on Sunday for the June 3 presidential election expected to return Bashar al-Assad to power, a vote the opposition brands a "parody of democracy". With swathes of the country out of government control, voting will only take place in regime-held territory, far from where Assad's forces are battling the rebels who seek to topple him. The fragmented opposition, and their Western and Arab allies, are set to watch powerlessly as the ballot returns Assad to power for a third, seven-year term at a time when the army is making advances on the battlefield. The rebels have urged Syrians to boycott the vote in which Assad's sole competitors, MP Maher al-Hajjar, and businessman Hassan al-Nouri -- are little known and seen as token rivals.

Attacks kill 16 as May toll tops 900 Posted: 01 Jun 2014 09:05 AM PDT Attacks across Iraq killed 16 people on Sunday, while new figures showed violence last month claimed more than 900 lives as the country grapples with its worst bloodshed in years. Data compiled separately by the United Nations and the Iraqi defence, interior and health ministries showed that unrest was near its worst since 2008, when it was slowly emerging from a brutal Sunni-Shiite sectarian war. The latest bloodletting comes as political leaders jostle to build alliances during what is expected to be a protracted period of government formation following April elections. The worst of Sunday's violence targeted security forces north of Baghdad, in the restive provinces of Salaheddin, Diyala and Nineveh.

ISIL kills 102-year-old man, family in Syria: NGO Posted: 01 Jun 2014 08:36 AM PDT The most radical jihadist group fighting in Syria on Sunday killed a 102-year-old man along with his whole family in the heart of the country, a monitoring group said. The 102-year-old was shot dead in his sleep, with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) also killing his son, his grandson, his great-granddaughter and her mother, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. All the victims were Alawites, members of the same offshoot of Shiite Islam as Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Rooted in Al-Qaeda in Iraq, ISIL is the most extremist group fighting in Syria's war.

Iraq oil exports continue rebound in May Posted: 01 Jun 2014 08:13 AM PDT Iraqi oil exports rose for a second consecutive month in May, figures showed Sunday, despite a northern pipeline remaining disabled and a central government row with the country's Kurdish region. Crude exports averaged around 2.58 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, all of which were shipped from Iraq's southern export terminals, the oil ministry said in a statement. Exports in Iraq have been hit by persistent militant attacks on a pipeline connecting the northern province of Kirkuk to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Exports have also been limited by a row between the central government and the autonomous northern Kurdish region.

Iran executes prisoner linked to opposition group Posted: 01 Jun 2014 06:37 AM PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran executed a prisoner Sunday linked to the opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, the official IRNA news agency reported, despite a last-minute plea from Amnesty International, which said he had not been given a fair trial.

Iraq threatens legal action against any buyer of piped Kurdish oil Posted: 01 Jun 2014 05:56 AM PDT Iraq threatened on Sunday to take legal action against any buyer of oil exported via a new pipeline from the autonomous Kurdistan region to Turkey, while the destination of the first cargo was still unclear. The cargo of Kurdish oil left Turkish shores 10 days ago aboard the United Leadership tanker, prompting Baghdad to file for international arbitration against Ankara for facilitating the sale. Iraq says its State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) has exclusive rights to manage sales of crude from all the country, including Kurdistan, and considers unilateral exports from the region as "smuggling". The tanker's destination is still unclear, but it has become a symbol of a long-running and intractable dispute between Baghdad and the Kurdish region over resource rights and revenue sharing.

U.S. insists Assad must go, but expects he will stay Posted: 01 Jun 2014 05:01 AM PDT By Lesley Wroughton and Missy Ryan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Since Syrians rose up more than three years ago against longtime President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. President Barack Obama has had a clear message: Assad must go. Now, even as the United States seeks to increase support to moderate rebels to fight his regime, U.S. officials privately concede Assad isn't going anywhere soon. The contrast between public rhetoric and private expectations reflects the Obama administration's struggle to address the increasingly complex, messy conflict in Syria, which is pitting world powers against one another - from Moscow to Tehran and Washington. It also points to a continuation of the administration's policy of supporting Syria's neighbors and providing small-scale armed assistance to moderate rebels to fight the regime, while ruling out large-scale U.S. involvement that officials fear would lead to another Iraq or Afghanistan.

UN says Iraq violence killed 799 people in May Posted: 01 Jun 2014 04:26 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Violence has claimed the lives of 799 Iraqis in May, the highest monthly death toll so far this year, the United Nations said on Sunday, underlining the daunting challenges the government faces as it struggles to contain a surge in sectarian violence.

