Yahoo! News: Iraq

---

• Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT
• UN envoy: Yemen is being pushed 'to the edge of civil war'
• Afghanistan's Ghani stresses 'common interests' with US
• Top Asian News at 10:30 p.m. GMT
• Canada PM to talk to NATO head about expanding IS mission
• Australia a puzzling hotbed of Islamic State recruiting
• Syrian Islamist merger in northwest counters al Qaeda's clout
• U.N. warns Yemen conflict could become Iraq-Libya-Syria scenario
• Houthis seize strategic Yemeni city, escalating power struggle
• 'Hit list' of 100 US troops: What it says about Islamic State power
• If Nuke Deal Fails, Iran Proceeds at Their Own Peril: CIA Director Brennan
• U.N. says Yemen conflict could become 'Iraq-Libya-Syria' scenario
• Third Tunisia museum suspect 'on the run'
• The Courageous Brilliance of Steve Nash
• Houthi chief vows to fight militants, sees Libya-style strife
• CIA director: Iran general 'destabilizing' efforts in Iraq
• IS seeks to offset 'caliphate' defeats with new attacks
• Tunisian president says third suspect in museum attack on the run
• US trains Iraqi forces as battle for Tikrit continues
• Islamic State hit by U.S., allies in nine air strikes: statement
• Morocco says IS cell busted, arms seized
• CIA'S Brennan: Islamic State's momentum blunted in Syria, Iraq
• U.S. Ordered to Release Photos of Military Detainee Abuse
• Missing British medical students feared to have joined IS
• North Africa jihadi front spreads to Arab Spring cradle Tunisia
• IS targets US military personnel in online threat
• Remodeling the Muslim response to terror attacks
• America's political royalty
• US Embassy in Saudi Arabia reopens after security concerns
• Iraq militia chief slams army 'weaklings' over Tikrit strikes
• Despite deep rivalry, Connecticut tribes plan new casinos
• US Marine Corps urges 'vigilance' after online Islamist threat
• Iran general in Iraq 'whenever we need', says militia chief
• The Knights Templar Maps a Plan to Fight ISIS and Win
• Families seek foreign medical students who travelled to Syria: Turkish MP
• Libya rivals fight for control of country's oil wealth
• Tunisian president says hunt on for 3rd man in museum attack
• ISIS’s 10 Most Extreme Acts of Terror
• Tunisia arrests more than 20 in crackdown since museum attack
• Libya's official government bombs capital, commander loyal to Tripoli killed

Top Asian News at 11:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 22 Mar 2015 04:33 PM PDT SINGAPORE (AP) — Lee Kuan Yew, who founded modern Singapore and was both feared for his authoritarian tactics and admired for turning the city-state into one of the world's richest nations, died Monday, the government said. He was 91. Lee was admitted to Singapore General Hospital on Feb. 5 for severe pneumonia and was later put on life support.

UN envoy: Yemen is being pushed 'to the edge of civil war' Posted: 22 Mar 2015 04:24 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Yemen warned an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sunday that events appear to be leading the Arab country "to the edge of civil war" and urged all parties to step back from the brink and resolve the conflict peacefully.

Afghanistan's Ghani stresses 'common interests' with US Posted: 22 Mar 2015 03:52 PM PDT Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says his country and Washington have common interests at stake in the fight against extremism, describing how Afghans see the United States as "critical" to the country's future. Ghani is due to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Ashton Carter at Camp David outside Washington on Monday.

Top Asian News at 10:30 p.m. GMT Posted: 22 Mar 2015 03:33 PM PDT SINGAPORE (AP) — Lee Kuan Yew, who founded modern Singapore and was both feared for his authoritarian tactics and admired for turning the city-state into one of the world's richest nations, died Monday, the government said. He was 91. Lee was admitted to Singapore General Hospital on Feb. 5 for severe pneumonia and was later put on life support.

Canada PM to talk to NATO head about expanding IS mission Posted: 22 Mar 2015 03:15 PM PDT TORONTO (AP) — Canada's prime minister will talk about his plan to extend and expand Canada's military mission against the Islamic State group at a meeting with NATO's secretary general.

