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Kerry holds crisis talks with Kurds, urges them to save Iraq from collapse
UK phone hacking trial
Putin relents on use of force in Ukraine
Sissi refuses pardon for scribes
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UN holds talks to broker Afghan Prez election deal
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Kerry holds crisis talks with Kurds, urges them to save Iraq from collapse
Arbil, June 24 Security forces fought Sunni armed factions for control of the country's biggest oil refinery on Tuesday and militants launched an attack on one of its largest air bases less than 100 km from the capital. More than 1,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in less than three weeks, the United Nations said on Tuesday, calling the figure "very much a minimum". The figure includes unarmed government troops machine-gunned in mass graves by insurgents, as well as several reported incidents of prisoners killed in their cells by retreating government forces. Kerry flew to the Kurdish region after a day in Baghdad on an emergency trip through the Middle East to rescue Iraq after a lightning advance by Sunni fighters led by an Al-Qaida offshoot, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. US officials believe that persuading the Kurds to stick with the political process in Baghdad is vital to keep Iraq from splitting apart. "If they decide to withdraw from the Baghdad political process it will accelerate a lot of the negative trends," said a senior State Department official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. Kurdish leaders have made clear that the settlement keeping Iraq together as a state is now in jeopardy. "We are facing a new reality and a new Iraq," Kurdish President Massoud Barzani said at the start of his meeting with Kerry. Earlier, he blamed Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's "wrong policies" for the violence and called for him to quit, saying it was "very difficult" to imagine Iraq staying together. The 5 million Kurds, who have ruled themselves within Iraq in relative peace since the U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, have seized on this month's chaos to expand their own territory, taking control of rich oil deposits. Two days after the Sunni fighters launched their uprising by seizing the north's biggest city Mosul, Kurdish troops took full control of Kirkuk, a city they consider their historic capital and which was abandoned by the fleeing Iraqi army. The Kurds' capture of Kirkuk, just outside the boundary of their autonomous zone, eliminates their main incentive to remain part of Iraq: its oil deposits could generate more revenue than the Kurds now receive from Baghdad as part of the settlement that has kept them from declaring independence. Some senior Kurdish officials suggest in private they are no longer committed to Iraq and are biding their time for an opportunity to seek independence. In an interview with CNN, Barzani repeated a threat to hold a referendum on independence, saying it was time for Kurds to decide their own fate.
— Reuters Key players in iraq
Regional & international players: Iran regards itself as the regional protecting power of Shiites. That's why Tehran supports the Iraqi government in its fight against Sunni ISIS. Iran's regional opponent, Sunni Saudi Arabia, has warned of international meddling in the conflict. Saudi Arabia, just like other Gulf States, fears a strong Shiite axis from Iraq to Iran and Syria to Lebanese Hezbollah. The United States supports the Maliki government. After the US withdrew its troops from Iraq in 2011, Washington has supplied arms to Iraq's army.
