Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Maliki defiant as his special forces deploy in Baghdad
• Lawmakers weigh US role against Islamic fighters
• US stresses support for Iraq president
• Iraqi PM to file complaint against new president
• Egypt's president on first visit to Saudi Arabia
• U.S. official says backs Iraq president after Maliki vows to stay on
• Iraq PM Maliki says filing complaint against president
• Massive security deployment around Baghdad 'green zone': officials
• Kurdish forces retake 2 towns from Sunni militants
• Iraq's Maliki remains defiant on third term as insurgency rages
• US evacuates some consulate staff from Iraqi city of Arbil
• Iraq's Maliki to deliver important speech
• France looking at supplying Iraqi Kurds with arms: FM
• Wounded Syrian baby saved from mother's womb
• Suicide bomber kills 10 Kurdish fighters in Iraq
• U.S. presses Iraq strikes and removes staff as Republicans criticize 'ineffective' Obama
• Clinton blames Islamic militants rise on Obama policies
• Iraq Chaldean patriarch says US strikes offer little hope
• Pope says the violence in Iraq offends God and humanity
• Erdogan Wins First Turkish Presidential Elections After Decade as Prime Minister
• Pope Francis 'dismayed' by violence and suffering in Iraq
• Hillary Clinton joins critics of Obama's response to ISIS in Iraq
• Kurdish Forces Retake Towns From ISIL in Northern Iraq
• U.S. removes some staff from consulate in northern Iraq
• Pope expresses outrage at violence in Iraq
• Republicans: ISIS’s Next Target Is America
• US air power delivers modest gains in Iraq as Yazidis flee to safety
• Report: Turkey's PM Erdogan wins presidential vote
• Kurdish forces retake 2 towns in northern Iraq
• No optical illusion: Obama balances world crises with golf, time off
• Turkey's PM Erdogan seen winning presidential vote
• Prime chance in Iowa for potential 2016 candidates
• Saudi Arabia jails four for seeking to fight in Syria
• Republican Leaders Warn Obama ISIL is Coming to U.S.
• U.S. strikes Islamic State targets near Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil
• Republicans call for broader air campaign in Iraq, Syria
• US military conducts more airstrikes in Iraq
• Patient Who Set Off New York City's Ebola Scare Tells His 72 Hour Horror Story
• Hillary Clinton criticizes Obama's foreign policy 'failure'; strongly defends Israel

Maliki defiant as his special forces deploy in Baghdad Posted: 10 Aug 2014 04:36 PM PDT By Ahmed Rasheed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Special forces loyal to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki were deployed in strategic areas of Baghdad on Sunday night after he delivered a tough speech indicating he would not cave in to pressure to drop a bid for a third term, police sources said. Pro-Maliki Shi'ite militias stepped up patrols in the capital, police said. An eyewitness said a tank was stationed at the entrance to Baghdad's Green Zone, which houses government buildings. In a speech on state television, Maliki accused Iraq's Kurdish President Fouad Masoum of violating the constitution by missing a deadline for him to ask the biggest political bloc to nominate a prime minister and form a government.

Lawmakers weigh US role against Islamic fighters Posted: 10 Aug 2014 04:35 PM PDT Islamic militants' growing influence in Iraq and Syria is a threat to Americans, lawmakers from both political parties agreed Sunday even as they sharply split on what role the United States should play in trying to crush them.

US stresses support for Iraq president Posted: 10 Aug 2014 04:33 PM PDT The United States threw its weight behind Iraqi President Fuad Masum Sunday after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on state television he would be filing a complaint against Masum, as security forces massed in the capital. "Fully support President of #Iraq Fuad Masum as guarantor of the Constitution and a PM nominee who can build a national consensus," said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Brett McGurk on Twitter.

Iraqi PM to file complaint against new president Posted: 10 Aug 2014 04:32 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in a surprise speech late Sunday, resisted calls for his resignation and accused the country's new president of violating the constitution, plunging the government into a political crisis at a time it is battling advances by Islamic State militants.

Egypt's president on first visit to Saudi Arabia Posted: 10 Aug 2014 04:16 PM PDT RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi met late Sunday in Saudi Arabia with one of his strongest international supporters, King Abdullah, to talk about key security issues impacting the region.

