Yahoo! News: Iraq

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• IS in Libya says it has beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians
• Video purports to show IS militants beheading hostages
• Sisi warns of response after Islamic State kills 21 Egyptians in Libya
• Copenhagen gunman had 'history of violent crime'
• Islamic State beheads 21 Christians in Libya on film, signalling major expansion
• Bahrain sends warplanes to Jordan to fight Islamic State
• Turkey's Erdogan says not bothered by 'isolation' on world stage
• Italy suspends operations at Libya embassy, evacuates nationals
• Danish police kill 22-year-old suspected of Copenhagen shootings
• Paris, Copenhagen attacks similar, experts warn over hasty link
• Copenhagen attacks: Why an eight-year-old cartoon continues to inflame
• 35 IS jihadists killed in clashes with Syria Kurds: monitor
• Kurds, Syrian rebels edge into Islamic State stronghold: monitor
• Washington on Gridlock Alert Yet Again
• US can't defeat IS with tepid Obama war request: lawmaker
• Palestinian rappers fume at Israel's Likud over song
• Dilemma for Jeb: How Bush 3.0 would deal with Iraq
• White House says Congress shouldn't sidestep Islamic State measure
• Fear and defiance in Copenhagen after killings
• Westerners join Iraqi Christian militia to fight Islamic State
• Female suicide bomber kills 7 in Nigeria
• Fort Campbell veterinarians honing skills at Nashville Zoo
• Report: Shiite militias escalate abuse of Sunnis in Iraq
• The Daily Fix: Suspected Copenhagen Shooter Killed by Cops
• U.S. says 11 more air strikes carried out against Islamic State
• Sunni Iraqi MPs boycott parliament after tribal chief killed
• Jordan sentences senior Brotherhood leader to 18 months
• Recent jihadist attacks around the world
• Saudi Arabia condemns attacks in Copenhagen and North Carolina
• Jordan jails senior Brotherhood official for criticizing UAE
• Iraqi army, militia repel Islamic State attack on dam north of Baghdad: sources
• Kurds clash with Turkish police on anniversary of leader's capture
• Putin's pals: Who is helping steer the Kremlin now?
• Jordan hands senior Islamist 18 months for criticizing UAE
• How ISIS Could Drag the U.S. Into a Ground Fight
• Israel's Likud claims vote for left will benefit IS
• Libyan oil pipeline sabotaged, gunmen storm Sirte offices
• Japan to give $15 mln to fight terror in Mideast, Africa
• Australia signals border crackdown after terror scare
• Friends remember Arizona aid worker who died in Islamic State captivity

IS in Libya says it has beheaded 21 Egyptian Christians Posted: 15 Feb 2015 04:30 PM PST The Islamic State group in Libya released a video on Sunday purportedly showing the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians, prompting Egypt's president to threaten a "suitable" punishment for the killings. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said his country reserved the right to "punish these murderers" as he called a meeting of security chiefs and declared seven days of mourning after the video was released by jihadists on social media. In the latest issue of the IS online magazine Dabiq, the group said the same number of Egyptian hostages were being held in Libya. The Coptic Church issued a statement saying it was "confident" the killers would be brought to justice as it confirmed those beheaded were Egyptian Copts, while Al-Azhar, the prestigious Cairo-based seat of Islamic learning, denounced the "barbaric" killings.

Video purports to show IS militants beheading hostages Posted: 15 Feb 2015 04:10 PM PST CAIRO (AP) — A video purporting to show the mass beheading of Coptic Christian hostages was released Sunday by militants in Libya affiliated with the Islamic State group.

Sisi warns of response after Islamic State kills 21 Egyptians in Libya Posted: 15 Feb 2015 03:29 PM PST By Ahmed Tolba and Michael Georgy CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State released a video on Sunday that appeared to show the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned that his country would respond to the deaths as it saw fit. Speaking on national television hours after the release of the video, Sisi said Cairo would choose the "necessary means and timing to avenge the criminal killings". Egypt's state news agency MENA quoted the spokesman for the Coptic Church as confirming that 21 Egyptian Christians believed to be held by Islamic State were dead. The beheadings could stiffen Sisi's resolve in dealing with security threats from militants thriving in neighboring Libya's chaos who want to topple his U.S.-backed government.

