Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Two militants blow themselves up in southern Saudi Arabia
• Video purportedly shows extremist leader in Iraq
• IS, the jihadist group claiming world leadership
• Iraqi Islamic State leader purported to make public appearance
• Allawi warns risk of Iraq's dismemberment unless Maliki goes
• Eight members of one family killed in Syria raid: NGO
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the jihadist 'caliph'
• Iraq says footage purporting to show Islamic State leader is false
• Reclusive ISIS Leader Reportedly Emerges from Hiding for Ramadan
• Maliki remains many Iraqis' top choice as leader
• Christian leader appeals for missing Iraq nuns
• Islamic State's Baghdadi orders Muslims to 'obey' him
• Indian nurses greeted with smiles, flowers after release from Iraq
• Video posted online purports to show Islamic State group leader delivering sermon in Iraq
• Syria rebel chief warns of 'disaster' without aid
• Top Asian News at 1:30 p.m. GMT
• Iraqi leader retires 2 senior security officers
• Top Asian News at 1:00 p.m. GMT
• Iraqi PM retires 2 top-ranking security officers
• Top Asian News at 12:30 p.m. GMT
• Sunni extremists destroy holy sites in Iraq

Two militants blow themselves up in southern Saudi Arabia Posted: 05 Jul 2014 03:09 PM PDT By Sami Aboudi DUBAI (Reuters) - Two suspected al Qaeda militants blew themselves up on Saturday after being trapped inside a government building in southern Saudi Arabia, the Interior Ministry said, following an attack on a border post with Yemen that also killed four security men. An Interior Ministry spokesman said the two were part of a group of six al Qaeda militants who attacked the Wadia border post on Friday from Yemen.

Video purportedly shows extremist leader in Iraq Posted: 05 Jul 2014 11:59 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — A man purporting to be the leader of the Sunni extremist group that has declared an Islamic state in territory it controls in Iraq and Syria has made what would be his first public appearance, delivering a sermon at a mosque in Iraq's second-largest city, according to a video posted online Saturday.

IS, the jihadist group claiming world leadership Posted: 05 Jul 2014 11:22 AM PDT The Islamic State (IS) jihadist group which spearheaded a sweeping militant assault that overran swathes of Iraq is now claiming leadership of the world's Muslims. Known for its ruthless tactics and suicide bombers, IS has carried out frequent bombings and shootings in Iraq, and is also arguably the most capable force fighting President Bashar al-Assad inside Syria. The group led by "caliph" Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and backed by thousands of fighters in Syria and Iraq, some of them Westerners, appears to be surpassing Al-Qaeda as the world's most dangerous and influential jihadist group.

Iraqi Islamic State leader purported to make public appearance Posted: 05 Jul 2014 10:28 AM PDT A man purported to be the reclusive leader of the militant Islamic State has made what would be his first public appearance at a mosque in the centre of Iraq's second city, Mosul, according to a video recording posted on the Internet on Saturday. There had previously been reports on social media that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would make his first public appearance since his Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) changed its name to the Islamic State and declared him caliph - a title held by successors of the Prophet Mohammad.

Allawi warns risk of Iraq's dismemberment unless Maliki goes Posted: 05 Jul 2014 10:17 AM PDT By Daren Butler ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi called on incumbent Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday to give up his bid for a third term in power or risk the dismemberment of Iraq. Maliki on Friday rejected a chorus of such calls since militants of a group now calling itself the Islamic State rampaged through swathes of Iraq and declared a mediaeval-style caliphate in land they control in Iraq and neighboring Syria. "I think it is time for Mr Maliki to leave the scene," Allawi told Reuters in an interview in Istanbul. I believe that Iraq would go the route of dismemberment, ultimately, if this happens.