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Coulson guilty, Brooks cleared
London, June 24 Coulson, 46, who edited the now defunct News of the World (NoW) tabloid before becoming Prime Minister David Cameron’s official spokesperson, faces jail after the jury unanimously returned a guilty verdict against him at the Old Bailey court here. Brooks, 46, was found not guilty of four charges spanning an 11-year period at News International, including during her editorship of the NoW and The Sun. Brooks has been cleared by a jury of four counts including plotting to hack phones, conspiring to pervert the course of justice, and two counts of conspiring to commit misconduct in public office. The nearly eight-month trial was triggered by revelations that for years the NoW used illegal eavesdropping to get stories, listened the voicemails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims. Employees of the newspaper were accused of engaging in phone hacking, police bribery, and exercising improper influence in the pursuit of publishing stories. The 168-year-old NoW shut down in disgrace in July 2011 amid a public outcry. There were dramatic scenes outside the court today as the flame-haired Brooks and her husband, Charlie - a racehorse trainer - who was also cleared, left the court. Brooks appeared to mouth “thank you” to the jury and also held the hand of her former personal assistant Cheryl Carter, who looked close to tears. Coulson stood emotionless as he absorbed the news. The verdict raises pressure on Cameron, who hired him as director of communications only a few weeks after he quit NoW. — PTI
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Putin relents on use of force in Ukraine
Moscow, June 24 Putin’s announcement comes after pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine said yesterday they would respect a cease-fire declared by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, raising hopes for an end to months of fighting that have killed hundreds and driven thousands from their homes. A statement on the Kremlin website announced that Putin had asked the head of Russia’s upper house of parliament to cancel his March 1 request authorising the use of force on Ukrainian territory. Russian parliament member Valery Shnyakin said the house would vote tomorrow on the issue, according to RIA Novosti. Russian markets, which have been rattled by the crisis in Ukraine and a host of sanctions by the US and the European Union against Russian officials and businessmen, soared 1.6 per cent today after the news, reaching a four-month high. The Russian leader had made the request after Ukraine’s pro-Russian president was ousted in February following months of street protests. In March, Ukraine’s Black Sea region of Crimea was annexed by Russia after being seized by troops that Putin later acknowledged were Russian army forces.
Putin’s latest move reflects an effort to de-escalate the crisis ahead of a visit today to Vienna, where he is meeting with officials from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation who have helped broker peace talks between Kiev and Moscow.
— AP |
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Sissi refuses pardon for scribes
Cairo, June 24 The verdict of seven years in prison against the journalists brought a landslide of international condemnation. Rights groups described their five-month trial as a sham, with no evidence presented to back the terrorism related charges against them, saying the three were being punished simply for their reporting on protests by backers of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The White House said the ruling “flouts the most basic standards of media freedom” and was a “blow to democratic progress.” It called on el-Sissi to intervene to bring about the immediate release of the three—Australian Peter Greste, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohammed. In a televised address to graduating military cadets, el-Sissi said, “We will not interfere in court verdicts”—repeating the phrase twice in his speech to drive home the point. — AP
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UN holds talks to broker Afghan Prez election deal
Kabul, June 24 Afghanistan’s first democratic transfer of power was thrown into turmoil when Abdullah said the Independent Election Commission (IEC) was guilty of fraud and he considered it illegitimate. The dispute threatened to tip the country into political instability at a sensitive time, with the withdrawal of US-led combat forces after 13 years of fighting Taliban insurgents. The UN had been reluctant to interfere in the election, but outgoing President Hamid Karzai said he would welcome its help as the deadlock deepened. “The IEC and Presidential Candidate Dr Abdullah Abdullah met last night in an encounter facilitated by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan,” the UN said in a statement. A potential breakthrough emerged yesterday when senior IEC official Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, whom Abdullah had accused of fraud, resigned.
— AFP |
Over 60 women, girls abducted in Nigeria
Pak cleric, 1,400 others booked under terror charges Pak air strikes kill 47 militants in tribal region
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ISIS or ISIL: The ‘Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’ fights for a Sunni caliphate in the Arab region. Its second name ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) expresses the group's desire to install a broader Sunni caliphate that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to Euphrates. It emerged from the
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi-led group (pic) "Al-Qaida in Iraq" which fought the US' invasion in Iraq.
Shias: Arab Shiites, about 60 % of the population, make up the largest religious group in Iraq. They mostly live nearby the country's center, close to their holy cities Najaf and Karbala south of Iraq's capital, Baghdad. After the end of the war,
Nuri al-Maliki (pic) was the declared winner of democratic elections. He is supported by a Shiite alliance which sparked tensions between Shiites and Sunnis and led to another power struggle.
Kurds: About 17% of the Iraqi population are members of this ethnic group. The majority of Kurds belongs to Sunni Islam. They live mostly in the autonomous region in northern Iraq. They try to stay away from the recent conflict between ISIS fighters and the Shiites under Maliki. They have their own Peshmerga force made up by over 100,000 fighters. Kurdistan Regional Government is headed by
Massoud Barzani (pic).
