Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT
• Arab States on Board for Air Strikes, But What About Ground Troops?
• Australia contributing planes for anti-IS campaign
• Sweden shifts to left in parliamentary election
• Several Arab countries offer to join air campaign on Islamic State, say U.S. officials
• Iraqi leader: No need for Arab powers to strike IS
• Murdered aid worker's brother says Islam 'not to blame'
• Britain mourns slain hostage; another under threat
• China's Xi begins South Asia tour in Maldives
• Islamic State group's war chest is growing daily
• White House insists it didn't threaten to sue James Foley's parents
• British PM holds fire on IS, pursues cautious strategy
• 'All bases covered' in coalition bid to crush IS
• Egypt: Qatar ordered Islamists out within 2 months
• Briton's beheading boosts resolve of anti-IS coalition
• White House still seeking coalition in Mideast war
• From IS-controlled Raqqa, tales of the group's resilience
• White House seeks to win over skeptics on Islamic State fight
• Syria opposition head seeks support of anti-IS coalition
• Iraq's Allawi endorses PM, says will help win over Sunnis
• Qatar-based cleric criticises US role against Islamic State
• U.S. sees Middle East help fighting IS, Britain cautious after beheading
• British PM threatens IS, makes no commitment on strikes
• Canadian Islamist preacher deported from Philippines
• Cameron resists calls for air strikes despite hostage killing
• UK's Cameron resists calls for air strikes despite hostage killing
• Britain vows to hunt down 'evil' killers of aid worker
• Scottish vote: Sign of Britain's waning influence?
• Al Qaeda denies decline, acknowledges 'mistakes' by its branches
• Qatar steps back into line on Brotherhood
• Rights group calls for probe into Iraqi airstrike
• Kerry: Countries Are Offering Ground Troops in Fight Against ISIS
• Splinter group breaks from al Qaeda in North Africa
• Kerry says some nations offer ground troops to fight Islamic State
• Islamic State executes eight Sunnis in northern Iraq
• Islamic State 101: Why are Arab countries so reluctant to help?
• France condemns 'heinous murder' of British aid worker
• Qatar-based cleric criticizes U.S. role against Islamic State
• Brussels Jewish Museum opens its doors four months after shooting
• Islamic State attracts female jihadis from U.S. heartland

Top Asian News at 12:00 a.m. GMT Posted: 14 Sep 2014 05:02 PM PDT PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea's Supreme Court on Sunday convicted a 24-year-old American man of entering the country illegally to commit espionage and sentenced him to six years of hard labor. At a trial that lasted about 90 minutes, the court said Matthew Miller, of Bakersfield, California, tore up his tourist visa at Pyongyang's airport upon arrival on April 10 and admitted to having the "wild ambition" of experiencing prison life so that he could secretly investigate North Korea's human rights situation.

Arab States on Board for Air Strikes, But What About Ground Troops? Posted: 14 Sep 2014 04:45 PM PDT Wrapping up his visit to the Middle East, Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday said he's "extremely encouraged" U.S. Tasked with building a regional coalition to help destroy the terror group, Kerry said on CBS's Face the Nation that some countries "are clearly prepared to take action in the air alongside the United States and to do airstrikes, if that's what they're called on to do," though he would not name the countries. Critics of the Obama administration, meanwhile, say that not putting boots on the ground in Syria is unrealistic. On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said, "This idea that we're never going to have boots on the ground in Syria is fantasy," adding, "There is no way in hell you can form an army on the ground to go into Syria to destroy [ISIS] without a substantial American component."

Australia contributing planes for anti-IS campaign Posted: 14 Sep 2014 04:44 PM PDT CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Terrorists will use Australia's deployment of troops and war planes to the Middle East as an excuse to target Australians, Prime Minister Tony Abbott warned on Monday.

