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Iraq
Al-Sadr praises the ''liberation'' of the Green Zone
2022-08-01
[SHAFAQ] The leader of the Sadrist movement, Moqtada Tater al-Sadr
...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival al-Khoei assassinated shortly after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he's gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry...
, on Sunday announced the "liberation" of the Green Zone, calling on his followers to push for a complete overhaul of the political system, including a new constitution, and expel the country's elites whom he condemned as corrupt.

"The peaceful spontaneous revolution that liberated the Green Zone is a golden opportunity to all the people who beared the brunt of injustice, terrorism, corruption, invasion, and dependence," the firebrand
...firebrands are noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments...
 Shiite holy man tweeted.

Al-Sadr said that a "first golden opportunity" was missed back in 2016, deeming the recent developments a "great opportunity for a radical change in the political system, constitution, and election."

Addressing the people of Iraq, the populist leader called for disarming the militias, tightening the grip of law, and prosecutes the militias and corrupt people.

"You are responsible, you are all at stake," he concluded, "either an Iraq that stands high among the nations or a dependent Iraq that is controlled by proxies and corrupt people, and hands from the east and the west."

World and regional powers have expressed their concerns over the political escalation in Iraq after the seizure of the parliament building by the mercurial holy man supporters, pushing a months-long struggle to form the next government into uncharted territory.

The brinkmanship has rattled his political opponents, some of whom command well-armed militia groups linked to Iran. This has led to fears of renewed civil war, since al-Sadr also commands large numbers of armed supporters.

For the second time in less than a week, al-Sadr flexed his muscles, ordering thousands of his followers back to the heavily fortified government complex on Saturday. Despite security forces using tear gas and water cannons, the crowds tore down concrete blast walls protecting the site.

Once inside the sprawling complex known as the Green Zone -home to key government buildings including the cabinet office, parliament, foreign embassies and residences of senior politicians- they announced an open-ended sit-in.

At least 125 people —100 protesters and 25 security personnel, were maimed, according to the Health Ministry.

Al-Sadr, who is conveying his messages and instructions to the protesters through aides on social media, has not yet declared his demands clearly or responded to calls for dialogue.

Emerging as a clear winner in October's national election with 73 seats in the 329-seat parliament, al-Anbar's Sadr sought to form a majority government with Sunni and Kurdish allies, sidelining his Iran-backed rivals, the Coordination Framework.

But the CF — an umbrella group that consists of influential Tehran-allied militias and political parties — with some smaller parties not directly aligned to Tehran derailed al-Sadr’s efforts through different means.

A series of legal challenges and parliament session boycotts to block candidates put forward by al-Sadr's allies for the role of president, a vital step in government formation, combined with alleged intimidation tactics, forced him to order his MPs to resign last month.

That has given the CF the lead to form the government. In the past week, al-Sadr voiced a series of angry objections when the CF nominated Shiite politician Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani for the role of prime minister.

He has called al-Sudani a "shadow" of his rival, former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki, one of the senior CF leaders. The years-long antagonism between the two men has been one of the reasons behind the delay in forming a new government, more than 10 months since national elections were held.

As the CF pushed to hold a parliament session on Thursday to choose a new president — who in turn has to task the largest political bloc to nominate a prime minister, al-Sadr's followers briefly occupied parliament. al-Sadr said the move was a "warning".

As the parliament planned to hold a session on Saturday, the Sadrists once again entered, prompting the parliament speaker to suspend all sessions until further notice.

The quickly unfolding events have raised the stakes and deepened the struggle for influence between al-Sadr and his Iran-backed rivals.

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Iraq
Nouri Al Maliki, whose coalition is backed by Iran, claims rejecting attacks on diplomatic missions
2020-09-26
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
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Terror Networks
The Beatings Will Continue: Iraqi and Syria Editions
2017-01-24


ISIS recruiter dies in airstrike

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) A senior Islamic State leader responsible for recruiting foreign members was killed in an Iraqi airstrike in western Mosul, a security official was quoted as saying.

