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Iraq
ISIS Captures Iraq Border Crossing With Jordan For First Time
2014-06-23
[Ynet] Islamic forces of Evil have made further territorial gains in Iraq Sunday including the capture of a border crossing with Jordan, feeding fears that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) may try to spread operations to Israel's closest neighbors reported the News Agency that Dare Not be Named.

Militants also took control of a Western border crossing with Syira according the report, bringing the large majority of western Iraq under ISIS control.
And in response:
Jordan sends troops to Iraqi border to counter ISIS gains

Sources in the Jordanian army reported Sunday that the country had announced large troop transfers to cover the border with Iraq after the krazed killer group the Islamic state of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) captured the main border crossing between Jordan and Iraq.

The sources said that the military had sent dozens of units to the area.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Zawahiri Disbands Main Qaida Faction in Syria
2013-11-09
[An Nahar] Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri
... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is...
has ordered the disbanding of the main jihadist faction in Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in an audio message aired on Al-Jazeera
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS...
Friday.

The tape confirmed a letter put out by Al-Jazeera in June, claimed to have been written by Zawahiri and addressed to the leaders of Al-Qaeda factions in both countries.

The head of Al-Qaeda also stressed that the Al-Nusra Front was the branch of the global jihadist group in Syria.

"The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is to be abolished, while the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) remains functioning," he said.

Zawahiri said the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, "has made a mistake by establishing the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant without asking for our permission, or even informing us."

It was not immediately clear when he made the remarks.

Meanwhile,
...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start tasting his third quart...
Zawahiri added that the leader of the Al-Nusra Front in Syria, Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani, "has made a mistake by announcing his rejection of the ISIL, without taking our permission, or even informing us."

He said the rule of ISI will be confined to Iraq, while the Al-Nusra Front in Syria will be "an independent branch of Al-Qaeda that reports to the general command."

Zawahiri also ordered the two branches to support each other whenever needed and possible.

An Al-Jazeera front man said the "recording has just emerged, and it confirms the authenticity of the letter" broadcast by Al-Jazeera previously.

Opposition activists have blamed the ISIL for an escalating abuse against Syrian rebels and civilians, including kidnappings and public executions in areas under the control of the Death Eater group.

Zawahiri chided Islamists from both sides for unauthorized attacks on Mohammedans.

"Both sides, and all the mujahedeen (Islamist fighters) should observe the sanctity of Mohammedans, in respecting their blood, families and property, and should not attack a Mohammedan without a court order," he said.
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Iraq
Al-Qaeda declares Iraq 'curfew' to stop elections
2010-03-06
WASHINGTON - Al-Qaeda in Iraq on Friday declared a country-wide "curfew" in a bid to stop Sunday's elections from going ahead, the SITE monitoring agency said.

"The Islamic state declares for the time a curfew on election day... from six in the morning until six pm, throughout Iraq and especially in Sunni areas," the group said in a message posted on its website, according to SITE. "For the safety of our people, any of those who learn of this, report it to those who do not know and supply yourself with needs for the curfew."

The Islamic state of Iraq, the Al-Qaeda front in the country, added in the statement that anyone who defies the curfew will "unfortunately expose himself to the anger of Allah and then to all kinds of weapons of the mujahedeen."
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Iraq
Three Ansar al-Sunnah members captured in Kirkuk
2008-07-30
(VOI) -- Iraqi police forces arrested three members of the self-styled Ansar al-Sunnah group during a security operation in downtown Kirkuk city, a local police chief said on Tuesday.

"Last night, a police force conducted a raid-and-search campaign in Gharnata neighborhood, downtown Kirkuk, and arrested three members of the so-called Ansar al-Sunnah, including one wanted by the security apparatus," Brigadier Sarhad Qadir told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq- (VOI).

The Ansar al-Sunnah, or Supporters of Sunnah (the Prophet Muhammad's tradition), is an armed group working under the banner of al-Qaeda's Islamic state of Iraq. It is active in the northern regions of Iraq, particularly in Ninewa and Kirkuk.
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Iraq
5 wanted al-Qaeda elements arrested in Mosul
2008-06-29
Ninewa, Jun 28, (VOI) – A force from the Iraqi army 8th brigade on Saturday arrested five wanted people affiliated with al-Qaeda organization (the so-called Islamic state of Iraq), in a raid operation in Mosul city.

"A force from the Iraqi army on Saturday afternoon arrested five wanted people members of the 'Islamic state of Iraq', in a raid operation that targeted a residential house at al-Arabi neighborhood, northern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.

"A quantity of arms and documents were seized inside the house," he said. "Interrogations are underway with the arrested persons," he noted.
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Iraq
Gunman captured south of Kirkuk
2008-06-18
(VOI) - Security forces arrested a gunman from what is called Ansar al-Sunna group during a security operation in south of Kirkuk, a media source said on Tuesday.