Sweden shifts to left in parliamentary election Posted: 14 Sep 2014 04:38 PM PDT STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden's Social Democrats were poised to return to power after a left-leaning bloc defeated the center-right government in a parliamentary election Sunday that also saw strong gains by an anti-immigration party.

Several Arab countries offer to join air campaign on Islamic State, say U.S. officials Posted: 14 Sep 2014 04:22 PM PDT By Jason Szep PARIS (Reuters) - Several Arab countries have offered to join the United States in air strikes against Islamic State targets, U.S. The officials declined to identify which countries made the offers.

Iraqi leader: No need for Arab powers to strike IS Posted: 14 Sep 2014 03:59 PM PDT PARIS (AP) — Iraq's president says Arab powers Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia do not need to join airstrikes against the Islamic State group.

Murdered aid worker's brother says Islam 'not to blame' Posted: 14 Sep 2014 03:41 PM PDT The brother of British hostage David Haines murdered by Islamist militants issued Sunday a tearful video statement about growing religious radicalisation in which he quoted a verse from the Koran. It is not a race, religion or political issue, it is a human issue," Mike Haines told British media. "ISIL are extremely dangerous and pose a threat to every nation, every religion, every politics, every person," Mike Haines said, adding that British jihadists who return to the country should "face the consequences of their actions".

Britain mourns slain hostage; another under threat Posted: 14 Sep 2014 03:11 PM PDT LONDON (AP) — Now it's Britain's turn to mourn.

China's Xi begins South Asia tour in Maldives Posted: 14 Sep 2014 02:51 PM PDT China's President Xi Jinping was in the Maldives Monday beginning a three-nation tour of South Asia with a historic visit to an island paradise gaining a new reputation as a hotbed of militant Islamists. Xi, who arrived late Sunday, will hold talks with Maldives President Abdulla Yameen and then be guest of honour at a state banquet in a country which is an increasingly popular tourist destination for well-heeled Chinese. "The thrust of the talks will be on trade and aid rather than security." The source said the government was keen not to raise eyebrows in India by taking up sensitive security issues as New Delhi considers the islands to be within its sphere of influence. Yameen is known to be keen on securing China's funding for an ambitious project to build a road bridge between the capital island Male and the nearby Hululle island where the international airport is located.

Islamic State group's war chest is growing daily Posted: 14 Sep 2014 02:20 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Islamic State militants, who once relied on wealthy Persian Gulf donors for money, have become a self-sustaining financial juggernaut, earning more than $3 million a day from oil smuggling, human trafficking, theft and extortion, according to U.S. intelligence officials and private experts.

White House insists it didn't threaten to sue James Foley's parents Posted: 14 Sep 2014 01:19 PM PDT The Obama administration insisted Sunday that it never threatened to prosecute the families of the two Americans beheaded by the Islamic State for raising money to pay a potential ransom.  Speaking of possibly being thrown in jail for paying a ransom to a terrorist group, which is against federal law and longstanding US policy, John Foley told Fox News: "Big deal. In an interview with CNN, Diane Foley added: "We were told we could not raise ransom, that it was illegal. "We didn't threaten anybody, but we made clear what the law is," he said on on "Fox News Sunday." "That's our responsibility, to make sure we explain the law and uphold the law."

British PM holds fire on IS, pursues cautious strategy Posted: 14 Sep 2014 01:00 PM PDT The murder of British aid worker David Haines has upped the pressure on London to take the fight to the Islamic State, but Prime Minister David Cameron is proceeding with caution -- and some confusion. Cameron said Sunday he was ready to "take whatever steps are necessary" to destroy the militant group which has seized territory across Iraq and Syria, and has now killed three Western hostages in less than a month.

