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#Post#: 22--------------------------------------------------
Iraq PM Nouri al-Maliki Vows No Surrender Amid Bombing North Of
Baghdad
By: kingrollex Date: July 4, 2014, 5:40 pm
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IRAQ’S embattled prime minister vowed to
fight until the Islamic militants who have
overrun much of the country are defeated as a
suicide bomber killed 15 people north of
Baghdad.
Framing the debate over his future in
democratic terms, Nouri al-Maliki sought to
remind Iraqis — including his political rivals
— that voters handed his State of Law bloc
the most seats in parliament in April
elections, and that he must “stand by them
during this crisis that Iraq is passing
through.” His bloc won the most seats but
failed to gain a majority, meaning he needs
allies in order to form a government.
It came as a suicide bomber detonated an
explosives-rigged vehicle at a security forces
position north of Baghdad, killing 15 people.
The attack south of the sensitive shrine city
of Samarra in Salaheddin province, where
militants have overrun the state capital and a
swathe of other territory, also wounded 25
people.
Samarra, 15km north of where the attack
took place, is home to the revered Shiite Al-
Askari shrine, which was bombed in February
2006, sparking a bloody Sunni-Shiite
sectarian war.
The position was occupied by a mix of Iraqi
soldiers and civilians who have volunteered
to fight a major jihadist-led militant offensive
that has overrun chunks of five provinces
Suicide bombing ... Ali al-Tamimi (front R),
governor of Baghdad, arrives with Iraqi forces
and mainly Shiite Muslim volunteers at the
Al-Askari Shrine in the predominantly-Sunni
Muslim city of Samarra.
The Sunni insurgent blitz that began early
last month and swept across much of
northern and western Iraq has been fuelled in
part by grievances among the country’s Sunni
Muslim minority with Mr al-Maliki and his
Shiite-led government. Mr al-Maliki, who has
held the post since 2006, is being pressed to
step aside, with even some of his former
allies blaming his failure to promote
reconciliation for fuelling Sunni support for
the insurgency.
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-
Sistani, has even pressed politicians to
quickly form a new government that can
confront the militant threat and unite the
country. Politicians failed in their first session
of parliament on Tuesday to make any
progress.
On Friday, al-Sistani lamented the inability of
political leaders to quickly agree on a new
prime minister, describing it as “a regrettable
failure” and urging them to redouble their
efforts to form a new government that can lift
the country out of its crisis, a cleric who
represents him told worshippers in a Friday
sermon in the holy city of Karbala.
But Mr al-Maliki’s statement issued Friday
suggested that he intended to fight any
attempt to find a replacement for him, and he
vowed to remain until the insurgents are
defeated.
“Pulling out of the battlefield while facing
terrorist organisations that are against Islam
and humanity would show weakness instead
of carrying out my legitimate, national and
moral responsibility,” Mr al-Maliki said. “I
have vowed to God that I will continue to
fight by the side of our armed forces and
volunteers until we defeat the enemies of Iraq
and its people.”
Won’t back down ... Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki speaks to the press in
Baghdad, Iraq.
NURSES SAFE
More than 40 Indian nurses who were
trapped in territory captured by Islamic
militants crossed into Iraq’s largely
autonomous Kurdish region Friday and will
be under the protection of local security
forces until flying home later in the day,
authorities said.
The nurses had been stranded for more than
a week at a hospital in the Iraqi city of Tikrit,
which Sunni militants, including fighters from
the Islamic State extremist group, captured
last month. Officials say the nurses were
moved this week to the militant-held city of
Mosul farther north.
Nawaz Hadi, the governor of Irbil province in
the self-rule Kurdish region, said the nurses
arrived at a checkpoint and were being cared
for by the Kurdish militia fighters, known as
Peshmerga.
“All the nurses are safe with the Peshmerga
in Irbil,” Mr Hadi told The Associated Press.
“After this, they will travel to the airport in
Irbil and return home. They are very tired.”
Earlier Friday, chief minister of Kerala state
in India, Oommen Chandy, said the nurses
would return to the southern Indian city of
Kochi on a special aircraft arranged by the
Indian government.
It remained unclear whether the nurses had
been held by the extremist group or were just
stranded in their territory. Neither Indian nor
Iraqi officials have offered details.
Prayers ... Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr attend open-air Friday prayers in the
Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, Baghdad, Iraq.
IRAQI TROOPS CAPTURE SADDAM
HUSSEIN’S BIRTHPLACE
Also Friday, Iraqi government troops captured
the village of Awja — the birthplace of former
dictator Saddam Hussein — south of Tikrit,
military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-
Moussawi said.
The push through Awja is part of an ongoing
military offensive that ultimately aims to
retake Tikrit.
North of the city, government air strikes
targeted Islamic militants trying to capture
the country’s largest oil refinery, reportedly
killing as many as 30 insurgents, authorities
said.
Fighters from the Islamic State group have
been trying for weeks to capture the Beiji
facility, located some 250 kilometres (155
miles) north of Baghdad. The group appeared
on the verge of taking the refinery last month,
but military troops managed to hold on and
have since received reinforcements to help
bolster their defences.
A government plane targeted around eight
vehicles attacking government forces at the
facility north of Baghdad early Friday
morning, said Sabah al-Nuaman, the
spokesman for Iraq’s counterterrorism
services. He said up to 30 militants were
killed.
Al-Nuaman also said a helicopter gunship hit
a house in the town of Qaim near the Syrian
border where a gathering of the Islamic State
group’s local leaders was taking place. He
said there were several casualties, but did
not have a concrete figure.
The militants took control of Qaim, which
controls a border crossing with Syria, last
month during their blitz across Iraq, and now
control a vast stretch of territory straddling
the two countries.
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