U.S. official says backs Iraq president after Maliki vows to stay on Posted: 10 Aug 2014 03:47 PM PDT A senior U.S. official for Iraq said on Sunday he fully supported Iraqi President Fouad Masoum after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who the United States has blamed for stoking Iraq's security crisis, accused Masoum of violating the constitution. "Fully support President of Iraq Fouad Masoum as guarantor of the Constitution and a (prime minister) nominee who can build a national consensus," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk said on his Twitter feed.

Iraq PM Maliki says filing complaint against president Posted: 10 Aug 2014 03:26 PM PDT Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced Monday on state television he intended to file a complaint against President Fuad Masum for violating the constitution. "Today I will file a formal complaint to the federal court against the president," he said, in a surprise address at midnight (2100 GMT on Sunday). Maliki, who has been under huge pressure to give up his bid for a third term, alleged that newly-elected Masum had violated the constitution twice, including by failing to task a prime minister-designate with forming a new government.

Massive security deployment around Baghdad 'green zone': officials Posted: 10 Aug 2014 03:18 PM PDT Iraqi police, army and counter-terrorism forces were deployed in unusually high numbers across strategic locations in Baghdad overnight, security sources said Monday. "There is a huge security presence, police and army, especially around the Green Zone," the highly-protected district that houses Iraq's key institutions, a high-ranking police officer told AFP. He said the deployment started at around 10:30 pm (1930 GMT), just 90 minutes before Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on state television he would file a complaint against the president for violating the constitution. "There is security everywhere in Baghdad, these are very unusual measures that look like those we impose for a state of emergency," the police official said.

Kurdish forces retake 2 towns from Sunni militants Posted: 10 Aug 2014 02:30 PM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Reinvigorated by American airstrikes, Kurdish forces retook two towns from Sunni militants Sunday, achieving one of their first victories after weeks of retreating, a senior Kurdish military official said.

Iraq's Maliki remains defiant on third term as insurgency rages Posted: 10 Aug 2014 02:22 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki indicated that he will not drop his bid for a third term and accused the president of violating the constitution in a tough televised speech likely to deepen political tensions as a Sunni insurgency rages. Maliki, seen as an authoritarian and sectarian leader, has defied calls by Sunnis, Kurds, some fellow Shi'ites and regional power broker Iran to step aside for a less polarising figure who can unite Iraqis against Islamic State militants. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Sandra Maler; writing by Michael Georgy)

US evacuates some consulate staff from Iraqi city of Arbil Posted: 10 Aug 2014 02:12 PM PDT The United States has evacuated some of its staff members from the Iraqi Kurdish city of Arbil, the State Department said Sunday, amid an offensive by Islamist militants. The notice announcing "the departure of some staff from the consulate general in Arbil" came in the latest State Department travel warning for Iraq, dated just two days after a previous one. The travel warning said the evacuation involved "a limited number of staff members" and that they had been relocated "to the consulate general in Basra (southern Iraq) and the Iraq Support Unit in Amman," in Jordan.

Iraq's Maliki to deliver important speech Posted: 10 Aug 2014 02:08 PM PDT Baghdad (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who faces mounting pressure to drop his bid for a third term, will deliver an important speech on television on Sunday night, state television reported. Maliki, seen as a sectarian ruler, has defied calls by Sunnis, Kurds, some fellow Shi'ites and regional power broker Iran to step aside for a less polarizing figure. (Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sandra Maler)

France looking at supplying Iraqi Kurds with arms: FM Posted: 10 Aug 2014 02:06 PM PDT France, in consultation with its EU partners, is looking at supplying arms to Iraq's Kurds to fight against Islamic State jihadists, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Sunday. "One way or another, they must receive, in a sure way, equipment that will allow them to defend themselves and to counterattack," Fabius told France 2 television from Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq. France and Britain have pledged support for a US-led operation helping Iraqi civilians -- many of them from the Yazidi minority -- who are fleeing a murderous advance by Islamic State (IS) militants. Fabius reiterated that France's military would not intervene in Iraq without UN Security Council authorisation and a threat to French nationals.