'All bases covered' in coalition bid to crush IS Posted: 14 Sep 2014 12:52 PM PDT Washington (AFP) - "All bases are covered" in a US-led multinational coalition against the Islamic State, John Kerry said, as Washington rallies diplomatic and public support to smash the jihadists. The US Secretary of State told CBS's Face the Nation that there were allies willing to join the United States in air strikes on IS, which has overrun large swaths of northern Iraq and Syria in a brutal and lightning campaign that has seen beheadings and forced religious conversions. Kerry was speaking in Cairo on Saturday, before news of the latest IS beheading of a Western hostage, Briton David Haines, and ahead of a likely Congress vote this week on President Barack Obama's plan to train and equip Syrian rebels, a key plank in his strategy to destroy IS.

Egypt: Qatar ordered Islamists out within 2 months Posted: 14 Sep 2014 12:27 PM PDT CAIRO (AP) — Egypt will hunt down exiled Muslim Brotherhood leaders and seek their arrest, a top official said Sunday, after Qatar ordered them to leave its territory despite initially hosting group members following the ouster of Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last year.

Briton's beheading boosts resolve of anti-IS coalition Posted: 14 Sep 2014 12:21 PM PDT The Islamic State's beheading of another Western hostage has strengthened the resolve of a US-led coalition ahead of a Paris conference Monday on how to jointly eliminate the jihadist group. Prime Minister David Cameron vowed on Sunday that Britain would hunt down the killers of British aid worker David Haines, an act he described as the "embodiment of evil". Britain was prepared to "take whatever steps are necessary", he said after Haines became the third Western hostage to be beheaded by the militants in less than a month. IS released a video Saturday showing Haines' killing and a death threat against another British captive, Alan Henning.

White House still seeking coalition in Mideast war Posted: 14 Sep 2014 12:15 PM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Sunday it will find countries willing to send combat troops to fight Islamic extremists in Syria and Iraq, but it's too early to identify them.

From IS-controlled Raqqa, tales of the group's resilience Posted: 14 Sep 2014 11:43 AM PDT In a hospital bed in southern Turkey, lies a Syrian volunteer rescue worker who had his kneecap blown off in an airstrike in Raqqa, the Syrian bastion of the self-styled Islamic State (IS). His story - and that of others who have made their out of Raqqa - sheds light on what life is like under the group's rule, and of how difficult it will be for a US-led coalition that President Barack Obama insists will "destroy" IS to make headway with airstrikes alone. "The situation in Raqqa is tragic," says a pale Zakharia, in pain after several operations on his knee and a fractured right arm. It is hard for people to leave Raqqa and flee to Turkey.

White House seeks to win over skeptics on Islamic State fight Posted: 14 Sep 2014 11:28 AM PDT A top White House aide on Sunday defended President Barack Obama's plan to fight Islamic State militants, as the administration sought to persuade the U.S. In a round of television interviews on Sunday, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough touted the administration's efforts to put together a coalition of Western allies and Gulf Arab states. "We believe that we have the right strategy that the president laid out for the country on Wednesday night to make sure that we degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL," McDonough told ABC News show "This Week," using an acronym for Islamic State. On CNN, McDonough said the strategy would be carried out in a "disciplined, thoughtful fashion." Reacting to the beheading of David Haines, a British hostage, McDonough said, "ISIL will do anything it can to strike terror and fear into its opponents, but, ultimately, that's why we're going to beat them." A new opinion poll showed American voters also question whether the administration can defeat the extremist group, whose savage methods have included beheading two American journalists as well as Haines, a British aid worker.

Syria opposition head seeks support of anti-IS coalition Posted: 14 Sep 2014 11:20 AM PDT The head of the main Syrian opposition group in exile said Sunday he expected the support of the international community to press the fight against Damascus and Islamic State jihadists. The United States is pushing for the formation of a broad international coalition to tackle IS which has captured swathes of Iraq and Syria, and has already secured the backing of 10 Arab states including Saudi Arabia. "The role of (the) international coalition against terrorism should be very clear," Hadi el-Bahra, head of the Syrian National Coalition, said at a news conference in Abu Dhabi.