Australia a puzzling hotbed of Islamic State recruiting Posted: 22 Mar 2015 02:50 PM PDT CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A nightclub bouncer who reportedly became a terror group leader. A man who tweeted a photo of his young son clutching a severed head. A teenager who is believed to have turned suicide bomber, and others suspected of attempting to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State movement. All of them, Australian.

Syrian Islamist merger in northwest counters al Qaeda's clout Posted: 22 Mar 2015 02:37 PM PDT By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - The powerful Syrian Islamist insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham has merged with a smaller jihadist faction in a move that could thwart the growing influence of al Qaeda's offshoot in northwestern Syria, jihadists sources said. Ahrar al-Sham, one of the largest jihadist groups in Syria alongside Islamic State and Nusra, announced on Sunday a merger with the smaller Suqur al-Sham, which shares its strongly Islamist line. A statement said the merger was prompted by a need to unify ranks in what some rebels say will expand Ahrar al-Sham's clout in the northwestern province of Idlib, where its rival Nusra has expanded since recently crushing Western-backed non-jihadist rebel groups. With other mergers they could get closer to...equal footing," Abu Malek al Shami, a local rebel commander from Jaish al-Mujahdeen wal Ansar told Reuters on viber.

U.N. warns Yemen conflict could become Iraq-Libya-Syria scenario Posted: 22 Mar 2015 02:34 PM PDT By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations warned on Sunday that Yemen's conflict could become an "Iraq-Libya-Syria" scenario if either side pushes for control of the country, prompting the U.N. Security Council to threaten further measures if the hostilities do not end. U.N. mediator Jamal Benomar briefed the 15-member Security Council on Sunday and said Yemen had been pushed "towards the edge of civil war." "It would be an illusion to think that the Houthis could mount an offensive and succeed in taking control of the entire country," Benomar said via video link from Doha. "It would be equally false to think that President Hadi could assemble sufficient forces to liberate the country from the Houthis. The U.N. Security Council condemned the takeover of much of Yemen and its institutions by the Shi'ite Muslim Houthis, urged them to withdraw, stated its support for Hadi and demanded an end to the hostilities in a statement adopted on Sunday.

Houthis seize strategic Yemeni city, escalating power struggle Posted: 22 Mar 2015 01:25 PM PDT By Mohammed Mukhashef ADEN (Reuters) - Houthi fighters opposed to Yemen's president took over the central city of Taiz in an escalation of a power struggle diplomats say risks drawing in neighboring oil giant Saudi Arabia and its main regional rival Iran. In a live televised speech, Houthi said his decision to mobilize fighters amid accelerating violence in recent days was aimed at Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for bombings that killed more than 130 in the capital, Sanaa, on Friday, and al Qaeda. Conflict has been spreading across Yemen since last year when the Houthis seized Sanaa and effectively removed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who now seeks a comeback from his base in Aden. Residents of Taiz, on a main road from Sanaa to the country's second city, Aden, said Houthi militias took over the city's military airport without a struggle late on Saturday.

'Hit list' of 100 US troops: What it says about Islamic State power Posted: 22 Mar 2015 12:57 PM PDT The latest threat by the Islamic State fits a now-familiar pattern of the group ingeniously using social media to create the impression that it has greater reach and power than it actually does. The Islamic State has posted online the names, photos, and addresses of 100 American military personnel and has asked sympathizers in the United States to kill them. While officials say the Islamic State likely does not have the capability to launch a terrorist attack in the US, "lone wolf" terrorism remains a concern. Yet the manner in which the Islamic State issued its call to "brothers residing in America" appears to be filled with no small amount of false information intended to make the group look impressive.

If Nuke Deal Fails, Iran Proceeds at Their Own Peril: CIA Director Brennan Posted: 22 Mar 2015 12:51 PM PDT Though U.S. officials say they are making progress in reaching a nuclear deal with Iran, CIA Director John Brennan had a stern warning for the country if the deal falls apart.