Copenhagen gunman had 'history of violent crime' Posted: 15 Feb 2015 02:59 PM PST The suspected gunman behind double shootings in Copenhagen was identified by Danish media Sunday as a 22-year-old with a history of violent crime who had only been freed from jail two weeks ago. With Europe fearful of a new wave of jihadist violence, police said the man who killed two people at a cultural centre and a synagogue before being shot dead by police may have been inspired by last month's Paris attacks. Expressions of sympathy and horror poured in from across the world after the weekend shootings described by Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt as a "cynical act of terror". At the synagogue in the centre of Copenhagen, tearful Danes laid flowers and lit candles for the victims of the worst such attack in the normally peaceful Scandinavian nation.

Islamic State beheads 21 Christians in Libya on film, signalling major expansion Posted: 15 Feb 2015 02:40 PM PST Followers of the Islamic State and its self-declared caliph Abu Bakr Baghdadi simultaneously murdered 21 Egyptian Christians in a videotape released today, removing whatever doubt remained that the Sunni jihadi group has established a strong presence in Libya. The style of the video is very much like the last IS snuff movie, involving the burning to death of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kassasbeh in a cage in Syria. Unlike Kassasbeh, a Jordanian pilot whose F-16 crashed in Syria, the victims this time weren't fighting the group. They were simply Egyptian Coptic Christians trying to make a living in Libya, kidnapped in early January and eventually murdered due to their faith alone.

Bahrain sends warplanes to Jordan to fight Islamic State Posted: 15 Feb 2015 01:22 PM PST Bahrain has deployed war planes to Jordan, the state news agency BNA said on Sunday, becoming the second Gulf Arab country to send warplanes to help in the fight against Islamist militants in Syria and Iraq. Jordan has taken a leading role in conducting air strikes against Islamic State strongholds in Syria and Iraq since the militants killed a Jordanian pilot, Mouath al-Kasaesbeh, who was captured by the group after his plane crashed in Syria in December. "A group of Bahraini Royal Air Force planes have landed in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to participate in the international effort to annihilate terrorism," BNA said. The United Arab Emirates last week sent a squadron of F-16 jet fighters to Jordan to conduct air strikes against Islamic State alongside Jordanian planes.

Turkey's Erdogan says not bothered by 'isolation' on world stage Posted: 15 Feb 2015 01:20 PM PST President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insisted in an interview published Sunday he was unconcerned by Turkey's "isolation" on the world stage, despite deteriorating relations with several former allies. "I do not mind isolation in the world," Erdogan was quoted as telling the Hurriyet newspaper after a tour of Colombia, Cuba and Mexico. Erdogan, who has ruled Turkey since 2003 as prime minister and then president, admitted he no longer enjoyed good relations with US President Barack Obama. Turkey, a vocal critic of President Bashar al-Assad, has nevertheless remained reluctant to join a US-led coalition to fight Islamic State insurgents who have seized large chunks of territory in Iraq and Syria right up to the Turkish border.

Italy suspends operations at Libya embassy, evacuates nationals Posted: 15 Feb 2015 01:17 PM PST Italy said Sunday it was pulling out staff from its embassy in Libya and suspending operations there because of mounting insecurity in the troubled country. The move came as Rome reiterated its willingness to lead a multinational force to tackle the growing jihadist threat in Libya, a former Italian colony. The ministry said the embassy -- the last Western mission to remain open in Libya -- has "suspended its activities because of the worsening security situation". Rome had on Friday warned its nationals against travelling to Libya and urged those already there to leave as the jihadists gain ground.

Danish police kill 22-year-old suspected of Copenhagen shootings Posted: 15 Feb 2015 01:13 PM PST By Sabina Zawadzki and Ole Mikkelsen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Police shot dead a 22-year-old Danish-born gunman on Sunday after he killed two people at a Copenhagen synagogue and an event promoting free speech in actions possibly inspired by an attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, authorities said. Spy chief Jens Madsen said the gunman was known to intelligence services prior to the shooting and had probably acted alone. Witnesses said the gunman had fired up to 40 shots at a cafe hosting a free speech event with Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who has received death threats for depicting the head of the Prophet Mohammad on a dog.

Paris, Copenhagen attacks similar, experts warn over hasty link Posted: 15 Feb 2015 12:08 PM PST Saturday's deadly attacks in Copenhagen bore several similarities to last month's assault in Paris, experts said, but warned more needed to be known about the Danish attacker before drawing direct parallels. In the words of French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, the similarities between the two attacks are "striking". "First an attack on a symbol of freedom of expression, then an attack on Jews and finally a showdown with police," Fabius said on French television on Sunday.