Iraq's Allawi endorses PM, says will help win over Sunnis Posted: 14 Sep 2014 10:31 AM PDT By Oliver Holmes BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Vice President Iyad Allawi endorsed Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday, a move that will be seen as a step towards reconciliation in a political system that desperately needs to rebuild to allow Baghdad to fight Islamic State. For years Allawi, a secular Shi'ite Muslim, has been an outspoken critic of former premier Nuri al-Maliki whom he has accused of acting like Saddam Hussein in trying to silence his opponents. Allawi, a former prime minister, is also a key figure in reaching out to disaffected Iraqi Sunnis who Abadi hopes he can bring back to the government side to battle Islamic State. Islamic State fighters have seized large chunks of Iraq's north and west this year.

Qatar-based cleric criticises US role against Islamic State Posted: 14 Sep 2014 10:28 AM PDT A Sunni Muslim cleric at the centre of a diplomatic rift among Gulf Arab states has criticised Washington's role in the campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria as purely self-interested. Ties between Qatar and its neighbours have periodically come under strain following sermons by Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric based in Doha, criticising the military-based Egyptian government and conservative Gulf Arab dynasties. Qaradawi's outspoken support for Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood earlier this year contributed to an unprecedented diplomatic rift between Qatar and several of its Gulf Arab allies, who consider the Islamist movement a security threat.

U.S. sees Middle East help fighting IS, Britain cautious after beheading Posted: 14 Sep 2014 10:28 AM PDT By Will Dunham and Andrew Osborn WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - Washington said countries in the Middle East had offered to join air strikes against Islamic State militants and Australia said it would send troops, but Britain held back even after the group beheaded a British hostage and threatened to kill another. Secretary of State John Kerry has been touring the Middle East to try to secure backing for U.S.

British PM threatens IS, makes no commitment on strikes Posted: 14 Sep 2014 09:46 AM PDT Prime Minister David Cameron said Britain was ready to "take whatever steps are necessary" to destroy Islamic State militants after they murdered a British aid worker, but made no commitment to joining the United States in air strikes. After chairing a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee, Cameron said the extremists behind the beheading of David Haines were the "embodiment of evil". "We will not do so on our own, but by working closely with our allies, not just the United States and in Europe, but with our allies in the region." Cameron repeated his support for US air strikes against IS in Iraq, and for President Barack Obama's strategy to build a broad coalition to fight the jihadists.

Canadian Islamist preacher deported from Philippines Posted: 14 Sep 2014 09:39 AM PDT A Canadian Islamic preacher detained for being a security threat in the Philippines was flown back to Canada after agreeing to be deported, the immigration bureau said Sunday. Jamaican-born Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips was returned to Canada late Saturday after being detained last weekend in the southern Philippines while on a lecture tour.

Cameron resists calls for air strikes despite hostage killing Posted: 14 Sep 2014 09:35 AM PDT By Andrew Osborn and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON/EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Britain resisted pressure on Sunday to join the United States in announcing air strikes against Islamic State after the militant group beheaded David Haines, a British hostage, and threatened to kill another Briton. Speaking after chairing a meeting of the government's COBR emergency-response committee in London, Prime Minister David Cameron said his government was battling IS on numerous fronts but made clear it was not, for now, launching air strikes. Britain was quick to join U.S.

UK's Cameron resists calls for air strikes despite hostage killing Posted: 14 Sep 2014 09:33 AM PDT By Andrew Osborn and Guy Faulconbridge LONDON/EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Britain resisted pressure on Sunday to join the United States in announcing air strikes against Islamic State after the militant group beheaded David Haines, a British hostage, and threatened to kill another Briton. Speaking after chairing a meeting of the government's COBR emergency-response committee in London, Prime Minister David Cameron said his government was battling IS on numerous fronts but made clear it was not, for now, launching air strikes. Britain was quick to join U.S.