The strike, which was carried out three days ago, targeted al-Mazlomin village at the IS-held strategic town of Tal Afar, and killed Abbas Suleiman Ismail AlHaider, aka Abu Aesha, along with four other Azerbaijani nationals, according to a security source.

Iraqi government forces have approached the final districts in eastern Mosul where Islamic State militants locate. The liberation of that region after three months of operations would be the most remarkable victory over the extremist group since a campaign was launched to retake the city in mid October.

After retaking eastern Mosul, Iraqi generals hope to move immediately beyond the Tigris River towards Islamic State strongholds in the west, where military observers predict a tougher battle due to the higher density of the population.

IS militants have reportedly withdrew from the east to the west, with many reportedly killed upon crossing Tigris River to the other side. Many group leaders have been killed, according to news reports and military statements by Iraqi and international coalition commanders. Counter-Terrorism Forces said last week they had killed 3300 militants since the start of operations.

The conflict in Mosul has displaced at least 181.000 civilians, according to the Iraqi government, and the United Nations had said the conflict would threaten to displacement at least one million.

Iraq executes 31 for Speicher massacre

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi judicial authorities executed on Monday 31 convicts linked to a massacre carried out by the Islamic State that left 1700 Iraqi air force cadets dead in 2014.

Anadolu Agency quoted Mahmoud Khalaf, the mayor of Samarra, Salahuddin, as saying that some of the convicts belonged to his city, while the rest were from other areas of the province. He said the dead bodies were transferred to the city’s public hospital preparing to hand them over to their relatives.

The massacre occurred at the Speicher air base in Tikrit, the capital of Salahuddin, when Islamic State militants executed 1700 Shia students at the air force. The victims were either shot at or beheaded before their corpses were dumped into the Tigris River, which cuts through Tikrit. The incident was one instance among many that ignited public discontent with the performance of former prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki.

On Sunday, security sources were quoted as saying that 89 bodies of the massacre’s victims were found at a mass grave in Tikrit. They were to be exhumed, subjected to a DNA test and handed over to their families, according to news reports.

Since its emergence in 2014, taking over large areas of Iraq to proclaim an “Islamic Caliphate”, IS militants have proudly posted videos of heinous executions it carried out against security personnel and civilians at areas under its control for multiple charges.

ISIS executes 2 in Raqqa

[ARA News] Raqqa – Islamic State’s (ISIS) jihadists on Monday executed two soldiers from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who have been captured by the group during clashes in Raqqa countryside.

ISIS had taken two SDF fighters as captives subsequent to clashes west of Raqqa last week.

“The two SDF soldiers were publicly beheaded in the Tabqa town,” local media activist Khalid al-Husni told ARA News.

The radical group has executed the soldiers on charges of “opposing Allah’s Sharia and fighting the Caliphate’s rule”.

This comes amid continued military operations by the Kurdish-led SDF troops against ISIS in the vicinity of Raqqa.

The SDF announced that it has captured over 2500 km2 in western Raqqa Governorate as part of the second phase of the US-backed Euphrates Wrath Operation. The polyethnic alliance also confirmed that they had cleared 196 villages and dozens of farms.

During the first phase of Euphrates Wrath, which began on November 6, the SDF liberated roughly 560 km² in northern Raqqa. “Thus, since the beginning of the battle for Raqqa, 3200 square kilometers have been cleared, including 236 villages.”

The SDF launched the second phase of the Operation Euphrates Wrath with the objective of securing Raqqa’s western countryside and Tabqa Dam, which bridges the Euphrates River. The first phase of the operation focused on securing the banks of the Balikh River.

The SDF confirmed the that they had eliminated 620 ISIS militants during the course of the campaign, captured 18 others and destroyed “over 40 car bombs.” In addition, SDF troops seized “a great deal of ammunition and weapons,” as well as “a number of ISIS vehicles.”

The long-term objective of Euphrates Wrath remains the elimination of the Islamic State in its de facto capital –Raqqa city.