US soldier released after 5 years of captivity Posted: 01 Jun 2014 04:14 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly five years after his capture by insurgents, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl climbed into an American helicopter. He took out a pen and wrote on a paper plate, "SF?" — asking the troops who had come to find him in eastern Afghanistan if they were U.S. special operations forces.

Nearly 800 killed in Iraq's bloodiest month this year: U.N. Posted: 01 Jun 2014 04:14 AM PDT Nearly 800 people were killed in violence across Iraq in May, the United Nations said on Sunday, making it the deadliest month so far this year. Of the total 799 people killed, 196 were members of the Iraqi security forces, and the rest were civilians - often victims of attacks by Sunni Islamist insurgents who have been regaining ground and momentum in Iraq over the past year. The real toll is in fact higher because the UN figures do not include casualties in the western province of Anbar, where the Iraqi army has been fighting tribal and insurgent groups since they overran two cities at the start of the year. Despite deteriorating security, Iraq's incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won the largest share of parliamentary seats in national elections last month, dealing a blow to his opponents who blame him for leading the country to ruin.

Men Must Fight Domestic Violence Posted: 01 Jun 2014 03:45 AM PDT Guys, face it: we are the problem here. And all of us should be doing something to stop violence against women.

UN: Iraq violence kills 799 people in May Posted: 01 Jun 2014 02:38 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — The United Nations says violence has claimed the lives of 799 Iraqis in May, the highest monthly death toll so far this year.

Once on the edge of defeat, Syria's Assad runs again for president Posted: 01 Jun 2014 02:29 AM PDT By Samia Nakhoul BEIRUT (Reuters) - It was not so long ago that Bashar al-Assad's enemies thought he was finished. In the summer of 2012, the rebels were not just at the gates of Damascus, but inside the capital, preying on Assad's harried forces. His government had lost big chunks of Syria's territory and a string of strategic towns, and a small number of loyal and tested army units were rotating around the country in an exhausting attempt to hold back rebel advances on many fronts. Now, even as the United States seeks to increase aid and training to moderate rebels to fight Assad's forces, U.S. officials privately concede Assad isn't going anywhere soon.

Iran executes man for links to exiled opposition group: Fars Posted: 01 Jun 2014 02:07 AM PDT Iran executed a man on Sunday for links with the People's Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI), an exiled Iranian opposition group, the semi-official Fars news agency said. Fars said Iran had charged Gholamreza Khosravi Savajani with providing financial assistance to the PMOI, which seeks the removal of the Islamic Republic's clerical leadership. At the time of his arrest, Fars said, Iranian police found video and documents describing "important centers including military installations" which had been passed on to the PMOI.

Iran executes man despite international pressure Posted: 01 Jun 2014 01:58 AM PDT Iran on Sunday hanged a man said to be affiliated to an exiled opposition group, state media reported, despite international pressure on the Islamic republic to halt the execution. According to the official IRNA news agency, Gholamreza Khosravi Savadjani was convicted of "waging war against God" (moharebeh) by helping the People's Mujahedeen Organisation of Iran (PMOI). The announcement of the hanging came just hours after Amnesty International said Khosravi Savadjani's trial in 2010 had been unfair. Khosravi Savadjani was until then being held in solitary confinement at Evin Prison in the capital.

Iran hangs prisoner linked to opposition group Posted: 31 May 2014 10:37 PM PDT TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's official news agency says authorities have executed a prisoner linked to the opposition Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) group.

Today in History Posted: 31 May 2014 09:00 PM PDT Today is Sunday, June 1, the 152nd day of 2014. There are 213 days left in the year.

Turkey driven by 'greed' in Kurd oil row: Iraq deputy PM Posted: 31 May 2014 05:27 PM PDT Turkey has been "driven by greed" in an escalating row over oil pumped from Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region and shipped overseas, Baghdad's top energy official told AFP on Sunday. The remarks by Hussein al-Shahristani, deputy prime minister responsible for energy affairs, represent a significant ratcheting up of rhetoric after Baghdad took legal action against Ankara in a widening dispute over Iraq's prized natural resources. But the shipping of oil extracted from the three-province Kurdistan region last month has further chilled ties both between Baghdad and Ankara, and between the central government and Kurdish authorities in Arbil.

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