Copenhagen attacks: Why an eight-year-old cartoon continues to inflame Posted: 15 Feb 2015 11:51 AM PST Using Author Salman Rushdie's decade in hiding following the publication of "The Satanic Verses" in 1988 as a rule of thumb, Vilkes' eight years as a target for his political cartoon's publication my help to build a data arc of an offense's half-life. Mr. Rushdie lived in hiding for over a decade under the alias "Joseph Anton" (after Anton Chekov) according to an interview with Der Spiegel in 2012, after Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the author's death.

35 IS jihadists killed in clashes with Syria Kurds: monitor Posted: 15 Feb 2015 11:21 AM PST At least 35 Islamic State jihadists were killed on Sunday in clashes with Syrian Kurdish fighters around the flashpoint town of Kobane, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths came in three separate clashes around the town in Aleppo province of northern Syria. Four YPG fighters were killed in those clashes, with the Kurdish forces capturing the strategic Tal Baghdaq hilltop, the Observatory said.

Kurds, Syrian rebels edge into Islamic State stronghold: monitor Posted: 15 Feb 2015 11:21 AM PST Kurdish forces backed by Syrian insurgent groups took control of a hill inside the provincial stronghold of the militant Islamic State group on Sunday after deadly clashes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Kurdish forces, supported by U.S.-led air strikes, drove Islamic State fighters from the town of Kobani last month near the Turkish border and have pushed them back from surrounding villages in northern Syria. Islamic State still holds tracts of land across northern and eastern Syria and into Iraq. Now the Kurds and other local fighters who oppose Islamic State have taken a hill south of Kobani which lies within Raqqa province - the stronghold of the al Qaeda offshoot in Syria, said the Observatory, which tracks the conflict through sources on the ground.

Washington on Gridlock Alert Yet Again Posted: 15 Feb 2015 10:52 AM PST House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and other Republicans on pushed back against the president's proposed strategy to combat ISIS on Sunday setting up a likely fight between the White House and Congress over how to defeat the terror network. Last week, the president sent lawmakers a draft war powers resolution asking lawmakers to authorize the use of military force against ISIS, which has taken control of large territories in Syria and northern Iraq. This will be the first time Congress will be asked to approve a war since the 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq war.

US can't defeat IS with tepid Obama war request: lawmaker Posted: 15 Feb 2015 10:45 AM PST President Barack Obama's request for congressional permission to wage war against the Islamic State group doesn't go far enough to defeat the jihadist fighters, the US legislature's top Republican said Sunday. Tantamount to a declaration of war, the authority sought from Congress last week would provide Obama political cover at home and a firmer legal basis on which to prosecute the fight. The US military has already been involved in airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since the middle of last year, and Obama on Wednesday asked Congress to formally back a global war against the group -- but with limitations on the authorization's duration and curbs on the use of ground forces.

Palestinian rappers fume at Israel's Likud over song Posted: 15 Feb 2015 10:25 AM PST Palestinian rappers threatened legal action Sunday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party for using their song in an Islamic State group-themed campaign ad for Israel's March election. The contentious new ad, which Likud released on Saturday, implied that a vote for the left would benefit the jihadist IS.

Dilemma for Jeb: How Bush 3.0 would deal with Iraq Posted: 15 Feb 2015 10:15 AM PST By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. presidents named Bush have legacies dominated by wars in Iraq. With Bush expected to be a front-runner among Republican candidates jockeying for the 2016 presidential nomination, strategists say he will need to set his own course on U.S. policy toward the region without getting entangled in a debate about the legacy of his father and older brother. The former Florida governor, who has limited foreign policy experience, is expected to begin fleshing out his views on U.S. policy in the region in a speech in Chicago on Wednesday. There are early indications that Bush will argue for a more robust response to Islamic State than President Barack Obama, seeking greater use of air power and more diplomatic engagement, without sending more American ground troops.

White House says Congress shouldn't sidestep Islamic State measure Posted: 15 Feb 2015 10:08 AM PST By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Sunday said the Republican-led Congress should not sidestep the president's request to formally authorize military action against Islamic State forces, saying lawmakers must not "take a pass". Under President Barack Obama's orders, the U.S. military has carried out air strikes against Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria since last summer but has done so without explicit authorization from Congress. Obama sent a formal request to Congress on Wednesday but ran into immediate resistance both from Republicans who want stronger measures and from many of his fellow Democrats wary of another war in the Middle East.