Civilians' presence hinders ISIS' use of bombs

[Asharq Al-Awsat] Mosul- Iraqi forces used to facing deserted, explosives-rigged streets and booby-trapped buildings have not encountered as many bombs planted by jihadists in Mosul as they did in earlier battles against them.

ISIS has no qualms about killing civilians, but the presence of a large number of residents in Iraq’s second city discouraged the jihadists from extensively sowing it with explosives, officers say.

While previous urban battlefields in Iraq’s war against ISIS were largely depopulated by the time the country’s forces moved in, Mosul still sheltered a million-plus people when the offensive to retake it was launched three months ago.

If explosives had been widely planted by the jihadists ahead of the battle, they would have been at risk of being triggered before Iraqi forces arrived.

So while the systematic mining of roads and rigging of buildings with bombs has arguably been ISIS’ signature defense system against Iraqi forces, in Mosul, the jihadists had to change tack.

Iraqi forces have seen less booby-trapping in Mosul than in Anbar and Salaheddin provinces, where earlier key battles against ISIS took place, said Staff Lieutenant General Abdulghani al-Assadi, a top commander in the elite Counter-Terrorism Service.

“The reason is the families remained in their neighborhoods, in their houses,” Assadi told Agence France Presse.

Some residents of the city have ventured out of their homes just moments after the fighting died down, and in recaptured areas of eastern Mosul, stores are reopening, goods are displayed in front of shops, civilian cars and pedestrians move along some streets and children play outside.

Staff Lieutenant General Sami al-Aridhi, another senior CTS commander, said there was “no comparison” between the number of bombs planted in Mosul and those in Anbar province, where Iraqi forces retook the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah from ISIS.

There are fewer because “here in Mosul, the residents didn’t leave,” Aridhi said.

“Now, when we advance into any neighborhood, we don’t think that the street is booby-trapped; our vehicles move normally.”

ISIS needed civilians in Mosul to maintain at least the veneer of a functioning “state,” and extensively planting bombs that could be triggered by residents would have both reduced their defensive utility and risked stoking popular anger against the jihadists.

This does not mean that ISIS has completely forgone the use of bombs in Mosul.

It is a “change of strategy” for ISIS, said Captain Qaisar Fawzi, an officer in an Iraqi army engineering battalion.

“They did not rely on roadside bombs, they relied on explosives-rigged vehicles,” he added.

Vehicles rigged with bombs “are indeed the enemy’s weapon of choice in the battle of Mosul,” said Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman for the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition.

But, according to Assadi, in “important areas, the residents were displaced… and (ISIS) started to booby-trap them.”

Lise Grande, the U.N.’s humanitarian coordinator for Iraq, said that bombs planted by ISIS have still posed a threat to civilians.

“People who are trying to flee Mosul… have stepped on booby-traps and IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” killing some and wounding others, Grande said.

And “based on experiences from other occupied areas, we’re worried that IEDs have been planted by (ISIS) in schools, hospitals and other public buildings,” she said.

The large numbers of civilians in Mosul have also hampered Iraqi offensive operations.

Aridhi said that while security forces could previously strike ISIS from a distance, “here, we are not able to use any fire, because citizens are present.”

“We are delayed because people are present,” he said.

Assadi agreed, saying that there is “little booby-trapping, few bombs, but (many) citizens whom we must protect.”

Iraqi forces do however still use heavy weapons in Mosul: helicopters and warplanes have frequently carried out strikes inside the city, and artillery as well as large unguided rockets are fired inside it.

The combination of civilians staying in the city and the lower number of bombs planted inside it means life has returned to some recaptured areas in Mosul far quicker than in other cities retaken from ISIS.

Parts of Ramadi and Fallujah are still uninhabitable, but while some houses and buildings in Mosul have been wrecked and streets are cratered by bombs and strewn with rubble, other places have escaped largely unharmed.

“The booby-trapping began after the start of the Mosul operation,” said resident Raed Mohammed, speaking to AFP at a roundabout in the city’s east where street vendors were out selling goods, but which was still overlooked by an ISIS billboard and marred by damaged buildings.

