| US anti-IS envoy visits Kurdish, Arab fighters in Syria: sources Posted: 31 Jan 2016 03:12 PM PST  A delegation including senior US diplomat Brett McGurk met members of a Kurd-Arab alliance fighting the Islamic State jihadist group inside Syria, Kurdish sources said Sunday. McGurk, who is US President Barack Obama's envoy to an international coalition fighting IS in Syria and Iraq, was accompanied by French and British officials, the sources told AFP. One Kurdish source close to the meeting said a "high-level military delegation from the international coalition (against IS)," met Saturday with senior members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.
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| Islamic State bombings near Syria Shiite shrine kill 71 Posted: 31 Jan 2016 01:09 PM PST  Bombings claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group killed 71 people and wounded dozens more on Sunday near a revered Shiite shrine outside the Syrian capital Damascus, a monitor said. The blasts, which came as the UN's Syria envoy struggled to convene fresh peace talks in Geneva from which IS is excluded, tore a massive crater in the road, overturning and mangling cars and a bus and shattering windows. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said 71 people were killed in two blasts near the Sayyida Zeinab shrine, including five children.
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| Americans not believed among militants detained by Saudis: U.S. officials Posted: 31 Jan 2016 12:15 PM PST U.S. officials said on Sunday they did not believe nine U.S. citizens were among 33 suspects detained on terrorism charges in Saudi Arabia over the past week, as reported by a Saudi newspaper. The English-language daily Saudi Gazette, citing an unnamed source, on Sunday reported that four Americans were detained last Monday, followed by another five in the following days. Saudi authorities also detained 14 Saudis, three Yemenis, two Syrians, an Indonesian, a Filipino, a United Arab Emirates citizen, a Palestinian and a citizen of Kazakhstan, the report said. |
| Syria peace talks struggle as US says 'seize moment' Posted: 31 Jan 2016 11:17 AM PST  The UN special envoy for Syria fought Sunday to keep alive the biggest diplomatic push yet to end the Syrian war as Washington urged both sides in fragile peace talks to seize the moment. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the attacks were "clearly aimed to disrupt the attempts to start a political process" to end a conflict that has killed more than 260,000 people. In Geneva, UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura held separate talks with representatives of President Bashar al-Assad and with the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) opposition umbrella group.
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| EU, Africa urge unity govt in Libya to counter IS Posted: 31 Jan 2016 10:23 AM PST  International pressure mounted Sunday on Libya to form a national unity government as the Islamic State jihadist group expands at the doorstep of Europe and the rest of Africa. In Libya itself, prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj met controversial army chief General Khalifa Haftar as part of a series of encounters to press the creation of a UN-backed unity cabinet. The meeting came as African Union leaders at a summit in Addis Ababa called for a political solution in Libya to curb the spread of IS.
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| U.N. asks for $861 million to help Iraq meet humanitarian bill Posted: 31 Jan 2016 09:41 AM PST  By Saif Hameed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United Nations appealed on Sunday for $861 million to help Iraq meet a big funding gap in its 2016 emergency response to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war against Islamic State. Baghdad, whose revenues have fallen as oil prices have plunged, has said it would manage to finance less than half of its $1.56 billion plan to assist 10 million people in need. U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Iraq Lise Grande said she expected the crisis in Iraq "to widen and worsen" in coming months.
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| Here Are Greek Soccer Players Staging A Sit-Down Protest Over Refugee Deaths Posted: 31 Jan 2016 08:46 AM PST  Players, coaches and substitutes in a Greek soccer match staged a sit-down protest for refugees who were killed trying to enter Greece.
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| UN appeals for $861 mn in humanitarian aid for Iraq Posted: 31 Jan 2016 07:18 AM PST  The United Nations launched an appeal on Sunday for $861 million in international humanitarian assistance to help millions of people in Iraq who are suffering from war and displacement. Violence including the devastating war with the Islamic State jihadist group has displaced 3.3 million Iraqis in the past two years, while some 250,000 Syrians have fled to Iraq to escape the war in their country. Plunging oil prices have drastically reduced oil revenue which Iraq relies on for the vast majority of its funds, meaning that Baghdad cannot afford to cover the cost of addressing the humanitarian crisis.