Eight members of one family killed in Syria raid: NGO Posted: 05 Jul 2014 10:06 AM PDT The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a man, his wife and their six children were killed in the raid on the town of Dael. Another man was killed in barrel bomb raids elsewhere in the southern province, the Britain-based group said. The Observatory said the children were aged 13, 12, 11, 10, eight and two. Syrian regime forces control Daraa city, but the province is divided between rebel and government control.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the jihadist 'caliph' Posted: 05 Jul 2014 09:49 AM PDT Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the enigmatic self-proclaimed "caliph" of a state straddling Iraq and Syria, is increasingly seen as more powerful than Al-Qaeda's chief. The leader of the powerful Islamic State (IS) militant group was on June 29 declared "caliph" in an attempt to revive a system of rule that ended nearly 100 years ago with the fall of the Ottoman Empire. In a video posted online on Saturday, purportedly the first known footage of Baghdadi, he ordered Muslims to obey him during a Ramadan sermon delivered at a mosque in the northern militant-held Iraqi city of Mosul. His appearance follows the June 29 declaration by IS spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani of a pan-Islamic "caliphate" with Baghdadi as its leader.

Iraq says footage purporting to show Islamic State leader is false Posted: 05 Jul 2014 09:35 AM PDT The Iraqi government said on Saturday that a video posted online purporting to show the reclusive leader of the militant group Islamic State praying in the northern city of Mosul was falsified. Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan told Reuters that the footage posted on the Internet on Saturday allegedly showing Abu Bakr el-Baghdadi at Mosul's grand mosque was "indisputably" not him. Maan said government forces had recently wounded Baghdadi in an air strike and that he had been transferred by Islamic State militants to Syria for medical treatment. The 21-minute video came after reports on social media that Baghdadi would make his first public appearance since his Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) changed its name to the Islamic State and declared him caliph - a title held by successors of the Prophet Mohammad.

Reclusive ISIS Leader Reportedly Emerges from Hiding for Ramadan Posted: 05 Jul 2014 09:22 AM PDT Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the shadowy leader of the Sunni extremist group ISIS, is said to have delivered a Ramadan sermon in Mosul, a city which his group overran just last month. The video was released on at least two websites known to be used by the group, but it was not possible to independently verify whether the person shown was indeed the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Needless to say, this is quite a power move for Baghdadi. It was the first Friday service of Ramadan.

Maliki remains many Iraqis' top choice as leader Posted: 05 Jul 2014 08:42 AM PDT Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki remains many Iraqis' top choice to lead the country even though militants have overrun large swathes of territory and his domestic and international support is eroding. A June 13 statement by the country's most senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, calling on Iraqis to join state forces battling jihadists, has helped rally Iraq's majority Shiites around Maliki and bolstered his image as a bulwark against a perceived Sunni takeover. "I think support for him has gone up," said student Abbas Saadeq, 21, citing what he saw as backing for the prime minister from Iraq's most senior Shiite clerics, or marjaiya. Posters of the heavy-jowled leader still crowd Baghdad's skyline and checkpoints after April's parliamentary election, which his State of Law coalition dominated despite a litany of attacks in the run-up to the poll.

Christian leader appeals for missing Iraq nuns Posted: 05 Jul 2014 07:50 AM PDT Iraq's most senior Christian leader appealed Saturday for the release of two nuns and three orphans who have been missing for several days in militant-held areas of northern Nineveh province. The group went missing on Tuesday in Mosul, the first city to fall in a major militant offensive last month that overran swathes of territory across five provinces north and west of Baghdad, and have not been seen since. "We are appealing for scholars in Mosul and tribal sheikhs to help us release two nuns and three orphans," said Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako. Iraq's Christian community is a shadow of what it used to be -- once numbering more than a million nationwide, with upwards of 600,000 in Baghdad alone, there are now fewer than 400,000 across the country.