People were going about their daily lives before that and, had the jihadists extensively planted bombs, “it’s likely that they themselves would have been exposed to explosions.”
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Iraq
Maliki calls Mosul fall report 'worthless'
2015-08-19
Former Iraqi premier Nouri Al Maliki on Tuesday dismissed as "worthless" a parliamentary report blaming him and others for the militant takeover of second city Mosul last year.
He's acting pretty butt-hurt by the report...
"There is no value in the result that emerged from the parliamentary investigation committee on the fall of Mosul, which was dominated by political differences and was not objective," Maliki said on his Facebook page.

"What happened in Mosul was a conspiracy planned in Ankara, then the conspiracy moved to Arbil," Maliki said in a second post, referring to the capitals of Turkey and Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both long-time foes of his.

The two-term premier is currently in Iran, where he was due to meet supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday, an official in his office said.
To continue the collaboration...
The Daesh militant group seized Mosul in June 2014, then overran a third of the country in a devastating offensive that swept security forces aside.

The report on the disaster was presented to the parliament speaker Salim Al Juburi on Sunday, and lawmakers voted to refer it to the judiciary the following day.

"None of the names mentioned in this report were deleted, and all of them will be sent to the judiciary," Jubur told a news conference on Monday.

"An investigation and follow up and accounting of all those who caused the fall of Mosul will be carried out," he said.

Maliki is viewed as having played a major role in the disaster. He also appointed commanders based on personal loyalty rather than competence, and was commander-in-chief of the armed forces during two years in which the Iraqi military did not carry out necessary training, leading to a decline in skills.
He handled the military in the traditional way done by warlords, thugs and tribal chiefs, and not as a national leader. The Iraqi military responded in kind.
Various former senior officials were also named in the report detailing the committee's findings, which has not been publicly released. These include defence minister Saadun Al Dulaimi, army chief of staff Babaker Zebari, his deputy Aboud Qanbar, ground forces commander Ali Ghaidan, Nineveh operations command chief Mahdi Al Gharawi and the province's governor, Atheel Al Nujaifi.
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Iraq
The unholy alliance
2015-05-06
[ARABNEWS] The Iraqis are gearing up for another war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
 (IS), the second to occur during the rule of Prime Minister Haidar Al-Abadi after he won the battle of Tikrit.

Several army forces, security forces and Shiite popular mobilization militias, as well as some Sunni tribes, are gathering to head to Anbar province. There's more to the battle than Anbar and the battle is not limited to the IS, as Abadi's real rival in Baghdad is former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki who is launching a widely-inciting political and media campaign against him. Abadi seems confused and is sometimes adopting contradictory stances due to apparent pressures exerted on him

The Iraqi prime minister stands between two fierce rivals and is in big trouble. If he loses the war in Anbar, his political rivals will pursue him in Baghdad and the IS will expand its influence.

Victory will not be easy to achieve with the protests and threats made by his rivals in Baghdad as it requires depending on the Sunni tribes who are most capable of defending their areas.

Abadi has retreated from arming the Sunni tribes and has only provided them with simple weapons due to pressures by Lion of Islam Shiite parties. To resolve the problem, the Americans volunteered to perform the task of arming the Anbar tribes who oppose the IS but after his rivals criticized him, Abadi had to object to that and the American government backed down.

All this fighting will firstly be at the expense of the Iraqis and the Iraqi state and will be in the interest of the IS and Iran's proxies. Anbar's battle is part of a war that may prolong as the terrorist organization resides in several areas, such as the city of djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
 which is still occupied by the IS and which will be the most difficult to liberate as the Iraqi government may have to seek the help of countries like the US and perhaps The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
 and Iran to restore it. Even after Mosul is liberated, there are several areas, which will take a long time to liberate.

Therefore, the prime minister must think beyond Anbar and must realize that he will lose his battle with political rivals if he loses his war against the IS and that he will emerge victorious over them if triumphs over the terrorist organization.

