Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Venezuela to demand mandatory visas for Americans
• Jailed Kurdish leader in Turkey urges PKK to lay down arms
• For Republicans, a shift to national security ahead of 2016
• From Iraq to New York, a busy week for Islamic State group
• Attacks kill 37 people in and north of Iraq's capital
• Obama, Netanyahu on collision course 6 years in the making
• Kurdish rebel leader in Turkey calls for disarmament congress
• Pakistan arrests Iranian Sunni rebel leader on bus from border
• Iraq reopens Baghdad museum 12 years after looting
• Jailed Kurdish leader calls on PKK to lay down arms
• U.S.-led coalition launches air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq, Syria
• Iran offers to protect Iraqi artifacts after militant attack
• Iraq truck bomb attack kills 11: army
• Poland's 'Barbie' candidate dashes hope for left's revival
• More action against the Islamic State, Iraq asks for help, Russian mind-set, tech in South Korea, child brides
• Iraq says to track down antiquities after Islamic State museum rampage
• In Algeria, women 'imams' battle Islamist radicalisation
• Assad or no Assad, West asks, as IS rises and conflict rages
• Australia may join New Zealand's Iraq training mission
• Cameron defends security services after media unmask 'Jihadi John'
• U.N. condemns Islamic State's 'barbaric terrorist acts' in Iraq

Venezuela to demand mandatory visas for Americans Posted: 28 Feb 2015 03:24 PM PST Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced Saturday he was implementing a mandatory visa system for all American citizens visiting the country, as a way to "control" US interference. The leftist president also ordered a review and reduction of US diplomatic staff in Caracas. "In order to protect our country... I have decided to implement a system of compulsory visas for all Americans entering Venezuela," he told supporters. In his fiery speech outside the Miraflores presidential palace, Maduro noted that the Americans have 100 diplomatic staff in Caracas, compared to 17 Venezuelan diplomats in Washington.

Jailed Kurdish leader in Turkey urges PKK to lay down arms Posted: 28 Feb 2015 01:54 PM PST The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Saturday urged the separatists to take a "historic" decision to lay down arms, a key step in efforts to end Turkey's long-running Kurdish insurgency. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the call as "very, very important" but cautioned that earlier calls made by the Kurdish rebels had failed. Reading a statement live on television, Sirri Sureyya Onder, a lawmaker from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), relayed a message from Abdullah Ocalan calling on the Kurdish rebels to hold a congress on disarmament in the spring.

For Republicans, a shift to national security ahead of 2016 Posted: 28 Feb 2015 12:34 PM PST By Andy Sullivan NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (Reuters) - If this week was any indication, Republicans could spend much of the 2016 presidential election attacking Democrats as weak on national security, rather than focusing on the economic concerns that have preoccupied voters in recent years. The shift reflects a changing political landscape as the U.S. economy has steadily added jobs while gruesome beheading videos by Islamic State and increasing conflict in countries such as Syria and Libya have revived Americans' concerns about security threats. Such a focus also provides plenty of opportunities to attack Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic front-runner who as secretary of state from 2009 to 2013 was the public face of President Barack Obama's effort to emphasize diplomacy over armed confrontation. At a gathering of conservative activists, potential Republican presidential candidates characterized that approach as naive at best.

From Iraq to New York, a busy week for Islamic State group Posted: 28 Feb 2015 12:19 PM PST BEIRUT (AP) — Little known to the wider world 18 months ago, the Islamic State extremist group has muscled its way into the international spotlight by carving out a self-declared caliphate in the heart of the Mideast, beheading its opponents and foreign journalists, and attracting radicalized youth as far afield as Paris, London and New York.

Attacks kill 37 people in and north of Iraq's capital Posted: 28 Feb 2015 11:11 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — A series of attacks targeting public places and Shiite militia checkpoints in and north of Iraq's capital killed 37 people Saturday, authorities said.

Obama, Netanyahu on collision course 6 years in the making Posted: 28 Feb 2015 11:02 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — For six years, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been on a collision course over how to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions, a high-stakes endeavor both men see as a centerpiece of their legacies.