Britain vows to hunt down 'evil' killers of aid worker Posted: 14 Sep 2014 09:26 AM PDT Prime Minister David Cameron vowed Sunday that Britain would hunt down the killers of an aid worker beheaded by the Islamic State, which he described as the "embodiment of evil". Cameron said Britain was prepared to "take whatever steps are necessary" after David Haines became the third Western hostage to be beheaded by the militants in less than a month. IS released a video Saturday showing Haines' killing and a death threat against another British captive, Alan Henning. President Barack Obama offered US support for its "ally in grief".

Scottish vote: Sign of Britain's waning influence? Posted: 14 Sep 2014 09:00 AM PDT Here, ahead of World War I, Britain built the potent Dreadnoughts that touched off a naval arms race around the world.  Many argue that a vote to leave, in either case, could mean Britain's influence in the world is irrevocably diminished, including its "special relationship" with the United States.

Al Qaeda denies decline, acknowledges 'mistakes' by its branches Posted: 14 Sep 2014 08:57 AM PDT (Reuters) - Al Qaeda dismissed as "lies" a U.S. "Whatever slip-ups or errors (regional branches)...may have committed are limited in number in the midst of mountains of good deeds and successes," said Hossam Abdul Raouf, an Egyptian veteran of the militant group. Raouf, who served under assassinated leader Osama Bin Laden, said the group was expanding across the world. Al Qaeda faces a challenge to its leadership of the radical Islamist struggle with the West by the Islamic State group, and may be seeking to burnish its credentials as its rival girds for a fight to protect land it has seized in Iraq and Syria.

Qatar steps back into line on Brotherhood Posted: 14 Sep 2014 08:39 AM PDT Long seen as the "black sheep" of the Gulf monarchies for backing the Muslim Brotherhood, Qatar appears to have fallen into line with its neighbours and started to curb the group's activities, experts said. Doha's support for the Brotherhood -- banned by most Gulf monarchies, who see the group's political Islam as a threat to their stability -- harmed ties with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. After the ouster of Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, Cairo labelled the Brotherhood a "terrorist organisation" and some of the group's leaders fled to Qatar.

Rights group calls for probe into Iraqi airstrike Posted: 14 Sep 2014 08:14 AM PDT BAGHDAD (AP) — An international rights group called Sunday for an investigation into an Iraqi airstrike on a school housing displaced families that killed 31 civilians, including 24 children, a day after the country's new prime minister ordered the army to stop shelling militant-held populated areas to minimize civilian casualties.

Kerry: Countries Are Offering Ground Troops in Fight Against ISIS Posted: 14 Sep 2014 07:58 AM PDT Secretary of State John Kerry said he was "extremely encouraged" by the level of international commitment of military assistance against ISIL militants, saying that some countries had even offered ground troops in the U.S. "We have countries in this region, countries outside of this region, in addition to the United States, all of whom are prepared to engage in military assistance, in actual strikes if that is what it requires," Kerry said.

Splinter group breaks from al Qaeda in North Africa Posted: 14 Sep 2014 07:05 AM PDT By Lamine Chikhi ALGIERS (Reuters) - A new armed group calling itself the Caliphate Soldiers in Algeria has split from al Qaeda's North African branch and sworn loyalty to the radical breakaway group Islamic State fighting in Syria and Iraq. A breakaway of key Algerian commanders from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, known as AQIM, would show deepening rivalry between al Qaeda's core command and the Islamic State over leadership of the transnational Islamist militancy. ...

Kerry says some nations offer ground troops to fight Islamic State Posted: 14 Sep 2014 07:05 AM PDT Secretary of State John Kerry said he was "extremely encouraged" by pledges of military assistance against Islamic State militants by countries inside and outside the Middle East and that some nations had offered ground troops. On the CNN program "State of the Union," White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough was asked if this coalition would need ground troops beyond opposition forces in Syria and Kurdish and government forces in Iraq. "Ultimately to destroy ISIL we do need to have a force, an anvil against which they will be pushed - ideally Sunni forces," he said, using an acronym for Islamic State. Kerry reiterated President Barack Obama's statement that U.S.