U.N. says Yemen conflict could become 'Iraq-Libya-Syria' scenario Posted: 22 Mar 2015 12:33 PM PDT UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations mediator on Yemen said on Sunday it would be an illusion to think that Houthi militia could take over the whole country or that President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi could assemble enough troops to liberate the country. "Any side that would want to push the country in either direction would be inviting a protracted conflict in the vein of an Iraq-Libya-Syria combined scenario," U.N. mediator Jamal Benomar told the U.N. Security Council via a video link from Doha. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Third Tunisia museum suspect 'on the run' Posted: 22 Mar 2015 12:33 PM PDT Tunisia is hunting a third suspect in the massacre of tourists at its national museum, President Beji Caid Essebsi said on Sunday, after admitting security failures at the Bardo. Wednesday's attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunis killed 20 foreign tourists and a policeman, and was the first assault claimed by the Islamic State group in the North African country. It came as Tunisia -- the birthplace of the Arab Spring that held its first free elections last year -- struggles with rising Islamist extremism. After rampaging through the museum for several hours, the two gunmen were killed in an assault by security forces.

The Courageous Brilliance of Steve Nash Posted: 22 Mar 2015 12:29 PM PDT For a player who won the NBA Most Valuable Player award twice, Steve Nash didn't look much like a professional basketball player. Lean and shaggy-haired, Nash resembled a marching band member who accidentally wandered onto the court. A dazzling point guard who combined precise passing skill with a devastating jump shot, Nash drove an up-tempo Phoenix Suns team that evoked memories of Magic Johnson's Showtime Los Angeles Lakers. As the U.S. planned its invasion of Iraq in early 2003, Nash, then with the Dallas Mavericks, appeared in warmups wearing a t-shirt that read "No War.

Houthi chief vows to fight militants, sees Libya-style strife Posted: 22 Mar 2015 12:27 PM PDT The leader of Yemen's powerful Houthi movement vowed on Sunday to pursue Islamist militants behind suicide attacks anywhere and said the country was in danger of descending into Libya-style turmoil. In a live televised speech, Abdel-Malek al-Houthi said his decision to mobilize his fighters amid accelerating violence in recent days was aimed against Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for bombings that killed more than 130 in the capital Sanaa on Friday, and against al Qaeda. Violence has been spreading across Yemen since last year when the Iran-allied Houthis seized Sanaa and advanced into Sunni Muslim areas, leading to clashes with local tribes and al Qaeda and energizing a southern separatist movement.

CIA director: Iran general 'destabilizing' efforts in Iraq Posted: 22 Mar 2015 11:46 AM PDT WASHINGTON (AP) — Having the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force direct Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State group is complicating the U.S. mission against terrorism and contributing to destabilization in Iraq, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency said Sunday.

IS seeks to offset 'caliphate' defeats with new attacks Posted: 22 Mar 2015 11:37 AM PDT By launching attacks in Yemen and Tunisia, the Islamic State group aims to demonstrate its ability to expand in order to divert attention from setbacks in Syria and Iraq, experts say. "Expansion is their strategy," and the first IS attacks in Yemen and Tunisia allow it to appear omnipresent, said J.M. Berger, analyst and co-author of "ISIS: the State of Terror". After announcing its self-styled "caliphate" in 2014, "IS has made formal ventures into Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Libya, Tunisia, and now Yemen as part of its effort to broaden its reach around the region," he said.

Tunisian president says third suspect in museum attack on the run Posted: 22 Mar 2015 11:28 AM PDT Tunisia's President Beji Caid Essebsi said on Sunday that a third gunman involved in an attack that killed 23 people, mostly foreign tourists, at a Tunis museum last week was on the run. The shootings at the museum inside Tunisia's parliament compound was one of the worst militant attacks in Tunisian history and brought to light the threat posed by Islamist militants to the young democracy, four years after its "Arab Spring" revolt. Some had recently returned from fighting for Islamist militant groups in Syria and Libya. "For sure there were three because they have been identified and filmed on surveillance cameras," Essebsi said in a televised interview with Europe 1 radio, iTELE and Le Monde newspaper.