However it's impossible to emerge victorious if he bases his decisions on pleasing sectarian parties and his political rivals, like Al-Maliki. Rejecting to arm the Sunni tribes who are fighting the IS and objecting to America supplying them with arms will only help the murderous Moslems spread and will drive thousands of the Anbar's sons to join the organization as long as they have no other choice. Let's recall the tragedy of the 100,000 people who were displaced from Ramadi as they were forced to leave their city out of fear of the IS and the anticipated fighting, especially after events in Tikrit and the destruction that followed.

The neighboring governorates refused to provide refuge for those displaced. They were then left out in the open as Abadi's rivals escalated the situation after Shiite forces of Evil claimed that there were holy warriors living among the displaced. The aim of all this partisan and sectarian escalation is to topple Abadi and push him to make wrong decisions.

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Iraq
Politicians to blame for Iraq’s sectarian strife, says Maliki
2015-01-05
Iraqi Vice-President Nouri Al Maliki, who was widely criticised for sectarian policies during his time as premier, said on Sunday that politicians are to blame for the country’s Sunni-Shia strife.
He's clearly an expert on the subject...
“There is no problem between the Sunnis and the Shias as communities, but rather between us the politicians — we think as Sunnis and Shias, and we are driving people toward this doom, for which we will bear responsibility before God,” he said.
A poor man's echo of what Egypt's Sisi said. Too bad Maliki really doesn't believe what he said...
Maliki himself pursued policies that marginalised and angered members of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority, especially during his second term as premier. Sunni suspicion of the Shia-led government was heightened by heavy-handed security operations in Sunni areas, and the arrest of senior Sunni politicians or their employees.

Sunni anger led to anti-government protests, which were targeted by security forces on multiple occasions, most disastrously in late December 2013 when the largest protest camp, located near Anbar provincial capital Ramadi, was demolished. The destruction of the camp, which Maliki asserted was serving as a militant headquarters, sparked clashes and set off a series of events that saw parts of Ramadi and all of Fallujah, to its east, seized by anti-government fighters.

Then last June, the ISIS group — which benefitted from Sunni disenchantment with Baghdad — spearheaded a sweeping militant offensive that overran large parts of the country north and west of Baghdad. Maliki’s government turned to Shia militias, members of which were responsible for sectarian killings in past years, for support against ISIS, before he was replaced as prime minister.

Pro-government forces, now backed by a US-led campaign of air strikes, have regained some ground, but significant territory, including three major cities, remains under ISIS control.
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Iraq
Saudi Arabia to reopen Baghdad embassy
2015-01-04
A Saudi delegation will travel to Baghdad in the coming week to start preparations to reopen an embassy in the Iraqi capital for the first time in 25 years, official Saudi media said on Saturday.

A thaw in the once chilly relations between Saudi Arabia and Iraq could help strengthen a regional alliance against ISIS militants who have seized territory in Iraq and Syria.

Saudi Arabia closed its Baghdad embassy in 1990 after the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. It has long accused Iraq of being too close to Iran, its main regional rival, and of encouraging sectarian discrimination against Sunnis, a charge Baghdad denies.

The Saudi move would help return Iraq to the Arab nation “after an absence since the toppling of the Saddam Hussein regime and the penetration of the Iranian regime into the joints of the Iraqi state,” said Abdullah Al Askar, head of the foreign affairs committee on Saudi Arabia’s Shoura Council, which advises the government on policy.

Saudi Arabia began cautious moves towards rapprochement after the appointment in August of Haider Al Abadi as Iraq’s new prime minister. Senior members of the kingdom’s ruling dynasty had branded his predecessor, Nouri Al Maliki, a puppet of Iran, according to US embassy cables released by WikiLeaks, and accused him of ruling Iraq only on behalf of the Shias.

Citing an official foreign ministry source, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said that besides reopening its embassy, the kingdom also planned to set up a general consulate in Irbil, capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

A team from the ministry would head to Baghdad this week to liaise with Iraq on choosing and preparing buildings for both missions, so they could start work “at the earliest opportunity”, SPA said.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian official hails positive Saudi talks
2014-08-27
[ARABNEWS] Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal held positive and constructive talks on Tuesday with Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian.