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| Iraq militia attacks may constitute war crimes: HRW Posted: 31 Jan 2016 07:14 AM PST  Iraqi Shiite militiamen abducted and killed civilians following bombings earlier this month, actions that may constitute war crimes, Human Rights Watch said on Sunday. Shiite paramilitary forces have been repeatedly accused of abuses including summary executions, kidnappings and destruction of property in the course of the war against the Islamic State jihadist group. Following January 11 bombings claimed by IS in Muqdadiyah, a town northeast of Baghdad, militiamen attacked "Sunnis as well as their homes and mosques, killing at least a dozen people and perhaps many more," HRW said, citing local residents.
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| Olympic football qualification rare bright spot for Iraqis Posted: 31 Jan 2016 07:04 AM PST  Iraqis set off fireworks and took to the streets to celebrate their football team qualifying for the Olympics, a rare unifying bright spot for a country plagued by violence and division. Iraq defeated Qatar 2-1 in the Asian Football Confederation's U23 Championship to secure a spot in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the fifth time the Iraqi team has qualified. "Nothing brings joy to Iraq except the athletes," said Yasir al-Saffar, who owns a small shop in Baghdad.
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| German conservatives address concerns about migrants as support wanes Posted: 31 Jan 2016 06:29 AM PST  By Michelle Martin BERLIN (Reuters) - Senior German conservatives sought at the weekend to reassure Germans concerned about a record migrant influx, saying numbers must go down and criminal refugees could be deported as a poll showed support for the bloc slipping. Some 1.1 million migrants streamed into Germany last year, and regions and communities have complained that they are being overwhelmed. Chancellor Angela Merkel said most refugees from Syria and Iraq would go home once the conflicts there had ended and urged other European countries to offer more help "because the numbers need to be reduced even further and must not start to rise again, especially in spring".
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| 'Major risk' of IS crossing Mediterranean with refugees: French minister Posted: 31 Jan 2016 06:19 AM PST  Islamic State fighters hiding among refugees travelling from Libya to Italy pose a "major risk" to Europe, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sunday. Le Drian said there was an "urgent" need for a political solution to the crisis in Libya to help combat the spread of the Islamic State group (IS), which now has several thousand fighters in the North African country. "Daesh is installing itself," Le Drian told French TV, using the Arabic acronym for the IS group.
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| 'State-of-the-art' subterfuge: how Iran kept flying under sanctions Posted: 31 Jan 2016 05:54 AM PST  It was brief and to the point. The hitherto unknown firm was "ready, willing and able" to buy four used Airbus A340 jets for which Kim was trying to broker a sale. "I talked to them and when I got the Letter of Intent with an Iranian name, I informed them that a deal was not possible because of sanctions," Kim, managing director of British-based aircraft trading company AvCon Worldwide, told Reuters. The company that tried to buy them, registered in a Nicosia apartment with two directors with names that sounded Iranian, vanished from the radar, Kim said in a telephone interview. The methods used to evade sanctions mirror those used in other countries that are or have been under international sanctions in recent decades, such as South Africa, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Iraq and North Korea.
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| Islamic State group claims bombings near Syria Shiite shrine Posted: 31 Jan 2016 05:30 AM PST  The Islamic State group on Sunday claimed responsibility for bombings near a revered Shiite shrine outside the Syrian capital Damascus that killed at least 45 people. In a statement circulated on social media, the jihadist group said two of its members had detonated suicide bombs near the Sayyida Zeinab shrine. "Two soldiers of the caliphate carried out martyrdom operations in a den of the infidels in the Sayyida Zeinab area, killing nearly 50 and injuring around 120," the group said.
