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bemildred

(90,061 posts)
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 10:44 AM Jun 2014

Iraq's Maliki accuses Saudis of 'genocide'

BAGHDAD - Iraq's Shi'ite rulers defied Western calls on Tuesday to reach out to Sunnis to defuse the uprising in the north of the country, declaring a boycott of Iraq's main Sunni political bloc and accusing Sunni power Saudi Arabia of promoting "genocide."

Washington has made clear it wants Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to embrace Sunni politicians as a condition of U.S. support to fight a lightning advance by forces from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

But the Shi'ite prime minister has moved in the opposite direction, announcing a crackdown on politicians and officers he considers "traitors" and lashing out at neighbouring Sunni countries for stoking militancy.

The latest target of his government's fury was Saudi Arabia, the main Sunni power in the Gulf, which funds Sunni militants in neighbouring Syria but denies it is behind ISIL.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/global-filipino/world/06/17/14/iraqs-maliki-accuses-saudis-genocide

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Fred Sanders

(23,946 posts)
1. America should be invading dictatorial Saudi, not Iraq, since Saudi is a state sponsor of terrorism.
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 10:46 AM
Jun 2014

Where did the majority of 9/11 guys come from.......Buehler?........Buelher?

The Magistrate

(95,241 posts)
3. One Thing You May Have Noticed, Sir, As I Have
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 10:51 AM
Jun 2014

By the time people are calling for someone or other to reach out and embrace a political solution, or stating that a political, not a military solution, must be found, matters have already moved well beyond settlement by anything but violence, and usually have been so moved by one or more sides in the conflict.

CanonRay

(14,078 posts)
5. I'm afraid this is going to end in a bloodbath in Iraq
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 11:16 AM
Jun 2014

and maybe Iran, Syria, and Jordan as well. Jordan is included in the ISIS "caliphate"

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
6. Maliki stands with Sunni leaders, appealing for Iraqi unity
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 07:10 PM
Jun 2014

(Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki broadcast a joint appeal for national unity on Tuesday with bitter Sunni critics of his Shi'ite-led government - a move that may help him win U.S. help against rampant Islamists threatening Baghdad.

Just hours after Maliki's Shi'ite allies had angrily vowed to boycott any cooperation with the biggest Sunni party and his government had accused Sunni neighbor Saudi Arabia of backing "genocide", the premier's visibly uncomfortable televised appearance may reflect U.S. impatience with its Baghdad protege.

In a rerun of previous failed efforts at bridging sectarian and ethnic divisions, Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders met behind closed doors and then stood frostily before cameras as Maliki's Shi'ite predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari read a statement denouncing "terrorist powers" and supporting Iraqi sovereignty.

U.S. President Barack Obama is considering military options to push back al Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which has swept the Sunni north of the country over the past week as the Shi'ite-led army has crumbled.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/17/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0EP0KJ20140617

bemildred

(90,061 posts)
7. Turkey Would Support Iraqi Kurds' Bid For Self-Rule, Spokesman Says In Historic Remark
Tue Jun 17, 2014, 07:17 PM
Jun 2014

ERBIL, Iraq -- In a statement that could have a dramatic impact on regional politics in the Middle East, a spokesman for Turkey's ruling party recently told a Kurdish media outlet that the Kurds in Iraq have the right to self-determination. The statement has been relatively overlooked so far, but could signal a shift in policy as Turkey has long been a principal opponent of Kurdish independence, which would mean a partitioning of Iraq.

"The Kurds of Iraq can decide for themselves the name and type of the entity they are living in," Huseyin Celik, a spokesman for the Justice and Development Party, told the Kurdish online news outlet Rudaw last week.

The Kurds have been effectively autonomous since 1991, when the U.S. established a no-fly zone over northern Iraq. Turkey, a strong U.S. ally, has long opposed the creation of an independent Kurdistan so that its own eastern region would not be swallowed into it. But Celik's statement indicates that the country may be starting to view an autonomous Kurdistan as a viable option -- a sort of bulwark against spreading extremism within a deeply unstable country.

"The Kurds, like any other nation, will have the right to decide their fate," Celik told Rudaw, in a story that was picked up by CNN's Turkish-language outlet. "Turkey has been supporting the Kurdistan region till now and will continue this support."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/17/turkey-kurdistan_n_5504309.html

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