Islamic State executes eight Sunnis in northern Iraq Posted: 14 Sep 2014 06:48 AM PDT Islamic State militants publicly executed eight Sunni men in a small northern Iraqi village at the weekend for allegedly plotting against the group, an eyewitness from the village told Reuters on Sunday. The killing began on Friday night when a pair of masked Islamic State gunmen openly murdered a police officer in al-Jumasah village after the militant group accused him of spying for the Kurdish and Iraqi military forces, the witness said. The Islamic State fighters gathered local residents to watch the execution in the village, about 120 km (75 miles) north of Tikrit. "Islamic State members said that this is the fate of anyone who opposes them," the witness said.

Islamic State 101: Why are Arab countries so reluctant to help? Posted: 14 Sep 2014 06:35 AM PDT The past few days have offered compelling evidence for why President Obama has been so loath to militarily insert America into the fight against the brutal Islamic State. The past few days, however, have also offered compelling evidence for why critics of Mr. Obama have been so frustrated by the cautious steps of a president they say "leads from behind." Obama dispatched Secretary of State John Kerry to the Middle East this week to drum up support for military action against the Islamic State, which he outlined in a prime time speech Wednesday.

France condemns 'heinous murder' of British aid worker Posted: 14 Sep 2014 05:23 AM PDT France on Sunday strongly condemned the murder of Briton David Haines by Islamic State militants and called for an international mobilisation to fight the Islamist group. "The heinous murder of David Haines shows once again how the international community must mobilise against Daesh," the French presidency said in statement, referring to the Arabic acronym for IS, which the presidency said was a vile and cowardly organisation. Islamic State militants fighting in Iraq and Syria released a video on Saturday that purported to show the beheading of British aid worker David Haines, who was kidnapped last year. On Monday, France will host an international conference on Iraq's security crisis.

Qatar-based cleric criticizes U.S. role against Islamic State Posted: 14 Sep 2014 05:17 AM PDT A Sunni Muslim cleric at the center of a diplomatic rift among Gulf Arab states has criticized Washington's role in the campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria as purely self-interested. Ties between Qatar and its neighbors have periodically come under strain following sermons by Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born cleric based in Doha, criticizing the military-based Egyptian government and conservative Gulf Arab dynasties. Qaradawi's outspoken support for Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood earlier this year contributed to an unprecedented diplomatic rift between Qatar and several of its Gulf Arab allies, who consider the Islamist movement a security threat. Commenting on ultra-hardline Islamic State, an armed group Gulf Arab states pledged to fight at a meeting on Thursday with U.S.

Brussels Jewish Museum opens its doors four months after shooting Posted: 14 Sep 2014 05:07 AM PDT By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Four months after a shooting that killed four people, the Brussels Jewish Museum opened its doors to the public again on Sunday in a solemn ceremony attended by Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo. The museum in central Brussels had been closed since the May 24 attack by a gunman who opened fire in the museum with a Kalashnikov rifle, killing an Israeli couple, a French woman and a Belgian man. French national Mehdi Nemmouche is suspected of having carried out the attack after spending most of 2013 fighting in Syria with Islamist rebels, French prosecutors have said. "We are fighting and will continue in our fight against terrorism," Di Rupo said at the opening ceremony marked by tight security.

Islamic State attracts female jihadis from U.S. heartland Posted: 14 Sep 2014 05:05 AM PDT At least three Somali families in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area have female relatives who have gone missing in the past six weeks and may have tried to join Islamic State, said community leader Abdirizak Bihi. In a separate case, a 19-year-old American Somali woman from St. Paul snuck away from her parents on Aug. 25 saying she was going to a bridal shower. Instead, she flew to Turkey and joined IS in Syria. Home to the biggest Somali community in the United States, the Twin Cities area of Minnesota has been plagued by terrorist recruiting since the Somali group al-Shabaab began enlisting in America around 2007.

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