US trains Iraqi forces as battle for Tikrit continues Posted: 22 Mar 2015 11:17 AM PDT TAJI, Iraq (AP) — As the U.S. mission to Iraq expands, so do its efforts to arm and train the country's security forces to combat the Islamic State group, with large-scale operations continuing to recapture territory from the Sunni militants.

Islamic State hit by U.S., allies in nine air strikes: statement Posted: 22 Mar 2015 10:48 AM PDT The United States and its allies targeted Islamic State in nine air strikes in Iraq and Syria in the latest round of daily attacks on the militants, the Combined Joint Task Force said on Sunday. In Syria, three strikes near the city of Kobani hit an Islamic State tactical unit, vehicles and fighting positions in a 24-hour period that ended early Sunday. Three strikes near Mosul, Iraq, destroyed two excavators and a shipping container while a building, heavy machinegun and cache of explosives were destroyed in two air strikes near Ramadi.

Morocco says IS cell busted, arms seized Posted: 22 Mar 2015 10:14 AM PDT Morocco said Sunday it dismantled a "terrorist cell" and seized weapons earmarked for a string of assassinations in a nationwide operation targeting supporters of the Islamic State jihadist group. Raids were carried out in several cities including Agadir in southwest Morocco, Marrakesh in the south, Boujaad in the centre, Tangiers in the north, Ain Harouda near Casablanca and in the Western Sahara.

CIA'S Brennan: Islamic State's momentum blunted in Syria, Iraq Posted: 22 Mar 2015 10:06 AM PDT By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The momentum of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has been blunted and the extremist group is not "on the march" as it was previously, CIA Director John Brennan said on Sunday. "Clearly ISIS's momenutm inside of Iraq and Syria has been blunted, and it has been stopped. So they are not on the march as they were several months ago," Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday," using an acronym for the group that has seized large areas of Iraq and Syria.

U.S. Ordered to Release Photos of Military Detainee Abuse Posted: 22 Mar 2015 09:51 AM PDT For more than a decade, the American Civil Liberties Union has been pushing for the photos to be made public in an attempt to hold the government responsible for its actions in military prisons, including Abu Ghraib in Iraq. Photographs that depicted military abuse of prisoners there were internationally condemned when they surfaced in 2004, initially sparking the ACLU lawsuit that same year. "The photos are crucial to the public record," Jameel Jaffer, ACLU deputy legal director, told the AP.  For years, the government has defended its decision not to release the photos by arguing that, if published, the potentially disturbing images could provoke attacks against U.S. forces and government officials abroad.

Missing British medical students feared to have joined IS Posted: 22 Mar 2015 09:45 AM PDT A group of British medical students of Sudanese origin who went missing after travelling to Turkey are feared to have crossed into Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) group as doctors, reports and sources said on Sunday. The families of the students have travelled to the Turkey-Syria border in a desperate appeal for them to return home before it is too late, a Turkish opposition MP said. According to reports in Britain's The Guardian newspaper and the BBC, nine young students flew to Istanbul from the Sudanese capital Khartoum on March 12 and then overland by bus towards Syria. A Turkish MP from the Republican People's Party (CHP) Mehmet Ali Ediboglu, who represents the Hatay region bordering Syria, wrote on his Facebook page that he was helping the families in their search.

North Africa jihadi front spreads to Arab Spring cradle Tunisia Posted: 22 Mar 2015 09:37 AM PDT By Patrick Markey TUNIS (Reuters) - Praised as a model of Arab Spring progress, Tunisia has finally been drawn onto the global jihadi battlefield after Islamist militants gunned down foreign tourists in a brazen assault at the heart of the capital. The storming of the Bardo museum inside the heavily guarded parliament compound was more deadly evidence Islamist militants are turning to North Africa as a new front beyond their main battlegrounds in Iraq and Syria. Libyan and Tunisian jihadists have streamed to the ranks of Islamic State and other militant groups in Syria and Iraq.

IS targets US military personnel in online threat Posted: 22 Mar 2015 09:36 AM PDT A group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking Division published what it said were the names and addresses of 100 US military staff and urged IS supporters to kill them, a monitoring group said Sunday. The allegedly hacked information about members of the air force, army and navy included photos and ranks of personnel, SITE Intelligence said. The hacking group said it took the information from government servers, databases and emails. The self-proclaimed hackers said the 100 military staff had targeted the Islamic State group in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, and called on sympathisers to mount attacks.