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| Attacks on Iraq's Sunnis could constitute war crimes: rights group Posted: 31 Jan 2016 05:17 AM PST The abduction and killing of scores of Sunni civilians in eastern Iraq this month and attacks on their property by Iranian-backed Shi'ite militiamen could constitute a war crime, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Sunday. Shi'ite militiamen deployed this month in Muqdadiya, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of Baghdad, after two blasts killed 23 people near a coffee shop where they often meet. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attacks which it said had targeted Shi'ites. |
| Rights group: Shiite militias behind Iraq revenge attack Posted: 31 Jan 2016 04:46 AM PST BAGHDAD (AP) — Human Rights Watch said Sunday that powerful Iraqi Shiite militias were behind revenge attacks against Sunnis earlier this month that erupted after the Islamic State group bombed a cafe frequented by militiamen. |
| Iran gives medals for capture of U.S. sailors Posted: 31 Jan 2016 04:43 AM PST  Iran's supreme leader has awarded medals to navy commanders for capturing U.S. sailors who entered Iranian territorial waters this month, Iran's state media said on Sunday. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has said Iran should remain wary of its arch-enemy the United States even after a landmark accord over Tehran's nuclear program, awarded the Fath (Victory) medal to the head of the navy of the Revolutionary Guards and four commanders involved in the seizure of two U.S. Navy boats. Iran has awarded the Fath medal since 1989 to war heroes, military commanders and politicians, especially those linked to the eight-year Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
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| Drought tests a changed Ethiopia Posted: 31 Jan 2016 03:29 AM PST  By Aaron Maasho and Edmund Blair FEDETO/ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters) - On a treeless plain in eastern Ethiopia, thousands of destitute pastoralists have set up camp outside the tiny village of Fedeto. "We wandered for three months, losing every single animal apart from two donkeys," said Saido Ahmed Keyat, a 29-year-old mother of five, whose family had boasted 200 sheep and goats, 15 cattle, eight camels and seven donkeys. Back then, water shortages and conflict combined to cause a famine that killed an estimated one million people. In the years since, Ethiopia has transformed under a government that promotes rapid economic development, although it is criticised for limiting many political freedoms.
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| Americans among militant suspects detained in Saudi Arabia: paper Posted: 31 Jan 2016 02:26 AM PST Nine Americans are among 33 suspects detained on terrorism charges in Saudi Arabia over the past week, the English-language daily Saudi Gazette reported on Sunday citing an unnamed source. It reported that four Americans were detained on Monday and another five in the following days, along with 14 Saudis, three Yemenis, two Syrians, an Indonesian, a Filipino, a United Arab Emirates citizen, a Palestinian and a citizen of Kazakhstan. Saudi Arabia in 2014 declared Islamic State a terrorist organization and has detained hundreds of its supporters. |
| Australian IS recruiter reported dead Posted: 30 Jan 2016 10:18 PM PST  Australia's most senior recruiter for the Islamic State group in Syria, who was reportedly linked to an alleged plot to attack Anzac Day commemorations, has been killed, local media said Sunday. News of Neil Prakash's death was posted on secure communications app Telegram, Melbourne's Herald Sun reported, citing an IS member. The newspaper said there were no details about how, when and where Prakash, who left Australia in 2013, was killed.
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| Today in History Posted: 30 Jan 2016 09:01 PM PST Today is Sunday, Jan. 31, the 31st day of 2016. There are 335 days left in the year. |
| In Syria talks, global powers pull in many directions Posted: 30 Jan 2016 06:58 PM PST  The Syrian peace talks, which got off to a start of sorts this weekend, are meant to be a uniquely Syrian affair. What began as a popular revolt against the authoritarian rule of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011 quickly degenerated into a multi-front civil war that sucked in regional and global powers and created a chaos exploited by brutal jihadist groups. Today, the war in Syria is as much about global politics and regional competition as it is about who runs the country.
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