Wounded Syrian baby saved from mother's womb Posted: 10 Aug 2014 01:59 PM PDT Syrian regime air raids killed 12 people on Sunday and wounded 23, including a mother and a baby boy removed from her womb, according to a monitoring group and amateur video. The video, broadcast by militants in the city of Raqa in northeastern Syria and whose authenticity could not be verified, shows a frail infant being resuscitated with a respiratory mask on his face and blood-soaked cotton by his side. He was hit in the head by shrapnel, and the doctors are trying to save him," said a commentary on the video footage. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group also reported that the infant had been removed from his mother's womb, and said both mother and child survived the ordeal.

Suicide bomber kills 10 Kurdish fighters in Iraq Posted: 10 Aug 2014 01:46 PM PDT BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 10 Kurdish fighters and wounded 80 people in a town northeast of Baghdad on Sunday, medical sources said. The attack came during fierce clashes in the town of Jalawla between Kurdish forces and Islamic State militants, who are mounting an offensive in the north of the country that has rattled the Baghdad government and its Western allies. (Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)

U.S. presses Iraq strikes and removes staff as Republicans criticize 'ineffective' Obama Posted: 10 Aug 2014 01:17 PM PDT By Missy Ryan and Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States conducted a new round of air strikes against Islamic State militants in northern Iraq on Sunday and moved some U.S. diplomats out of its consulate in Arbil as Republicans slammed President Barack Obama's intervention as ineffective. Republican Representative Peter King of New York, echoing other critics of Obama's policy in Iraq, criticized Obama for insisting he will not send U.S. ground troops to combat the militants, adding the United States has been too timid so far.

Clinton blames Islamic militants rise on Obama policies Posted: 10 Aug 2014 01:14 PM PDT Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton blamed the rise of Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria on failures of US policy under President Barack Obama, in an interview published Sunday. Clinton specifically faulted the US decision to stay on the sidelines of the insurgency against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad as opening the way for the most extreme rebel faction, the Islamic State. Clinton, widely considered an undeclared presidential candidate, was an unsuccessful advocate of arming the Syrian rebels when she was secretary of state during Obama's first term.

Iraq Chaldean patriarch says US strikes offer little hope Posted: 10 Aug 2014 01:13 PM PDT Iraq's most prominent Christian cleric voiced his disappointment Sunday at the scope of US intervention, which he said offered little hope that jihadists would be defeated and displaced people could go home. "The position of the American president Obama only to give military assistance to protect Arbil is disappointing," Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako wrote in an open letter. US President Barack Obama on Thursday announced he had authorised air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq to protect US personnel in the Kurdish capital Arbil and avert a genocide against the Yazidis in the Sinjar region. Three days of strikes appeared to yield some results, with Kurdish troops reclaiming towns southwest of Arbil they had lost days earlier and some of the thousands of Yazidis who had been trapped on a mountain managing to escape.

Pope says the violence in Iraq offends God and humanity Posted: 10 Aug 2014 01:04 PM PDT Pope Francis said that violence and destruction in Iraq offends God and humanity and he held a silent prayer for victims of the conflict during his weekly address in Rome on Sunday. "We are left incredulous and dismayed by the news coming from Iraq," the Argentine-born pontiff said, two days after the United States began air strikes to tackle an insurgency that threatens to tear the country apart. Francis thanked volunteers in Iraq and said his personal envoy Cardinal Fernando Filoni would leave Rome for Iraq on Monday, "to assure those dear people that I am near them". The Vatican said in a statement later on Sunday that the Pope met Filoni to discuss the mission, which is intended to show solidarity with Christians in Iraq in particular, and gave the envoy a sum of money to provide urgent help to the people worst affected.

Erdogan Wins First Turkish Presidential Elections After Decade as Prime Minister Posted: 10 Aug 2014 12:47 PM PDT Outgoing Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the country's first direct presidential election, according to preliminary results.  With nearly all the votes counted, Erdogan had won about 52 percent of the vote and his nearest rival, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, had attained 38 percent. To avoid a second round of voting, Erdogan needed at least half of the ballots cast.