Remodeling the Muslim response to terror attacks Posted: 22 Mar 2015 09:32 AM PDT There is another side to these sensational events, one that is not as dramatic yet carries far greater import as militants like Islamic State step up their attacks in the Middle East and North Africa. Until recently, the most common reaction has been counterviolence – military raids on terrorist cells or radical Muslim groups, retaliation against particular tribes or sects, or even the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syria on Islamist fighters. A second response has been tighter controls on civil liberties. Egypt has reverted to dictatorship after its brief Arab Spring democracy, jailing liberal activists and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood.

America's political royalty Posted: 22 Mar 2015 09:10 AM PDT In a nation of 319 million people, America's 2016 presidential election could well come down to a rematch between two of its greatest modern political families: the Bushes and the Clintons.

US Embassy in Saudi Arabia reopens after security concerns Posted: 22 Mar 2015 09:01 AM PDT RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — The U.S. Embassy in Riyadh and two other diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia resumed consular services on Sunday after closing all of last week due to security concerns.

Iraq militia chief slams army 'weaklings' over Tikrit strikes Posted: 22 Mar 2015 08:57 AM PDT The head of a powerful Shiite militia on Sunday criticised "weaklings" in the Iraqi army who want US-led air strikes to support the massive operation to retake Tikrit from jihadists. The remarks by Hadi al-Ameri point to a possible divide between the Iraqi army and allied paramilitaries known as "Popular Mobilisation" units, which are dominated by Shiite militia forces, over the now-stalled Tikrit drive. "Some of the weaklings in the army... say we need the Americans, while we say we do not need the Americans," Ameri told journalists at Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, when asked about US-led air support for Tikrit. Army Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, a top commander in Salaheddin province, of which Tikrit is the capital, told AFP that he had requested such strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group and that they were needed.

Despite deep rivalry, Connecticut tribes plan new casinos Posted: 22 Mar 2015 06:45 AM PDT HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — For the leaders of two Connecticut tribes proposing to build new casinos together, some of the toughest crowds to win over have been their own tribes, business rivals with a history of conflict that dates to a massacre nearly 400 years ago.

US Marine Corps urges 'vigilance' after online Islamist threat Posted: 22 Mar 2015 06:26 AM PDT The US Marine Corps on Sunday urged "vigilance" after a group claiming to be Islamic State hackers published what they said were the names and addresses of 100 military personnel and urged supporters to kill them. The warning came after a group calling itself the Islamic State Hacking Division posted information about members of the air force, army and navy, including photos and ranks, on the Internet, according to monitoring group SITE Intelligence. The US Marine Corps said it was visiting all affected staff, and urged caution online. "Vigilance and force protection considerations remain a priority for commanders and their personnel," US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel John Caldwell said in a statement, adding that the threat remained "unverified".

Iran general in Iraq 'whenever we need', says militia chief Posted: 22 Mar 2015 06:17 AM PDT Al-Alam (Iraq) (AFP) - Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top officer responsible for foreign operations, provides assistance in Iraq "whenever we need him," Hadi al-Ameri, the commander of the Badr militia, said on Sunday. He was apparently referring to the battle to retake the nearby city of Tikrit from the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which began earlier this month and has since become a siege. "Qassem Soleimani is here whenever we need him," said Ameri, whose Badr militia is a powerful Iranian-backed force in the fight against IS. Ameri's remarks are a sign of the important role Soleimani plays in military operations against IS in Iraq and the influence Tehran wields here, both much to Washington's chagrin.

The Knights Templar Maps a Plan to Fight ISIS and Win Posted: 22 Mar 2015 06:00 AM PDT 701years ago, on March 18th, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar was burned at the stake in France. As he died, Jacques de Molay cursed the French king who had betrayed him, and whose own dynasty collapsed fourteen years later. The only successes against ISIS have come at the hands of expressly ethno-sectarian troops—not states you could identify on a Google map: the Shiite militias and Iranian advisors that accompany the Iraqi army into battle, the Alawi Syrians and their Hezbollah allies, or the Kurds fighting, with a wink, for the Iraqi state. Before Amnesty International, before Greenpeace, the Knights Templars and other crusading orders like the Knights Hospitaller were the original non-governmental organizations.