Fear and defiance in Copenhagen after killings Posted: 15 Feb 2015 10:03 AM PST Outside Copenhagen's main synagogue a young woman in tears placed flowers at the gates where people gathered Sunday in a mood of fear and defiance after a lone gunman claimed two lives in their city. The grieving residents stood with their arms around each other in a sad solidarity as they remembered one of the victims, a 37-year-old member of Denmark's small Jewish community, who was killed outside the synagogue shortly after midnight as a bar mitzvah was being celebrated inside. Everyone is blasting the Jews, and there they were hit as they celebrated a bar mitzvah," a 65-year-old man who gave his name as Liebecke told AFP. As Copenhagen awoke to the news of both the second shooting and the killing by police of the gunman believed to be responsible, people reacted with mixed emotions.

Westerners join Iraqi Christian militia to fight Islamic State Posted: 15 Feb 2015 09:46 AM PST By Isabel Coles DUHOK, Iraq (Reuters) - Saint Michael, the archangel of battle, is tattooed across the back of a U.S. army veteran who recently returned to Iraq and joined a Christian militia fighting Islamic State in what he sees as a biblical war between good and evil. Brett, 28, carries the same thumb-worn pocket Bible he did whilst deployed to Iraq in 2006 – a picture of the Virgin Mary tucked inside its pages and his favorite verses highlighted. "Here I'm fighting for a people and for a faith, and the enemy is much bigger and more brutal." Thousands of foreigners have flocked to Iraq and Syria in the past two years, mostly to join Islamic State, but a handful of idealistic Westerners are enlisting as well, citing frustration their governments are not doing more to combat the ultra-radical Islamists or prevent the suffering of innocents. The militia they joined is called Dwekh Nawsha – meaning self-sacrifice in the ancient Aramaic language spoken by Christ and still used by Assyrian Christians, who consider themselves the indigenous people of Iraq.

Female suicide bomber kills 7 in Nigeria Posted: 15 Feb 2015 09:30 AM PST A female suicide bomber killed at least seven people in northeast Nigeria on Sunday in an attack believed to be the work of Boko Haram, as neighbouring Niger stepped up efforts to stop the Islamist insurgency from spreading. The suicide attack at a bus station in the Nigerian city of Damaturu came after authorities across the border in Niger's Zinder region detained dozens of suspected militants. Boko Haram began its brutal uprising against Nigeria in 2009, but the Islamist extremists have increasingly posed a regional threat. The affected countries -– including Chad and Cameroon as well as Nigeria and Niger -– have launched an unprecedented joint effort to crush the insurgency, claiming some early success, including the recapture of towns previously under rebel control.

Fort Campbell veterinarians honing skills at Nashville Zoo Posted: 15 Feb 2015 09:28 AM PST NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — At home in Fort Campbell, Army veterinarians mostly treat military working dogs and family pets. But once deployed, they could be called upon to treat just about anything.

Report: Shiite militias escalate abuse of Sunnis in Iraq Posted: 15 Feb 2015 09:11 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — An international rights group said Shiite militias allied with Iraqi security forces have escalated a campaign of abuse against Sunni residents in recent months, as gunmen assassinated a prominent Sunni tribal leader during an ambush in a Shiite district in Baghdad.

The Daily Fix: Suspected Copenhagen Shooter Killed by Cops Posted: 15 Feb 2015 08:17 AM PST Lars Vilks, a cartoonist who, like the Charlie Hebdo journalists, had satirized the Prophet Muhammed, was attending a free-speech event at the Krudttoenden Cultural Center on Saturay when a gunman opened fire through the windows. Three police officers were also wounded before the gunman fled in a carjacked Volkswagen. According to Dan Rosenberg Asmussen, identified by the Times as "a leader of Denmark's Jewish community," the victim was 37-year-old Dan Uzan, a longtime security guard.

U.S. says 11 more air strikes carried out against Islamic State Posted: 15 Feb 2015 08:09 AM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and its coalition partners conducted three air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria and eight in Iraq since Saturday, according to the U.S. military. In a statement on Sunday, the Combined Joint Task Force leading the air operations said the three strikes near Kobani in Syria "struck an ISIL large tactical unit and destroyed an ISIL building and two ISIL vehicles." ISIL is an acronym for Islamic State. ...

