[The Iranian, Syrian and Russian backing has apparently encouraged Maliki to take a more recalcitrant stand. But, in the end, that'd probably mean more bloodshed, greater devastation and significantly higher likelihood of Iraq getting splintered.]
I/III. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/06/maliki-rules-out-iraq-unity-government-2014625105257356288.html Iraq's Maliki rules out emergency government Prime minister says such a move would be "coup", in direct rebuttal of US efforts to tackle rising Sunni rebellion. Last updated: 26 Jun 2014 06:10 *Jagatheesan ChandrasekharanThe Iraqi prime minister has said he will not bow to international pressure on forming a national unity government to tackle the Sunni rebellion in the north, calling the idea a "coup" against the constitution.Nouri al-Maliki's statement on Wednesday came a day after the US secretary of state, John Kerry, left Iraq after pushing for an agreement between Kurdish, Sunni and Shia leaders. In his weekly televised address, Maliki said: "The call to form a national emergency government is a coup against the constitution and the political process."It is an attempt by those who are against the constitution to eliminate the young democratic process and steal the votes of the voters."The speech came a day after US military advisers arrived in Baghdad. The US says Iraqi politicians must create a unity government before it sends futher help.Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Baghdad, said Maliki's comments would be seen as direct rebuttal to the US insistence of a unity deal before more help is sent.Maliki's electoral bloc won by far the most seats in April 30 parliamentary elections with 92, nearly three times as many as the next biggest party, and the incumbent himself tallied 720,000 personal votes, also far and away the most.During a visit to Doha as part of a tour of Gulf Arab countries, Philip Hammond, the UK's defence secretary, told Al Jazeera: "What we need to see is the leaders of all of the communities speaking out for the future of a unified Iraqi state."There needs to be a step change, a change of tempo, and a really significant signal to the Sunni community and Kurdish community that the government wants to change course and become a government of all of Iraq."Referring to the main Sunni rebel group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Hammond said: "If ISIL gains control of a space in Syria or Iraq, it will use that position as a platform to launch attacks on the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. [ISIL] will be a source of instability in the region and beyond."In Wednesday's other Iraq-related developments, Iraqi state TV broadcast video claiming to show Iraqi troops in control of the oil refinery at Baiji, amid contesting claims as to who was in control there.The footage, shot by a journalist sympathetic to the government, shows an army helicoper briefly landing at the site before leaving.Our correspondent reported that the video, which the government said was shot on Tuesday, seemed to suggest Iraqi troops were in control of at least part of the refinery.The Iraqi government would have been hesitant to send a journalist to the area if it was not confident it was clear of rebels, he said.* II. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28033684 26 June 2014 Last updated at 14:50 Iraqi PM welcomes Syria air strike on border crossing Nouri Maliki: 'We welcome any Syrian strike against Isis' Prime Minister Nouri Maliki of Iraq has told the BBC he supports an air strike on Islamist militants at a border crossing between Iraq and Syria. Military and rebel sources say the strike took place inside Iraq, at the Qaim crossing, although Mr Maliki said it was carried out on the Syrian side. Mr Maliki also said the militants' advance could have been avoided if US jets had been delivered more quickly. Isis and its Sunni Muslim allies seized large parts of Iraq this month. Iraq has been receiving support from Iran, with whom its Shia Muslim leaders have close links. Speaking to the BBC's Arabic service in his first interview for an international broadcaster since the crisis started, Mr Maliki said that Iraq had bought 36 American jet fighters, but that the process had been "slow and very long-winded". "I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract. We should have sought to buy other jet fighters like British, French and Russian to secure the air cover for our forces; if we had air cover we would have averted what had happened," he went on. He said Iraq was acquiring "second-hand jet fighters from Russia that should arrive in Iraq in two or three days". "God willing, within one week this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists' dens," he said. [image: line] Analysis: Jim Muir, BBC News, Irbil, northern Iraq The Syrian air strikes show how the conflicts in Syria and Iraq are merging together, with Isis as a common factor. Once-rival fighters on the Syrian side of the border at Qaim have now pledged allegiance to Isis, giving it control of both sides. If US drones are not yet involved, they soon could be, illustrating how the threat posed by Isis is creating a convergence of interests between players who so far have been adversaries. That goes for Iran, too, which is deeply concerned about the sudden upheavals in Iraq. It has reinforced its positions along its own western border, where guards have been killed in an attack. There are reports that Iran has been heavily shelling border areas in the Kurdish mountains, where an Iranian Kurdish opposition group called Pejak has bases. [image: line] The US, which also backs the government, has stressed that the militants can only be defeated by Iraq's own forces. Mr Maliki is seeking to form a new government but has rejected calls to create an emergency coalition which would include all religious and ethnic groups. A Kurdish fighter watching an Isis position in Tuz Khormato, northern Iraq Fleeing Iraqis near the Kurdish city of Irbil A young Iraqi girl among refugees near Irbil Shia Muslim volunteers in military training in Basra UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has arrived in Baghdad to meet political and community leaders. "As a friend of Iraq, the UK believes the urgent priority must be to form an inclusive government that can command the support of all Iraqi people and work to stop [Isis] in its tracks," he said. Meanwhile, the Iraqi air force is reported to have launched an assault in Air strikes Mr Maliki told the BBC: "Yes, Syrian jets did strike Qaim inside the Syrian side of the border. "There was no co-ordination involved. But we welcome this action. We actually welcome any Syrian strike against Isis... But we didn't make any request to Syria. They carry out their strikes and we carry out ours and the final winners are our two countries." Fergal Keane reports on a massacre by Isis in an Iraqi village Unnamed US and Iraqi military officials told the Associated Press earlier that Syrian warplanes had bombed militants' positions inside Iraq on Tuesday. A Pentagon source told BBC News: "We are aware of the reports that the Syrian government has taken strikes against targets in Iraq. We have no reason to dispute these reports." Militant sources have been reporting for two days that Syrian jets hit the Iraqi side of Qaim, and also Rutba which is further inside Iraq. The militants say 70 people were killed in the first attack and 20 in the second. Jet delivery Mr Maliki also said that Iraq had bought a number of used Sukhoi fighter jets from Russia and Belarus. He said the aircraft could be flying missions in Iraq "within a few days". Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the crisis with Mr Maliki by phone last Friday, the Kremlin reported on its website <http://kremlin.ru/news/45950> at the time. Mr Putin confirmed his "full support" for the government's efforts to rid Iraqi territory of "terrorists", it said, without giving details. Mr Maliki said on Wednesday that forming a broad emergency government would go against the results of April's parliamentary elections, which were won by his alliance of Shia parties. Prominent Kurdish politician Barham Salih: "We need to empower the moderate Sunnis to take on Isis" His political rival, Ayad Allawi, had proposed forming a national salvation government. Reports say a unit of al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Nusra Front, pledged allegiance to Isis in the Syrian town of Albu Kamal, near the Iraqi border. The Nusra Front, along with other rebel groups, has been fighting in Syria against Isis, which it sees as harming its cause with its brutality and extremism. Also on Thursday, the leader of Iraqi Kurdistan visited the northern city of Kirkuk for the first time since it was seized by Kurdish forces earlier this month. It fell into the hands of Kurdish fighters when Iraqi troops fled in the face of the Islamist advance. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