The two sides discussed major regional developments and agreed to join forces in the fight against terrorist groups that have threatened the region's security and stability.

"The meeting with Prince Saud took place in a very positive and constructive atmosphere," said Abdollahian.

It was the first visit by a senior Iranian official to the Kingdom since the election of President Hassan Rouhani last summer.

Riza Hamid Dahqani, Iran's representative at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), said that the two sides discussed bilateral relations, regional developments and "the challenges facing the region such, as extremism and Israel's savage aggression" on the Gazoo Strip.

They discussed the situation "in Iraq and means to confront extremism and terrorism" in particular, said Dahqani, referring to Islamic State (IS) myrmidons.

Mohammed Tayeb, director-general of the Foreign Ministry's branch office in the Makkah region and the Kingdom's representative to the OIC, and Iranian Ambassador Hussein Sadeghi attended the talks, which took place in Jeddah.

Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
 and Iran have welcomed the departure of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki this month.

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Iraq
Iraq air force to back Kurds fighting Islamists
2014-08-06
Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki has called upon his country's armed forces to help Kurdish forces battle militant offensive in northern Iraq that has caused tens of thousands of people from the minority Yazidi community to flee their homes.

Iraq's military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim Al Moussawi said Monday that Al Maliki has commanded the air force to provide aerial support to the Kurds in the first sign of cooperation between the two militaries since Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, was captured by the militants on June 10.

The Islamic State captured the northern towns of Sinjar and Zumar on Saturday, prompting an estimated 40,000 from the minority Yazidi sect to flee, said Jawhar Ali Begg, a spokesman for the community.

"Their towns are now controlled by (Islamic State) and their shrine has been blown up," Begg told The Associated Press. The militant group gave the Yazidis, who follow an ancient religion with links to Zoroastrianism, an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death, Begg added.

Kurdish forces have been battling with the militants for control of several towns stretching between the province of Nineveh and the Kurdish Iraqi province of Dahuk. At least 25 Kurdish fighters were killed in clashes with the militants on Sunday, and another 120 were wounded, according to Muhssin Mohamed, a Dahuk-based doctor.

Relations between Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region, which has its own military, and the central government, have long been strained and the announcement about the air force could indicate a degree of rapprochement in the face of the Islamic State attack.

A statement Monday by the Islamic State said it had captured dozens of Kurdish prisoners during the clashes and seized "large number" of weapons. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified, but it was posted on a website used by the group.
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Iraq
Is the Partition of Iraq Inevitable?
2014-07-13
[VOA News] As Sunni jihadists continue to make gains in Iraq, Kurds have taken control of two oil fields in northern Iraq and have pulled out of the Shi'ite government of Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. Experts say that that the country's future may have already unfolded.

"We are seeing the disintegration of the state of Iraq into three nations; the Shi'ites in the south and east, the Kurds in the north and a Sunni Caliphate under the control of ISIL from western Iraq to Syria," RAND Corporation political scientist and former U.S. military adviser Rick Brennan said.

He warns that the Shi'ite-led government would be acquiescent to Iran and argues that any amount of U.S. involvement now is not likely to make much of a difference.
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Iraq
Iraq parliament session to agree new government delayed
2014-07-08
[Gulf News] A crucial parliament session kickstarting the government formation process was delayed and an Iraqi general was killed on Monday as solutions to the country's worst crisis in years appeared increasingly distant.

The developments highlighted bickering among politicians despite calls for unity to see off an offensive by murderous Moslems that has overrun swathes of territory and which the security forces have struggled to repel.

The swift advance has displaced hundreds of thousands, alarmed the international community and heaped pressure on incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki as he bids for a third term in office.

But the government formation process, which international leaders and top holy mans have urged be expedited, was dealt a blow when a parliament session scheduled for Tuesday was postponed due to persistent disunity.

Multiple officials and a politician, all speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
, said the meeting had been rescheduled for August 12 because MPs could not agree on a new speaker.