Sunni Iraqi MPs boycott parliament after tribal chief killed Posted: 15 Feb 2015 08:07 AM PST Iraqi Sunni lawmakers said Sunday they were boycotting parliament after the killing of a senior tribal leader was blamed on Shiite militia, sparking fresh tensions between the two communities. Sheikh Qassem Sweidan al-Janabi, his son and seven bodyguards were killed by gunmen after their convoy was ambushed late Friday in Baghdad, with most shot in the head, members of his tribe have said. Janabi's nephew, MP Zeid al-Janabi, was with the group when they were ambushed but was later released unharmed. The boycott by Sunni lawmakers -- who hold 73 seats in the 328-strong parliament -- was announced in a statement posted on the official Facebook page of Sunni parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi.

Jordan sentences senior Brotherhood leader to 18 months Posted: 15 Feb 2015 07:39 AM PST A Jordanian court Sunday sentenced a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood to 18 months in prison for criticising a decision by the United Arab Emirates to blacklist his organisation. The state security court in Amman found Zaki Bani Rsheid, deputy head of the Brotherhood in Jordan, guilty of making statements "likely to damage relations between the kingdom and a foreign country". The Islamic Action Front, political wing of the Brotherhood's Jordanian branch, in a statement denounced the verdict as going against "individual liberties and the freedom of expression". Rsheid was arrested in November after he criticised the UAE for blacklisting more than 80 Islamist groups including the Brotherhood.

Recent jihadist attacks around the world Posted: 15 Feb 2015 07:25 AM PST Police say the gunman may have been inspired by the Islamist attacks in Paris in January 2015. On January 9, the gunman who killed the policewoman takes hostages at a kosher supermarket in Paris.

Saudi Arabia condemns attacks in Copenhagen and North Carolina Posted: 15 Feb 2015 06:10 AM PST Saudi Arabia on Sunday condemned a deadly attack in Denmark which bore similarities to Islamist shootings in Paris, while also deploring the killing of three Muslims in North Carolina. Two civilians died in attacks in Copenhagen on Saturday and five police were wounded. Danish police on Sunday shot dead a man they believe was responsible for the two attacks at an event promoting freedom of speech and on a synagogue. "The kingdom of Saudi Arabia followed with strong sorrow the ugly terrorist and criminal incidents that occurred lately in the Danish capital Copenhagen and in the U.S. state of North Carolina that resulted in the death and injuring of innocent," state news agency SPA quoted an official source as saying in a statement.

Jordan jails senior Brotherhood official for criticizing UAE Posted: 15 Feb 2015 05:48 AM PST By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - A court in Jordan jailed the deputy head of the country's Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday for publicly criticizing the United Arab Emirates, in a verdict his lawyer described as illegal and an attack on free speech. The military court sentenced Zaki Bani Rushaid to 18 months in prison after convicting him of souring ties with a foreign country, a judicial source said. He is the most high-profile political figure in decades to be imprisoned in Jordan, a U.S. ally that has so far been spared the turmoil that has spread across much of the Middle East following the Arab Spring revolts. Bani Rushaid was arrested in November after criticizing the UAE on social media for designating the Brotherhood, which is Jordan's biggest opposition party, as a terrorist group and thereby serving Israeli interests.

Iraqi army, militia repel Islamic State attack on dam north of Baghdad: sources Posted: 15 Feb 2015 05:32 AM PST Iraqi security forces backed by Shi'ite Muslim militias repelled an early morning assault by Islamic State insurgents on a dam area north of Baghdad, security sources and a local official said on Sunday. Fighters from the ultra-radical Islamist group attacked pro-government forces deployed around the dam on the Euphrates River near the town of al-Udhaim, about 90 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, in the early morning. At least nine militia fighters and six soldiers were killed in the fighting on Sunday, which lasted about seven hours, army and police sources said. Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, backed by U.S.-led air strikes, has been trying to push back Islamic State since it swept through mainly Sunni Muslim provinces of northern Iraq in June, meeting virtually no resistance.

Kurds clash with Turkish police on anniversary of leader's capture Posted: 15 Feb 2015 05:30 AM PST By Seyhmus Cakan DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Thousands of Kurds rallied in towns across Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast on Sunday and some clashed with riot police in calling for the release of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan on the 16th anniversary of his capture. Ocalan, leader of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party(PKK), is viewed by nationalist Turks as responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people in the group's 30-year armed struggle with the Turkish army. Ocalan may call an end to the PKK's armed struggle by March, some people close to the process say.

Putin's pals: Who is helping steer the Kremlin now? Posted: 15 Feb 2015 05:00 AM PST The West's response to Russia's alleged military aid to Ukraine's rebels has been based on the idea that the biggest influence in Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle are the so-called oligarchs. Hurt the business elite that stand beside Mr. Putin, goes the theory, and you pressure the Russian president himself. Rather, it is Russia's military-security establishment, collectively known as the siloviki, who are shaping the Kremlin's foreign policy. "The role of what we call the defense-industrial complex is rising rapidly in Russian society," says Alexander Golts, an independent military expert.