“Security forces waged a crackdown operation in Yarmaga village, south of Kirkuk where they arrested an element of Ansar al-Sunna group,” the source, who refused to be identified, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI). “The detainee confessed during the preliminary interrogation to planting bombs and booby-trapping vehicles, as well as shootings,” he said, noting that the man was a detainee and then released within the general pardon law recently approved by the Iraqi government. Ansar al-Sunna is one of the armed groups working under the mantra of al-Qaeda’s Islamic state of Iraq. It is active in the northern regions of Iraq.
Link


Iraq
Al-Qaeda leader caught in W. Mosul - Iraq army
2008-01-10
(KUNA) -- Al-Qaeda leader was caught east of Mosul city, located in northern Iraq, said a statement by the Iraqi army on Wednesday.

The Iraqi army went on saying that troops, based in Al-Kask area west of Mosul, arrested Raad Awad Issa, al-Qaeda leader in the province of Senjar, in Barzan town near the Syrian border today. Iraqi troops had confiscated from Issa some documents consisting of names for other terrorist groups in the region. The terrorist is accused of killing seven family members in the Senjar province.

Meanwhile, in northern Mosul, the Mutli-National Force (MNF) discovered the body of another Qaeda leader who was killed on December 25 during a coalition raid in Ninawa governorate north of the country. The Qaeda leader was identified as Hayder Al-Afri, who is also known by his alias Emad Abdul-Khareem. Al-Afri was responsible for the attacks against Iraqi citizens as well as U.S. marines. He was the leader of the so called Islamic state of Iraq in west of Mosul and also assume several posts in the Al-Qaeda. The terrorist was among others killed in the December 25 MNF's raid which also resulted in the arrest of about 27 militants.
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Iraq
Iraqi Army captures al-Qaeda leader, his aide
2007-10-14
(KUNA) -- Iraqi Army on Friday captured a key al-Qaeda leader in Muqdadiya district of Diyala province 57 kilometers northeastern Baghdad along with one of his aides and separately four others, including the Mufti of the so-called Islamic state of Iraq.

Brigades belonging to the Army's fifth squadron managed to make the arrest of the leader and his aide on Thursday through a raid, Diyala Operations' Command said in a statement without providing any further details. Another statement by the Command said that the other raid that resulted in arresting the four suspects, took place inside Shams village south of Baquba.
Link


Iraq
Al Qaeda group claims Iraq parliament attack
2007-04-14
DUBAI - An alliance of Sunni groups headed by Al Qaeda in Iraq said in an Internet statement on Friday that it carried out a deadly suicide bomb attack inside the Iraqi parliament building. “After studying the area... a hero from the Islamic state of Iraq wearing an explosive belt infiltrated the apostates of the parliament. Allah used his hand to destroy the group of infidels,” the self-styled Islamic Nation of Iraq said in the Internet statement.

“The right to legislate belongs to God alone, and whoever disputes that is an apostate. The members of parliament deserve only death,” the Internet statement said. “We delayed the announcement (claiming the bombing) to enable our men to withdraw,” it added, also threatening to launch “more violent attacks.”
Blackfive posted some "inside" speculation.
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India-Pakistan
Iraq war a prelude to forming "Greater Israel": Pak MP
2003-04-09
A religious scholar and member of the Pakistani Parliament on Wednesday described the unilateral war on Iraq as a prelude to establishing a Greater Israel in the Middle East.
Ooooh! Greater Israel! Oh, hold me, Fatimah!
Fayyazur Rehman Alvi, a member of the National Assembly (Lower House of the Parliament), told IRNA here that the US has political and economic objectives in its current aggression on Iraq. In the first place, he said, American leadership would be on the road to materializing its long-drawn plan of establishing a Greater Israel as well as obtaining access to the world's second biggest oil reserves and those of other regional states. He warned that the Islamic world should come out of their slumber as the US-led aggression would not be confined to Iraq but would engulf other nations in the Middle East and Persian Gulf as well.
"Arise, ye jihadis!"
To a question, he said that the unilateral action against Iraq is part of the US strategy to make Israel the policeman of the region and give the US unrestricted access to the region's economic wealth. By attacking the sovereign and independent Islamic state of Iraq, Alvi observed, US President George W. Bush had proved himself to be the biggest enemy of humanity and the Muslim world.
Iraq wasn't and won't be an Islamic state, but we won't go into that. But we know which side this guy's on, and he's in the Pak NA, and I've got a pretty good idea which side the majority of the Pak NA is on. And I think Bush's memory is as good as mine.
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