I/II. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28274742
12 July 2014 Last updated at 11:34 Iraq forces 'killed 255 Sunni prisoners' - HRW Insurgents from the jihadist Isis group have seized large areas of north-western Iraq Iraqi security forces and government-affiliated militias appear to have executed at least 255 prisoners since 9 June, a human rights group says. The killings appeared to be retaliation for attacks by the jihadist Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis), Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The prisoners were all Sunni Muslims, while the majority of security forces and militia were Shia, they added. An Iraqi military official denied any prisoners had been executed. However, some prisoners may have died "as a result of terrorist acts", Lt Gen Qassim Atta, the military spokesman for Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, said. The number of those killed was lower than that cited in the report, he added, saying that a committee had been formed to look into the deaths. 'Killing sprees' Most of the executions took place as Iraqi forces fled advancing Isis fighters, HRW said in a statement <http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/07/11/iraq-campaign-mass-murders-sunni-prisoners> . The killings were reported in six Iraqi villages: Mosul, Tal Afar, Baquba, Jumarkhe, Rawa and Hilla. The Iraqi oil ministry has condemned the seizure of oil refineries "The mass extrajudicial killings may be evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity, and appear to be revenge killings for atrocities by Isis," the statement said. Last month, Isis insurgents seized huge swathes of north-western Iraq. The group has gained a reputation for brutal rule in the areas that it controls. Joe Stork, HRW's deputy Middle East director, said: "While the world rightly denounces the atrocious acts of Isis, it should not turn a blind eye to sectarian killing sprees by government and pro-government forces." The HRW statement added that the executions, which it documented based primarily on interviews with eyewitnesses and officials, "may be evidence of war crimes or crimes against humanity". A car bomb struck a checkpoint on the outskirts of the disputed city of Kirkuk on Friday The current conflict in Iraq has acquired strong sectarian overtones. The Shia-led government is struggling against predominantly Sunni Isis fighters, and other Sunni rebel groups. Meanwhile, reports say the Iraqi Kurds have taken over the northern Bai Hassan and Kirkuk oilfields, amid a growing dispute with the government in Baghdad. The Iraqi oil ministry has condemned the seizure, saying it expects Kurdish fighters to "support security forces in confronting terrorist groups rather than using the conditions to raid and occupy oil fields". Chaos warning Kurdish MPs have also withdrawn from Iraq's central government, after Prime Minister Maliki accused the Kurds of harbouring extremists. On Saturday, the United Nations' special envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, warned that the country could plunge into chaos if its parliament failed to agree on the formation of a new government. The failure to choose the three critical government posts of prime minister, president and speaker would "only serve the interests of those who seek to divide the people of Iraq", he said in a statement. More than a million people have fled their homes as a result of the fighting in recent months. II. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/11/kurds-withdraw-support-iraqi-government-without-president Kurds withdraw support, leaving Iraq without a president Deepening rift between Kurds and prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, also causes loss of foreign, trade and health ministers Mark Tran <http://www.theguardian.com/profile/marktran> theguardian.com <http://www.theguardian.com/>, Friday 11 July 2014 13.20 BST The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has accused the Kurds of harbouring terrorists in their capital, Erbil. Photograph: Hadi Mizban/AP The Kurds <http://www.theguardian.com/world/kurds> have ended participation in the Iraqi government, demonstrating a deepening rift between the group and Nouri al-Maliki <http://www.theguardian.com/world/nouri-al-maliki>after the prime minister accused them of harbouring terrorists in the Kurdish capital of Irbil. Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister and a Kurd, told Reuters on Friday that Kurdish ministers were suspending their day-to-day running of his ministry and other posts, leaving Iraq <http://www.theguardian.com/world/iraq> without a president and several ministers. This follows Thursday's announcement <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/10/kurdish-ministers-boycott-iraq-cabinet-meetings> by the Kurds that they would boycott all cabinet meetings. The Kurds are represented in the Iraqi parliament and hold offices in the Shia-led national government, including president, foreign minister, trade minister and health minister. The Kurdish move followed accusations by Maliki that the Kurdish capital of Irbil had become a home to terrorists, a reference to the Islamic State (Isis) <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/06/abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-isis>. In the political chaos following the seizure of much of northern Iraq by Isis, the Kurds have taken the strategic city of Kirkuk and its large oil fields in a move that could pave the way for independence <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/03/kurds-independence-referendum-iraq-massoud-barzani> . "Those (terrorists) and those who host them will lose," said Maliki in his weekly televised address on Wednesday. "We will not stop until we have retaken all the areas that were taken from us." The boycott may be largely symbolic as the Iraqi government has continued operating in the past when the Sunni bloc fully withdrew its ministers from the cabinet, but it underlines the deepening rift between Maliki and the Kurds, when the prime minister needs all the allies he can muster to confront Isis and disaffected minority Sunnis. Relations between the Kurds and Maliki have been strained at the best of times, particularly over oil rights and land disputes, yet the the Kurds in the past have provided crucial support to help Maliki win the post of prime minister. The Isis insurgency, backed by disaffected Sunnis, has brought ties between Maliki and the Kurds to breaking point. After Maliki vented his exasperation with the Kurds, Roz Nouri Shawez, the deputy prime minister and the most senior Kurdish official in the government, told reporters that "such statements are meant to hide the big security fiasco by blaming others, and we announce our boycott of cabinet meetings". Maliki, whose bloc - called "state of law" - won the most seats in the April elections, has dismissed calls for him step aside, and is intent on having a third term. The result has been political paralysis in Baghdad. Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdish region, has blamed Maliki's determination to cling on for the worsening crisis. "If Maliki insists on a third term, then Iraq will be driven towards a precipice and no one can predict what will happen," he said this week. "And no decision will bring the country back to its previous state." Iraq's civil aviation authority has suspended cargo flights to the Kurdish region until further notice. The head of the aviation authority, Nassir Bandar, said the decision was taken "due to the security situation and (events) in Mosul where it is not possible for us to handle shipments". He said passenger flights to the cities of Sulaymaniyah and Erbil will not be affected. -- 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.