Jordan hands senior Islamist 18 months for criticizing UAE Posted: 15 Feb 2015 04:53 AM PST AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's state security court on Sunday sentenced a top official in the Muslim Brotherhood to 18 months in prison for criticizing the United Arab Emirates, an ally of the kingdom, his lawyer said.

How ISIS Could Drag the U.S. Into a Ground Fight Posted: 15 Feb 2015 03:30 AM PST Last Thursday was one of the worst days in the Middle East for a long time, from Iraq to Yemen. ISIS had successfully attacked the city of al-Baghdadi in the western Anbar province Iraq after many failed efforts.

Israel's Likud claims vote for left will benefit IS Posted: 15 Feb 2015 02:27 AM PST Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party claims in a contentious new campaign ad that a vote for the left in Israel's March election would benefit jihadists from the Islamic State group. The ad drew fire from the left-wing coalition opposing Likud, the Zionist Union, which accused Netanyahu of "colossal" security failures. The Zionist Union, formed in December as an electoral alliance of Israel's Labour Party and the centre-left Hatnuah, denounced the ad and "the colossal failure of Benjamin Netanyahu in the field of security". Security will be a key issue in Israel's March 17 general election, which was called early after the collapse of Netanyahu's ruling coalition.

Libyan oil pipeline sabotaged, gunmen storm Sirte offices Posted: 14 Feb 2015 11:45 PM PST Libya's National Oil Corporation urgently called on Saturday for more official protection for its installations after an oil pipeline from its El Sarir field was sabotaged, halting flow to Hariga port. In a separate incident, gunmen stormed government buildings in the coastal city of Sirte, forcing officials out at gunpoint and taking over administrative offices and television and radio stations, the state news agency said. No group claimed responsibility for Saturday's pipeline sabotage, but oil infrastructure, ports and pipelines in the North African OPEC member state are often targets of attack. Libya is riven by conflict, with two rival governments operating their own armed forces under separate parliaments, nearly four years after the civil war that led to the overthrow and death of leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Japan to give $15 mln to fight terror in Mideast, Africa Posted: 14 Feb 2015 11:04 PM PST Japan, reeling from the murder of two nationals by Islamic State extremists, will offer an extra $15 million in aid to fight terrorism in Middle East and Africa, a report said on Sunday. Japan hopes to demonstrate its resolve not to cave in to terrorism with the fresh assistance, which will be announced at a global counter-terrorism conference starting on Wednesday in Washington, the Sankei Shimbun said. Large parts of those countries are controlled by Islamic State militants. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has come in for criticism over the timing of an earlier $200 million Japanese pledge to help refugees fleeing IS-controlled areas, and the comments he made.

Australia signals border crackdown after terror scare Posted: 14 Feb 2015 09:35 PM PST Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Sunday signalled a crackdown on border controls to combat terror threats, warning Australia will not let "bad people play us for mugs". Police last week said they had thwarted an alleged imminent attack after they arrested two men, both of whom arrived in Australia in recent years, during a raid in Sydney. "It's clear to me, that for too long, we have given those who might be a threat to our country the benefit of the doubt," Abbott said in a statement. Omar Al-Kutobi, originally from Iraq, and Mohammad Kiad, a Kuwaiti, were charged with making preparations for a terrorist act after an Islamic State group flag, weapons and a video were seized in the raid.

Friends remember Arizona aid worker who died in Islamic State captivity Posted: 14 Feb 2015 08:02 PM PST By Katherine Locke FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (Reuters) - Friends and colleagues of Kayla Mueller, the aid worker who died while a captive of militants of the Islamic State group in Syria, remembered her on Saturday as someone who was trying to give back in gratitude for a life of freedom. "She was in a volatile part of the world because she knew there were things that needed to be addressed there," said Peggy Sheldon-Scurlock, who met Mueller at the New Day Peace Center in Flagstaff, a non-profit peace organization. President Barack Obama also acknowledged in an interview with the website Buzzfeed that Mueller was among the hostages whom U.S. commandos were sent to rescue but failed to find in an operation he ordered last year. In Flagstaff on Saturday, the Rev. Kathleen Day, head of the United Christian Ministry at Northern Arizona University, said Mueller wanted to help people and she felt a responsibility to maximize the privileges she had as a resident of the United States.

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