Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• Turks keeping troops in Iraqi camp, Baghdad turns to U.N.
• Turkey's Erdogan says Iraqi appeal to Security Council 'not honest'
• Iraqi prime minister calls for withdrawal of Turkish troops
• US vows stepped up fight on Islamic State group
• Obama going to Pentagon to discuss anti-IS campaign
• Why America isn't winning its wars
• Syria's Assad says he will not negotiate with armed groups
• House sets up task force to investigate intelligence
• Putin says Russia backs Free Syrian Army alongside Assad troops
• Obama to discuss Islamic State fight at Pentagon
• From Iraq village to Rome prison, Holy Doors swing open for Catholic Jubilee
• Obama's 'ISIL czar' has long history tackling Mideast crises
• Diplomatic pressure forces Syria opposition to table
• Sweden opens first tent camp, as migrant flow plunges
• Top Iraq Shiite cleric criticises Turkish deployment
• Obama to make statement from Pentagon on Monday: White House
• U.S. confidence in protection from attack lowest in over a decade
• AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from the Middle East for 2015
• IS claims northern Syria suicide bombings that killed 26
• The Latest: Peskov: Russia not giving arms to Syrian rebels
• Mauritius says investigating Islamic State video
• Finland court jails Iraqi twins suspected of IS killings
• Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric says government should not tolerate infringement of sovereignty
• ISIS prompts dramatic shift in Millennials' view of US intervention
• Special Report: How Saddam's men help Islamic State rule
• Neutral Finland to boost Iraq, Lebanon missions to help France
• Erdogan says Turkey will not withdraw troops from camp in north Iraq
• Finnish court holds twins in custody over Iraq massacre
• Iraqi PM asks foreign ministry to lodge complaint over Turkey at U.N. Security Council
• Putin’s Outrageous Defense Spending Puts Russia Back in the USSR
• Ex-UK PM Blair says he urged Gadhafi to quit Libya in 2011
• Russia says Iraq is extremely important partner in fighting terrorism: RIA
• U.S., allies conduct 25 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military
• Syrian antiquities chief says Turkey refuses to return looted art
• Islamic State influence rising in Syria: Russian defense minister
• Tunisia reopens Libya border
• Oil price drops further on forecast of weaker demand
• Turkey foreign minister calls on Russia for calm, says patience not unlimited

Turks keeping troops in Iraqi camp, Baghdad turns to U.N. Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:57 PM PST By Daren Butler and Ahmed Rasheed ISTANBUL/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - President Tayyip Erdogan declared on Friday he would not bow to Iraqi demands he withdraw Turkish troops from a camp close to the Islamic State-held city of Mosul, and Baghdad said it would ask the U.N. Security Council to order them to leave. A row over the deployment has soured relations between Ankara and Baghdad, which denies having agreed to it. Ankara says the troops were sent as part of an international mission to train and equip Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State.

Turkey's Erdogan says Iraqi appeal to Security Council 'not honest' Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:57 PM PST Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that a complaint lodged by Iraq's government to the U.N. Security Council about the presence of Turkish forces in the country was not an honest step. "They can resort to the U.N. Security Council, that is their natural right, but this is not an honest step," Erdogan said in an interview with Al Jazeera. Baghdad wants the Security Council to order Turkey to withdraw its troops from a camp near the Islamic State-held city of Mosul.

Iraqi prime minister calls for withdrawal of Turkish troops Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:37 PM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called for the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Iraq in a national address Friday night, insisting no foreign forces are needed to fight the Islamic State group in his country.

US vows stepped up fight on Islamic State group Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:00 PM PST The United States will intensify its efforts to destroy the Islamic State extremist group in Syria and Iraq, Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter pledged Friday. The White House is, however, under growing pressure to do more, with President Barack Obama's administration criticized by opponents for what they say is a lack of discernable progress in eliminating the extremists. "We are taking a number of steps... and we intend to take more to strengthen the execution of our strategy and hasten the defeat of ISIL," said Carter, speaking at a news conference in Washington alongside Michael Fallon, his British counterpart and ally in the bid to defeat the IS group.

Obama going to Pentagon to discuss anti-IS campaign Posted: 11 Dec 2015 02:44 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will look for ways to gather more intelligence and strike key Islamic State targets when he visits the Pentagon next week.

Why America isn't winning its wars Posted: 11 Dec 2015 02:27 PM PST Recommended: How much do you know about the Islamic State? "We are not postured as a [Defense] department, intellectually or organizationally, for these highly asymmetric and largely unconventional long-term challenges," Vickers said in congressional testimony.