Pope Francis 'dismayed' by violence and suffering in Iraq Posted: 10 Aug 2014 12:40 PM PDT Pope Francis expressed "dismay and disbelief" on Sunday over the violence in Iraq, calling for an "effective political solution" to a crisis which has forced thousands to flee their homes. Giving the traditional Angelus prayer in St Peter's Square at the Vatican, the head of the Roman Catholic Church renewed his call for prayer and assistance for those hit by the conflict. "The news reports coming from Iraq leave us in dismay and disbelief: thousands of people, including many Christians, driven from their homes in a brutal manner; Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes in northern Iraq due to the rapid advance of jihadists from the Islamic State (IS).

Hillary Clinton joins critics of Obama's response to ISIS in Iraq Posted: 10 Aug 2014 11:34 AM PDT President Obama's latest moves in Iraq – a combination of air strikes and air drops of humanitarian aid – were roundly criticized by Republicans Sunday. Rep. Peter King (R) of New York argued for deeper US military engagement in Iraq, saying that ISIS was more powerful than Al Qaeda and "a direct threat" to US security.

Kurdish Forces Retake Towns From ISIL in Northern Iraq Posted: 10 Aug 2014 11:28 AM PDT Kurdish forces have retaken two crucial border towns in northern Iraq from ISIL militants, according to a senior Kurdish military official Sunday.

U.S. removes some staff from consulate in northern Iraq Posted: 10 Aug 2014 11:16 AM PDT The United States has removed some staff from its consulate in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's semi autonomous Kurdish region that is under threat from Islamist militants, the State Department said on Sunday. "The Department of State has relocated a limited number of staff members from the Embassy in Baghdad and the Consulate General in Arbil to the Consulate General in Basra and the Iraq Support Unit in Amman. The Embassy in Baghdad and the Consulate General in Arbil remain open and operating," the department said in a travel advisory.

Pope expresses outrage at violence in Iraq Posted: 10 Aug 2014 11:05 AM PDT VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday expressed outrage at violence aimed at religious minorities in Iraq, where fleeing children have died of thirst, and called on the world "to stop these crimes."

Republicans: ISIS’s Next Target Is America Posted: 10 Aug 2014 10:45 AM PDT Republicans blasted President Obama's decision to launch airstrikes against the International State of Syria and Iraq (ISIS) Sunday, calling them too soft. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who has long criticized Obama for not using force, said that the president's current strategy would be ineffective given the conditions in northern Iraq. "That's not a strategy, that's not a policy," McCain added, referring to the president's goal of simply stopping the humanitarian crisis as opposed to taking out ISIS. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) echoed McCain's comments.

US air power delivers modest gains in Iraq as Yazidis flee to safety Posted: 10 Aug 2014 10:43 AM PDT Backed by US air power, Kurdish peshmerga forces have regrouped in their fight against Sunni Arab militants and made modest gains in taking back territory in northern Iraq that had changed hands in recent days.  Al Jazeera reported that Kurdish forces had opened up an escape route for Yazidis who took refuge on Sinjar mountain last week. The US and UK have airlifted food and water to displaced Yazidis. Sinjar fell last week to the self-declared Islamic State (IS), a militant group active in Syria and Iraq which has boasted of killing Yazidis and other Iraqis that it consider apostates.

Report: Turkey's PM Erdogan wins presidential vote Posted: 10 Aug 2014 10:41 AM PDT ISTANBUL (AP) — An unofficial vote count showed Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the country's first ever direct presidential election in the first round Sunday, ensuring he will remain at the country's helm for at least another five years.

Kurdish forces retake 2 towns in northern Iraq Posted: 10 Aug 2014 10:37 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — Kurdish forces retook Sunday two towns from the Sunni militants that have seized large parts of northern Iraq, said a senior Kurdish military official, amid a building international response that has included air drops of aid and airstrikes.

No optical illusion: Obama balances world crises with golf, time off Posted: 10 Aug 2014 10:34 AM PDT By Jeff Mason OAK BLUFFS Mass. (Reuters) - President Barack Obama gave Americans an update on U.S. military strikes in Iraq on Saturday from a podium on the White House lawn with Marine One, the presidential helicopter, parked in the background. Four hours later, he offered an altogether different tableau: a golf game with friends at a lush course on Martha's Vineyard, the upscale Massachusetts island where the president and his family began a two-week vacation. With crises boiling in Gaza, Iraq and Ukraine, Obama - like his presidential predecessors in similar circumstances - proceeded with plans for a summer break, but only after making his Iraq statement against the very presidential backdrop. "The president will be traveling to Massachusetts with an array of communications equipment and national security advisers and others to ensure that he has the capacity to make the kinds of decisions that are required for the Commander-in-Chief," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Friday.