Families seek foreign medical students who travelled to Syria: Turkish MP Posted: 22 Mar 2015 05:23 AM PDT By Humeyra Pamuk ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A group of foreign medical students, including seven Britons, an American and a Canadian, are thought to have travelled to Syria to work in hospitals controlled by Islamic State, a Turkish member of parliament in the border region said on Sunday. Ten of the group, aged between 19-25, flew from the Sudanese capital Khartoum to Istanbul on March 12, according to Mehmet Ali Ediboglu, an opposition MP in the Hatay border region who is trying to help their parents find the men and women. An 11th member of the group - which also includes two Sudanese - flew to Istanbul from Toronto before they crossed together illegally into Syria, Ediboglu told Reuters. A Turkish government official said the British, Turkish and Sudanese security services were jointly investigating but gave no further details.

Libya rivals fight for control of country's oil wealth Posted: 22 Mar 2015 04:18 AM PDT Al-Baida (Libya) (AFP) - The battle for Libya's oil wealth has taken on new dimensions as rival governments lay claim to the National Oil Company, further deepening divisions in the volatile North African nation. The latest row erupted this week as UN envoy Bernardino Leon, who is mediating between Libya's warring factions, warned the country was heading towards destruction unless a political deal is found. It also comes as the jihadist Islamic State group, which has made huge profits from illegal oil sales in Syria and Iraq where it has seized chunks of territory, has gained a foothold in Libya. The economy has been reeling since December, when production fell to around 350,000 bpd as the Fajr Libya militia alliance, which includes Islamists, attacked oil terminals in the east.

Tunisian president says hunt on for 3rd man in museum attack Posted: 22 Mar 2015 03:25 AM PDT TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — A third attacker in the deadly assault on the Bardo museum is on the run, Tunisia's president said Sunday, declaring his country at war with the extremists who killed 21 people at one of North Africa's most revered cultural institutions.

ISIS’s 10 Most Extreme Acts of Terror Posted: 22 Mar 2015 03:15 AM PDT Nearly two years ago an extreme offshoot of al-Qaeda proclaimed itself a caliphate in the Middle East . Today ISIS has been condemned worldwide for its commission of brutal crimes against humanity, including ...

Tunisia arrests more than 20 in crackdown since museum attack Posted: 22 Mar 2015 12:42 AM PDT By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian authorities have arrested more than 20 suspected militants in a nationwide security crackdown since gunmen killed 23 people, mostly foreign tourists, in Wednesday's attack in the capital, the government said. Hundreds of people gathered for a mass in the cathedral in Tunis on Saturday, lighting candles to remember the victims, who included three Tunisians, in a ceremony attended by government ministers. Wednesday's assault, the deadliest involving foreigners in Tunisia since a 2002 suicide bombing on the island of Djerba, came at a fragile moment for a country just emerging to full democracy after a popular uprising four years ago. The government said the two gunmen had trained in jihadi camps in Libya before the attack at the Bardo museum inside the heavily secured Tunisian parliament compound.

Libya's official government bombs capital, commander loyal to Tripoli killed Posted: 22 Mar 2015 12:30 AM PDT By Ahmed Elumami and Ayman al-Warfalli TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) - Libya's official government conducted air strikes on Saturday against airports and a military camp in the capital Tripoli, controlled by a rival government, and killed a senior commander loyal to that government, officials said. The internationally recognised government said on Friday that it had launched a military offensive to "liberate" Tripoli, which a group called Libya Dawn seized in August, reinstating a previous parliament. The recognised prime minister, Abdullah al-Thinni, and the elected parliament have been confined to eastern Libya since then. Both administrations and the armed factions loyal to them are fighting for control, four years after Muammar Gaddafi was toppled.

You are subscribed to email updates from Iraq News Headlines - Yahoo! News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States