Syria's Assad says he will not negotiate with armed groups Posted: 11 Dec 2015 01:54 PM PST By John Davison and Dmitry Solovyov BEIRUT/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad declared on Friday that he would not negotiate with armed groups, appearing to scupper peace talks that Russia and the United States hope to bring about next month. Washington helped broker an agreement reached on Thursday by more than 100 members of Syria's opposition parties and more than a dozen rebel fighting groups ranging from Islamists to Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) groups - but not Islamic State - to send a joint team to meet the government under U.N. auspices next month. The initiative is driven at least partly by their focus on defeating a common enemy in the form of Islamic State, which has seized large parts of Syria and Iraq and is increasingly ordering or inspiring attacks on the West and Russia.

House sets up task force to investigate intelligence Posted: 11 Dec 2015 01:50 PM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are establishing a special task force to investigate allegations that U.S. Central Command's top intelligence officials pressured analysts to discard parts of their reports that reflected poorly on the war effort in Iraq and Syria.

Putin says Russia backs Free Syrian Army alongside Assad troops Posted: 11 Dec 2015 01:35 PM PST By Dmitry Solovyov and Jack Stubbs MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday Russia is supporting the opposition Free Syrian Army, providing it with air cover, arms and ammunition in joint operations with Syrian troops against Islamist militants. Putin said last month the Russian air force had hit several "terrorist" targets identified by the Free Syrian Army.

Obama to discuss Islamic State fight at Pentagon Posted: 11 Dec 2015 12:45 PM PST Facing intense scrutiny about his counterterror policy, President Barack Obama will huddle with top security brass and deliver an address at the Pentagon Monday, hoping to underscore his role as commander-in-chief. The White House said Obama will hold the meeting of his National Security Council and give remarks, just days after he gave an Oval Office primetime address on the terror threat that received a mixed response from Americans. No major policy changes are expected, but Obama will again try to convince a skeptical public that his administration is charting the correct course in tackling the Islamic State group.

From Iraq village to Rome prison, Holy Doors swing open for Catholic Jubilee Posted: 11 Dec 2015 12:06 PM PST From a village church in Iraq to a prison in Rome, "Holy Doors" have been opened around the world at the start of the Vatican's Jubilee year, offering Catholics forgiveness for their sins. Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in Saint Peter's Basilica on Sunday, kicking off a series of ceremonies to open doors pilgrims can walk through in a year set aside for pardons. Traditionally, Catholics were expected to make a pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee.

Obama's 'ISIL czar' has long history tackling Mideast crises Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:47 AM PST WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's new "ISIL czar," Robert Malley, has a long and sometimes controversial history at the center of U.S. policymaking in the Middle East. He's now taking on one of the toughest jobs in Washington: getting the struggling campaign against Islamic State militants on track while Obama refuses to entertain any wholesale strategy change.

Diplomatic pressure forces Syria opposition to table Posted: 11 Dec 2015 11:23 AM PST With international pressure growing for a political solution to Syria's war, opposition groups appear to have resigned themselves to the idea that Bashar al-Assad cannot be removed by force. Syrian political and armed opposition factions agreed Thursday at unprecedented talks in Riyadh to negotiate with Assad, but insisted he must step down before any political transition begins. Assad said his government was "ready today to start the negotiations with the opposition", but suggested that he would refuse to talk to the armed groups.

Sweden opens first tent camp, as migrant flow plunges Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:52 AM PST Sweden has begun housing migrants in heated tents in wintry conditions due to a lack of available housing, despite a sharp drop in asylum seekers, the Migration Agency section chief said Friday. "The first asylum seekers have moved into the 17 temporary tents" raised in Revinge in southern Sweden, Rebecca Bichis told AFP. Images of the camp of white tents, erected on a grassy field in the tranquil countryside, were striking, a sight unseen in the Scandinavian nation since the Balkan wars in the early 1990s when Sweden also took in many refugees.

Top Iraq Shiite cleric criticises Turkish deployment Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:47 AM PST Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Friday criticised the deployment of Turkish troops and tanks to the country's north that Baghdad says took place without its approval. Top Turkish officials said a deal had been reached with Baghdad over the forces, which were sent to a base near the city of Mosul, but Iraq reiterated demands that Ankara's troops be withdrawn and called on the United Nations to take action. No country should "send its soldiers to the territory of another state under the pretext of supporting it in fighting terrorism without the conclusion of an agreement... between the governments of the two countries," Sistani said in remarks delivered by a representative at weekly Friday prayers.

