Yahoo! News: Iraq

Veteran Israeli politician Ben Eliezer dies aged 80
Turkey-backed rebels expel Kurdish forces from Syrian towns
EU nations must not to refuse Muslim migrants: Merkel
Down another key minister, Iraq continues Mosul push
Iraq requests new Saudi envoy after assassination remarks
Iraq asks Saudi Arabia to replace envoy who riled Shi'ite militias
Envoy says Saudi policies on Iraq will not change: TV
Turkish army kills seven Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey: media
Bangladesh police identify dead militants linked to Dhaka cafe attack
What Ever Happened to the Two-State Solution?

Veteran Israeli politician Ben Eliezer dies aged 80

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 11:59 AM PDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Binyamin Ben Eliezer, a veteran Israeli politician who held several top government posts and often served as a bridge to the Arab world, died Sunday. He was 80.

Turkey-backed rebels expel Kurdish forces from Syrian towns

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 11:56 AM PDT

BEIRUT (AP) — Rebels backed by Turkey made major gains Sunday in northern Syria, expelling Kurdish-led forces from towns and villages as part of a determined campaign by Ankara to push the militants east of the Euphrates River.

EU nations must not to refuse Muslim migrants: Merkel

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 11:37 AM PDT

The refusal of some EU countries to accept Muslim refugees is "unacceptable", Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday as Germany called for quotas to divide the influx throughout the bloc. "That's not right at all that some countries say: 'generally speaking, we don't want to have Muslims in our countries'," Merkel told German public television channel ARD. A common European migration policy is a highly controversial issue, which will be on the agenda of an EU summit next month, with eastern members the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia refusing to take in refugees under an EU-wide quota system championed by Berlin.

Down another key minister, Iraq continues Mosul push

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 09:05 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's security forces continue to gear up for a long-awaited operation to retake the Islamic State-held city of Mosul. But they will be doing so without the minister of defense who has presided over most of the military's recent successes against IS.

Iraq requests new Saudi envoy after assassination remarks

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 06:54 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Foreign Ministry said the government on Sunday formally requested that the Saudi ambassador in Baghdad be replaced after he claimed that Iranian-backed Shiite militias are plotting to assassinate him.

Iraq asks Saudi Arabia to replace envoy who riled Shi'ite militias

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 05:37 AM PDT

Iraq asked Saudi Arabia on Sunday to replace its ambassador in Baghdad after his comments about Iranian involvement in Iraqi affairs and the alleged persecution of Sunni Muslims angered local Shi'ite Muslim politicians and militia leaders. The request by Baghdad's Shi'ite-led government underscores the depth of enmity between Sunni and Shi'ite regional powers as sectarian conflicts rage in Syria, Yemen and Iraq. Riyadh only reopened its embassy in Baghdad in December after keeping it shut since the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.

Envoy says Saudi policies on Iraq will not change: TV

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 04:52 AM PDT

The Saudi Arabian ambassador to Iraq, reacting to a reported request by Baghdad that Riyadh withdraw him, told Al Arabiyah television on Sunday that the kingdom's policies on Iraq would not change, and Saudi ties with Iraqi politicians were amicable. "Frankly I tried to fulfill my duties ... Saudi Arabia's policies in Iraq will not change," Thamer al-Sabhan told the Saudi-owned station. "We have a very amicable relationship with Iraqi politicians that the media does not capture." "This is not personal issue.

Turkish army kills seven Kurdish militants in southeast Turkey: media

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 04:13 AM PDT

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish forces killed at least 7 members of the outlawed Kurdish PKK militant group in clashes on Sunday in southeast Turkey near its border with Iraq, Turkish media reported. Two Turkish soldiers were also wounded in the clashes that started after PKK militants opened fire on Turkish soldiers, privately run Dogan news agency reported. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Bangladesh police identify dead militants linked to Dhaka cafe attack

Posted: 28 Aug 2016 03:37 AM PDT

By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - One of the three militants killed by Bangladeshi security forces on Saturday in connection with July's Dhaka cafe attack came from a posh area of the city like some of the attackers and went to a prestigious foreign university, police said on Sunday. Towsif Hossain was from Dhaka's leafy Dhanmondi neighborhood and was missing since February. Like Nibras Islam, one of the five young and affluent cafe attackers who was killed after a 12-hour siege on July 2, Hossain had also attended the Kuala Lumpur campus of Australia's prestigious Monash University, the head of the Dhaka police counterterrorism unit told reporters.