Kurdish rebel leader in Turkey calls for disarmament congress Posted: 28 Feb 2015 10:50 AM PST By Ayla Jean Yackley ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his followers to take a "historic" decision to lay down their arms, according to a statement on Saturday, a crucial step in Turkey's drive to end a 30-year insurgency by Kurdish rebels. Turkey's president, Tayyip Erdogan, welcomed the call but cautioned the rebels had failed to deliver on previous pledges. Sirri Sureyya Onder, a lawmaker from parliament's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), read a statement from Ocalan that urged the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to attend a congress on disarmament in the spring months.

Pakistan arrests Iranian Sunni rebel leader on bus from border Posted: 28 Feb 2015 10:27 AM PST By Gul Yousefzai QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Authorities in southwestern Pakistan arrested a leader of a banned Iranian rebel group on Saturday as he was traveling on a bus from the lawless border area, security officials said. It was not clear whether Pakistan would hand over Salam Rigi, a leader of the ethnic Baluch Sunni group Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice), to Shi'ite-run Iran. Rigi was seized by Pakistani authorities who were tipped off to his movements and intercepted the bus some 50 km from Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, one security official said on condition of anonymity. Rigi is accused of involvement in suicide bombings in Iran and Pakistan, as well as sending fighters to the conflicts in Iraq and Syria.

Iraq reopens Baghdad museum 12 years after looting Posted: 28 Feb 2015 09:39 AM PST Iraq's national museum officially reopened Saturday after 12 years of painstaking efforts during which close to a third of 15,000 pieces looted during the US-led invasion were recovered. The reopening was brought forward in what officials said was a response to the destruction of priceless artefacts by Islamic State group jihadists in the northern city of Mosul. "We have been preparing to reopen for the past couple of months, the museum should be open to everyone," Qais Hussein Rashid, the deputy tourism and antiquities minister, told AFP. On Thursday, the jihadists who have occupied the second city of Mosul since June last year released a video in which militants smash ancient statues with sledgehammers in the city's museum.

Jailed Kurdish leader calls on PKK to lay down arms Posted: 28 Feb 2015 09:11 AM PST ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has called on his fighters to lay down arms as part of a peace process to end a 30-year insurgency, Turkey's main Kurdish party said Saturday.

U.S.-led coalition launches air strikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq, Syria Posted: 28 Feb 2015 09:07 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S.-led coalition launched 11 air strikes in Iraq and nine in Syria since early Friday against Islamic State militants, the Combined Joint Task Force said. Four of the strikes in Syria hit Islamic State positions near the border town of Kobani, the task force said in a statement on Saturday. In Iraq, the coalition launched four strikes near the town of al Asad and three near Mosul. (Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing By Frances Kerry)

Iran offers to protect Iraqi artifacts after militant attack Posted: 28 Feb 2015 08:22 AM PST TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has offered to safeguard potentially at-risk Iraqi artifacts after a video released by the Islamic State group showed its militants using sledgehammers to smash relics in Iraq's northern city of Mosul.

Iraq truck bomb attack kills 11: army Posted: 28 Feb 2015 07:42 AM PST A suicide truck bomb killed at least 11 Iraqi forces south of Tikrit Saturday during operations paving the way for an assault on the jihadist-held city, the army said. "Three suicide bombers driving tanker trucks sped towards a gathering of security forces at a checkpoint," an army lieutenant colonel told AFP on condition of anonymity. He said the attack took place near Sur Shnas, an archaeological site on the banks of the Tigris between the cities of Samarra and Tikrit, the main cities in Salaheddin province north of Baghdad. "Security forces opened fire, managed to stop two but the third got closer to the group and blew himself up," the officer said.

Poland's 'Barbie' candidate dashes hope for left's revival Posted: 28 Feb 2015 07:07 AM PST WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland's main left-wing party was once a major player. It helped bring Poland into the European Union, sent troops to Iraq and let the CIA operate a secret prison for terror suspects.