More than two months after elections in which Al Maliki's camp won the most seats, though not a majority, parliament has yet to begin the process of choosing the country's top three positions, which according to an unofficial deal are split between the Shiite Arab, Sunni Arab and Kurdish communities.

A session last week ended in chaos, with MPs trading heckles and threats before some of them eventually walked out, forcing an adjournment, with the UN's special envoy warning that further delays risked plunging the country into "Syria-like chaos".

Despite telling AFP in a 2011 interview he would not seek a third term, Al Maliki vowed last week he would not bow to mounting international and domestic pressure to step aside and allow a broader consensus.

Iraqi forces have largely regrouped after the debacle that saw soldiers abandon their positions and, in some cases, even weapons and uniforms as murderous Moslems led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original...
 (Isil) group conquered second city djinn-infested Mosul
... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
 and advanced to within about 80km of Baghdad.

But while Iraq has received equipment, intelligence and ground help from the United States, Russia, Iran and even Shiite militias it once shunned, languishing government efforts to push back the turbans were dealt a blow by the killing of a senior general on Monday.

Major General Najm Abdullah Al Sudani, the commander of the army's 6th division, "was killed by hostile shelling in Ebrahim Bin Ali," Lieutenant General Qasim Atta told AFP by text message.

Ebrahim Bin Ali is in the Abu Ghraib area, just west of Baghdad, near where security forces have been locked in a months-long standoff with murderous Moslems who have seized control of the city of Fallujah.

Security forces have for more than a week also attempted to wrest back the Sunni stronghold of Tikrit from a loose alliance of Isil fighters, other holy warrior groups and former Saddam Hussain loyalists but have so far failed to achieve a breakthrough.

Iraqi forces have been hamstrung by a lack of combat experience and dearth of intelligence in Sunni areas, due largely to distrust of the Shiite-led authorities among minority Sunni Arabs, analysts say.

"The army and the police are seen as sectarian... and therefore the Sunni community doesn't provide support or, crucially, intelligence to the security forces," said John Drake of the AKE Group security company.

"If you don't have good intelligence on the ground, your strikes are not precise, they involve collateral damage and casualties ... making everything worse."

While most observers have argued Baghdad was not about to fall, violence and suicide kabooms have continued.

The latest struck a cafe in a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood in western Baghdad Sunday, killing at least four people and wounding 12, officials said.

An Isil-linked Twitter account posted on Monday a picture purported to be of the jacket wallah, apparently a Lebanese national, posing in front of the black flag of the turbans before his operation, holding a sword and surrounded by assault rifles and rocket launchers.

The authenticity of the image could not immediately be verified.

And while government forces were still looking for a major victory, Isil jihadists appeared to be brimming with confidence.
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Iraq
Attacks kill 26 in Iraq during UN chief's visit
2014-01-14
Fresh violence killed at least 26 people Monday in Iraq, where the UN chief was on a visit urging leaders to tackle the issues driving fighting in a western province where the army is in a standoff with Al Qaeda-linked fighters.

Police officials said the deadliest of the attacks took place at night when a car bomb exploded near a market in Baghdad's northeastern district of Shaab, killing 10 people, including three policemen, and wounding 13 others.

A car bomb also exploded in a commercial street in northwestern Baghdad, police said, killing five people and wounding 14.

Another car bomb killed four and wounded 12 in a commercial street in Baghdad's Hurriyah neighbourhood, police said.

Earlier, another car bomb exploded in a commercial street in northern Baghdad, killing three people and wounding 13 others.

Near the city of Fallujah, army artillery shelled a village overnight, killing four civilians, hospital officials said. Medics in nearby hospital confirmed the death toll for all attacks.

Meanwhile, the UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Baghdad on a visit aimed at discussing regional issues, especially the crisis in Syria. Ban expressed deep concern over the violence hitting Iraq's Sunni-dominated Anbar province.

"The situation in Anbar Governorate, particularly in Fallujah and Ramadi, is a source of grave concern. The security situation in Iraq is undoubtedly a source of great concern," he told reporters during a joint Press conference with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki.
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