Turkey's PM Erdogan seen winning presidential vote Posted: 10 Aug 2014 10:21 AM PDT ISTANBUL (AP) — An unofficial vote count showed Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the country's first ever direct presidential election in the first round Sunday, ensuring he will remain at the country's helm for at least another five years.

Prime chance in Iowa for potential 2016 candidates Posted: 10 Aug 2014 09:53 AM PDT AMES, Iowa (AP) — The lineup of potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates courting Iowa conservatives Saturday agreed on two things: America is on the wrong track and they could move it in the right direction.

Saudi Arabia jails four for seeking to fight in Syria Posted: 10 Aug 2014 09:32 AM PDT Saudi Arabia's Specialised Criminal Court has sentenced four men to prison for traveling abroad to fight in Syria's civil war, local and state media reported on Sunday. While the conservative Sunni Muslim kingdom has backed opposition groups battling President Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Riyadh's main regional rival Shi'ite Iran, it also regards militant groups there as a threat to its own security. "The accused were proven to have ... quit their obedience to the ruler by traveling abroad to fight," the official Saudi Press Agency reported. The website of the daily al-Riyadh newspaper said two of the men had fought in Syria before becoming disillusioned with the conflict and surrendering to Saudi authorities.

Republican Leaders Warn Obama ISIL is Coming to U.S. Posted: 10 Aug 2014 09:31 AM PDT Republican leaders took to the Sunday talk show circuit to criticize what they see as a weak response by the Obama administration to the crisis in Iraq, making the case that the emboldened militant group ISIL is also a threat to the United States.  On "Fox News Sunday," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) accused Obama of having no game plan for handling ISIL and simply attempting to avoid "a bad news story."  "So Mr. President, you have never once spoken directly to the American people about the threat we face from being attacked from Syria, now Iraq," said Graham. "[Obama is] trying to avoid a bad news story on his watch," he said.

U.S. strikes Islamic State targets near Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil Posted: 10 Aug 2014 09:11 AM PDT The United States conducted new air strikes on Islamic State targets near Arbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region, the U.S. military's Central Command said on Sunday. The strikes, launched by drone aircraft and U.S. fighter jets, were aimed at protecting Kurdish Peshmerga forces as they face off against Islamist militants near Arbil, the site of a U.S. consulate and a U.S.-Iraqi joint military operations center, Central Command said in a statement. "At approximately 2:15 a.m. EDT, U.S. aircraft struck and destroyed an (Islamic State) armed truck that was firing on Kurdish forces located in the approaches to Arbil," Central Command said.

Republicans call for broader air campaign in Iraq, Syria Posted: 10 Aug 2014 09:03 AM PDT Republican hawks called Sunday for a broader air campaign against Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria to head off a threat to the US homeland, with one warning he sees "an American city in flames." Senators Lindsey Graham and John McCain, in separate television appearances, criticized President Barack Obama as not going far enough in launching limited air strikes this week to protect refugees and American interests in Iraq's northern Kurdish region. "I think of an American city in flames because of the terrorist ability to operate in Syria and Iraq," Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee from South Carolina, said on Fox News Sunday.

US military conducts more airstrikes in Iraq Posted: 10 Aug 2014 08:38 AM PDT The Defense Department says a new round of airstrikes by U.S. fighter jets and unmanned drones has targeted Islamic militants in Iraq.

Patient Who Set Off New York City's Ebola Scare Tells His 72 Hour Horror Story Posted: 10 Aug 2014 07:51 AM PDT Last week, while New York waited to see if reports about an anonymous patient at Mount Sinai Medical Center was the start of an Ebola virus outbreak in the U.S., the man who was dubbed "Patient Zero" was learning of his condition on CNN from the emergency room.

Hillary Clinton criticizes Obama's foreign policy 'failure'; strongly defends Israel Posted: 10 Aug 2014 07:14 AM PDT Ahead of a possible presidential run, Hillary Clinton appears to be distancing herself from the Obama administration's foreign policy "failure."

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