More action against the Islamic State, Iraq asks for help, Russian mind-set, tech in South Korea, child brides Posted: 28 Feb 2015 05:00 AM PST "[I]t appears that western powers have so far talked the talk concerning the threat posed by the Islamic State (IS) but have done comparatively little to thwart its territorial advances...," writes Linda S. Heard, a British journalist who has covered the Middle East.

Iraq says to track down antiquities after Islamic State museum rampage Posted: 28 Feb 2015 03:31 AM PST Islamic State militants who destroyed priceless antiquities from the northern Iraqi city of Mosul have kept some artifacts to sell, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Saturday, vowing to prevent the radical Islamists from smuggling them to market. Responding to a video showing Islamic State fighters taking sledgehammers and power drills to sculptures and statues which date back nearly 3,000 years, Abadi also appealed for international support to thwart the "terrorist barbarians". "We have information that Islamic State destroyed some (artifacts) and kept others for smuggling, and the smuggling operation is afoot," he told a news conference. All the items were marked and recorded, he said, and Iraq would seek to track them down with international help.

In Algeria, women 'imams' battle Islamist radicalisation Posted: 28 Feb 2015 12:25 AM PST Hundreds of female religious guides have been at the forefront of Algeria's battle against Islamic radicalisation since the civil war that devastated the North African country in the 1990s. The surge of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, and even in Libya next door, as well as the growing influence of Al-Qaeda-linked militants and Salafists, has them working around the clock. "Killing is a capital sin, so how is it that people can kill innocent ones in the name of Islam," asks Fatma Zohra, who is in her mid-40s, her hair and neck concealed under a matching purple veil and a hijab. The war erupted after authorities cancelled the 1991 elections, Algeria's first democratic vote, which the Islamic Action Front was poised to win.

Assad or no Assad, West asks, as IS rises and conflict rages Posted: 27 Feb 2015 10:34 PM PST Faced with a seemingly unending bloody conflict in Syria and the rise of the Islamic State group, is President Bashar al-Assad the lesser of the country's evils and should the West re-engage with him? While world powers such as the United States, France and Britain refuse to have anything to do with a leader the French prime minister described as a "butcher", the question is increasingly being raised within these countries. Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, echoed this feeling this month when he said Assad was "part of the solution" to end a conflict that has killed more than 210,000 people, displaced nearly half the country's population and spilled over into neighbouring nations. "The Assad regime is trying to give the impression of unstoppable momentum towards normalisation of ties," said Shashank Joshi, senior research fellow at Britain's Royal United Services Institute defence and security think-tank.

Australia may join New Zealand's Iraq training mission Posted: 27 Feb 2015 10:17 PM PST Australia is considering joining New Zealand in a training mission in Iraq to help counter the Islamic State (IS) militant group, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Saturday. New Zealand announced Tuesday it will send troops to Iraq on a "behind-the-wire" non-combat mission to boost the local military's ability to fight the jihadists. Abbott said while Australia had been heavily involved in the campaign against the Islamic State group for some months, New Zealand's new commitment would inform its future assistance.

Cameron defends security services after media unmask 'Jihadi John' Posted: 27 Feb 2015 09:20 PM PST Prime Minister David Cameron has defended Britain's security services after Islamic State executioner "Jihadi John" was unmasked as London graduate Mohammed Emwazi, a man previously monitored by spy agency MI5. Civil rights group Cage, which had been in touch with the Kuwaiti-born computing graduate before he left Britain, said MI5 had been tracking Emwazi since at least 2009.

U.N. condemns Islamic State's 'barbaric terrorist acts' in Iraq Posted: 27 Feb 2015 05:16 PM PST By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council on Friday condemned what it described as the latest "barbaric terrorist acts" in Iraq by Islamic State militants, including the destruction of priceless religious and cultural artifacts. A video published by the ultra-radical Islamist militant group Islamic State on Thursday showed men attacking ancient Assyrian statues and sculptures, some of them identified as antiquities from the 7th century BC, with sledgehammers and drills, saying they were symbols of idolatry. "The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the ongoing barbaric terrorist acts in Iraq by ISIL (Islamic State)" the council said in a statement.

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