Obama to make statement from Pentagon on Monday: White House Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:18 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will make a statement from the Pentagon briefing room on Monday after discussions with national security officials, the White House said on Friday. Responding to reporters' questions, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he knew of no specific announcement on any changes to U.S. strategy in countering Islamic State militants who overran parts of Syria and Iraq last year. (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

U.S. confidence in protection from attack lowest in over a decade Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:15 AM PST By Frank McGurty NEW YORK (Reuters) - Confidence in the U.S. government to protect its citizens from militant attacks has fallen to its lowest in more than a decade after a pair of suspected militant Islamists gunned down 14 people at a holiday party in California, a poll released on Friday found. Only 55 percent of respondents said they had "a fair amount" or "a great deal" of confidence that authorities could protect the country from further attacks, according to data collected by Gallup on Dec. 8-9, just days after the San Bernardino massacre.

AP PHOTOS: Editor selections from the Middle East for 2015 Posted: 11 Dec 2015 10:08 AM PST As 2015 comes to a close, The Associated Press is looking back at the year's events as seen by photojournalists in the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

IS claims northern Syria suicide bombings that killed 26 Posted: 11 Dec 2015 09:55 AM PST BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility Friday for triple suicide bombings in northern Syria that killed at least 26 people and wounded 90, underscoring its ability to launch attacks in areas that it has lost to rival groups.

The Latest: Peskov: Russia not giving arms to Syrian rebels Posted: 11 Dec 2015 09:27 AM PST MOSCOW (AP) — The latest news related to Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with top military officials in Moscow. All times local:

Mauritius says investigating Islamic State video Posted: 11 Dec 2015 09:03 AM PST By Jean Paul Arouff PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Mauritius is investigating an Islamic State video which purports to show a Mauritian man urging people from the tiny Indian Ocean island to travel to the Middle East and join the Islamist group, a senior official said on Friday. Police commissioner Mario Nobin appealed for calm after the first-ever Mauritius-related Islamic State video was published on the Internet this week. Nobin said Mauritius was already on heightened alert following the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris when Islamic State gunmen killed about 130 people in suicide bombs and shootings.

Finland court jails Iraqi twins suspected of IS killings Posted: 11 Dec 2015 08:57 AM PST TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Finnish court on Friday jailed 23-year-old twin brothers from Iraq for four months pending trial on suspicions they were Islamic State militants who fatally shot 11 unarmed soldiers in Iraq in June 2014.

Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric says government should not tolerate infringement of sovereignty Posted: 11 Dec 2015 07:32 AM PST Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on the government on Friday to show "no tolerance" of any infringement of the country's sovereignty, after Turkey deployed heavily armed troops to northern Iraq. Sistani's spokesman, Sheikh Abdul Mehdi Karbala'i, did not explicitly name Turkey, but a row over the deployment has badly soured relations between Ankara and Baghdad, which denies having agreed to it.

ISIS prompts dramatic shift in Millennials' view of US intervention Posted: 11 Dec 2015 07:21 AM PST For perhaps the first time in their voting lives, a majority of Millennials support sending ground troops to fight in the Middle East. The dramatic shift became most pronounced in the wake of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, in which gunmen and suicide bombers trained by the radical militant group known as the Islamic State killed 130 people, according to surveys of Millennials ages 18-29 conducted by Harvard's Institute of Politics (IOP). Before the Paris attacks, IOP's poll results showed about half of young Americans supporting US boots on the ground: 48 percent supported the concept, while 48 percent opposed it.

Special Report: How Saddam's men help Islamic State rule Posted: 11 Dec 2015 06:53 AM PST By Isabel Coles and Ned Parker MALA QARA, Iraq (Reuters) - Mohannad is a spy for Islamic State. One man he informed on this year – a street trader defying a ban on selling cigarettes – was fined and tortured by Islamic State fighters, according to a friend of Mohannad's family. The teenager is one cog in the intelligence network Islamic State has put in place since it seized vast stretches of Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Neutral Finland to boost Iraq, Lebanon missions to help France Posted: 11 Dec 2015 06:38 AM PST Finland said on Friday it would boost its involvement in a training mission in Iraq and in a U.N.-led operation in Lebanon to help relieve French forces following the Paris attacks last month by Islamic State militants. France made an unprecedented call for military help from its European Union partners under the bloc's Lisbon Treaty following the attacks, which killed 130 people. EU member Finland is officially neutral and not in NATO.