Islamic State's Baghdadi orders Muslims to 'obey' him Posted: 05 Jul 2014 07:40 AM PDT The leader of the Islamic State jihadist group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, purportedly ordered all Muslims to obey him in a video released Saturday on social media. The hitherto elusive Baghdadi, who on June 29 proclaimed a "caliphate" straddling Syria and Iraq, made his appeal in a sermon delivered on Friday in the militant-held northern Iraqi city of Mosul. AFP was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the video purportedly showing Baghdadi, of whom there were previously only two known photographs. The video is the first ever official appearance by Baghdadi, according to Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on Islamist movements, though the jihadist leader may have appeared in a 2008 video under a different name.

Indian nurses greeted with smiles, flowers after release from Iraq Posted: 05 Jul 2014 07:33 AM PDT A group of 46 nurses caught up in fighting in Iraq arrived home in India on Saturday after briefly being held captive by suspected militants, an outcome celebrated by the newly elected government in New Delhi as an early diplomatic success. The nurses, mainly from the southern state of Kerala, were met by family members clutching bouquets of flowers and overjoyed that they were home barely two days after being taken against their will from a hospital in the Iraqi city of Tikrit. Tikrit, the birthplace of former President Saddam Hussein, was the site of fierce fighting this week as Iraqi troops battled to regain control of the city from the al Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The nurses had been holed up in a hospital in the city since the Islamic State insurgents and other Sunni Muslim militant groups seized towns and cities across Syria and Iraq in a lightning advance last month.

Video posted online purports to show Islamic State group leader delivering sermon in Iraq Posted: 05 Jul 2014 07:19 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Video posted online purports to show Islamic State group leader delivering sermon in Iraq.

Syria rebel chief warns of 'disaster' without aid Posted: 05 Jul 2014 06:54 AM PDT BEIRUT (AP) — The military chief of Syria's main Western-backed rebel group warned Saturday that the country risked a "humanitarian disaster" if allies do not send more aid to help his moderate forces halt the advance of Islamic militants.

Top Asian News at 1:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 05 Jul 2014 06:32 AM PDT ALUTHGAMA, Sri Lanka (AP) — The attackers stormed in close to midnight, tearing through town with gasoline bombs and clubs before carting away piles of cash and jewelry they stole from Muslim families in this tiny corner of Sri Lanka. The onslaught incited by the Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Power Force, a hard-line group that has gained thousands of followers in recent years, killed at least two Muslims and injured dozens more last month in the worst religious violence Sri Lanka has seen in decades.

Iraqi leader retires 2 senior security officers Posted: 05 Jul 2014 06:16 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister removed the chief of the army's ground forces and the head of the federal police from their posts Saturday as part of his promised shakeup in the security forces following their near collapse in the face of a militant blitz last month, an official said.

Top Asian News at 1:00 p.m. GMT Posted: 05 Jul 2014 06:02 AM PDT ALUTHGAMA, Sri Lanka (AP) — The attackers stormed in close to midnight, tearing through town with gasoline bombs and clubs before carting away piles of cash and jewelry they stole from Muslim families in this tiny corner of Sri Lanka. The onslaught incited by the Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Power Force, a hard-line group that has gained thousands of followers in recent years, killed at least two Muslims and injured dozens more last month in the worst religious violence Sri Lanka has seen in decades.

Iraqi PM retires 2 top-ranking security officers Posted: 05 Jul 2014 05:58 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's military spokesman says the prime minister has removed the chief of the army's ground forces and the head of the federal police from their posts.

Top Asian News at 12:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 05 Jul 2014 05:32 AM PDT ALUTHGAMA, Sri Lanka (AP) — The attackers stormed in close to midnight, tearing through town with gasoline bombs and clubs before carting away piles of cash and jewelry they stole from Muslim families in this tiny corner of Sri Lanka. The onslaught incited by the Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Power Force, a hard-line group that has gained thousands of followers in recent years, killed at least two Muslims and injured dozens more last month in the worst religious violence Sri Lanka has seen in decades.

Sunni extremists destroy holy sites in Iraq Posted: 05 Jul 2014 05:23 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Images posted online show that Islamic extremists have destroyed at least 10 ancient shrines and Shiite mosques in territory they have seized in northern Iraq in recent weeks.

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