Erdogan says Turkey will not withdraw troops from camp in north Iraq Posted: 11 Dec 2015 06:17 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey will not withdraw troops from a camp close to the Islamic State-controlled city of Mosul, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday, despite strong objections from Baghdad. The deployed soldiers are not combat troops, but have been sent to protect soldiers providing training to Iraqi and Kurdish forces, Erdogan told reporters at a news conference that was broadcast live by TRT. Turkey is "determined" to continue the training, he added. (Reporting by Daren Butler; Writing by Ayla Jean Yackley; Editing by David Dolan)

Finnish court holds twins in custody over Iraq massacre Posted: 11 Dec 2015 06:04 AM PST "The Tampere district court has remanded in custody, upon the National Bureau of Investigation's (NBI) request, two men who are suspected of 11 murders with terrorist intent," the NBI said in a statement after the court's hearing. Friday's proceedings were held behind closed doors, but the NBI's Chief Inspector Jari Raty told AFP afterwards that the suspects pleaded not guilty. The NBI suspects the pair, 23-year-old twins from Iraq whose names have not been disclosed, of shooting dead 11 unarmed captives during a massacre in the Iraqi city of Tikrit in June 2014.

Iraqi PM asks foreign ministry to lodge complaint over Turkey at U.N. Security Council Posted: 11 Dec 2015 05:51 AM PST BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has instructed the foreign ministry to lodge a formal complaint at the UN Security Council over an incursion by Turkish troops in the north of the country. In a statement on his website, Abadi asked that the Security Council order Turkey to withdraw its troops from Iraq immediately. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Putin’s Outrageous Defense Spending Puts Russia Back in the USSR Posted: 11 Dec 2015 05:30 AM PST One of the prevailing narratives about the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1980s was that the Kremlin destroyed its own economy from within by dedicating scarce resources to the arms race with the United States. Not all historians of the period agree on that explanation, but many believe that military spending to the exclusion of other investment at least contributed to, if not directly caused, the collapse of the Soviet Empire. Now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, Alexashenko wrote in an op-ed published Thursday in the Moscow Times that in a time of particular economic peril, the Kremlin is once again going down that same road.

Ex-UK PM Blair says he urged Gadhafi to quit Libya in 2011 Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:58 AM PST LONDON (AP) — Tony Blair telephoned Moammar Gadhafi and tried to persuade him to leave Libya as the Arab Spring erupted in February 2011, the former British prime minister revealed Friday.

Russia says Iraq is extremely important partner in fighting terrorism: RIA Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:51 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia sees Iraq as an extremely important partner in the fight against terrorism, RIA news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Friday. (Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Jack Stubbs)

U.S., allies conduct 25 strikes against Islamic State: U.S. military Posted: 11 Dec 2015 04:32 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its allies staged 25 air strikes against the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria on Thursday, the coalition leading the operations said in a statement. In Iraq, 21 strikes near 10 different cities destroyed several fighting locations, buildings and other targets. Four strikes in Syria hit tactical units and wounded Islamic State fighters, according to the statement released on Friday. (Reporting by Megan Cassella)

Syrian antiquities chief says Turkey refuses to return looted art Posted: 11 Dec 2015 03:37 AM PST By Shadia Nasralla VIENNA (Reuters) - Syria's antiquities chief has accused Turkey of refusing to return looted objects from ancient heritage sites in Syria or to provide information about them, allegations denied by the Turkish government. Damascus and Ankara have been at odds since the start of a rebellion against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, with Turkey supporting armed groups fighting Assad's government. More recently, Islamic State militants have declared a caliphate in territory they hold across Syria and Iraq and have destroyed monuments they consider pagan and sacrilegious.

Islamic State influence rising in Syria: Russian defense minister Posted: 11 Dec 2015 02:55 AM PST MOSCOW (Reuters) - The influence of Islamic State is increasing in Syria, where militants control around 70 percent of the country, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday. The number of IS fighters in Iraq and Syria numbers around 60,000, and there is a threat of violence spilling over into post-Soviet Central Asia, said Shoigu, speaking at the ministry's annual collegium event. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Tunisia reopens Libya border Posted: 11 Dec 2015 02:50 AM PST Tunisia has reopened its border with Libya, 15 days after it shut the frontier following a suicide bombing in Tunis claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, the interior ministry said Friday. "The border with Libya was opened Thursday at midnight," ministry spokesman Walid Louguini told AFP. The crossing points of Ras Jedir and Wazen-Dhehibe were open on Friday amid extra security, according to an AFP journalist.

Oil price drops further on forecast of weaker demand Posted: 11 Dec 2015 02:22 AM PST PARIS (AP) — The price of oil is falling further after the International Energy Agency forecast a decline in demand.

Turkey foreign minister calls on Russia for calm, says patience not unlimited Posted: 11 Dec 2015 01:31 AM PST ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey is calling on Russia for calm, but its patience is not unlimited, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday. In a live interview on NTV, Cavusoglu also said that the recent additional deployment of troops to Iraq was made after an increase in the security threat. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk)

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