Showing posts with label Nouri al-Maliki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nouri al-Maliki. Show all posts
Saturday, December 06, 2014
Monday, June 16, 2014
Inside Story: Is Maliki Behind Iraq’s Sectarian Divide?
Friday, June 13, 2014
Obama May Have to Agree Deal with Iran as Islamists Sweep South
President Barack Obama is under growing pressure to set aside years of hostility and start co-operating with Iran to counter the jihadist threat engulfing Iraq and its capital, Baghdad.
Ten years after his predecessor, President George W Bush, declared “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq, the Obama administration was openly admitting it might have to recommit to the use of military force to reunite the country and check the long-term menace of the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.
Britain too was offering counter-terrorism expertise that would mean it working alongside not just Iraqi troops but Shia militias and even Iranian special forces, only recently considered among the greatest threats to British interests in the region.
Iran has already sent units of its Revolutionary Guard to Iraq to help defend Baghdad from the onslaught being waged by ISIS, a Sunni jihadist al-Qaeda offshoot, according to reports emerging from Baghdad and Tehran.
State media quoted President Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, as telling the Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki: “The Islamic Republic of Iran will apply all its efforts on the international and regional levels to confront terrorism.” » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent, and Robert Tait in Jerusalem | Friday, June 13, 2014
Monday, December 05, 2011
Nouri al-Maliki gave his most unequivocal support yet to the Assad regime, and even hinted that its downfall could force Iraq into an Iranian-led alliance against the Arab world's Sunni states.
"The killing or removal of President Bashar in any way will explode into an internal struggle between two groups and this will have an impact on the region," said Mr Maliki, refering to predictions of region wide conflict between Sunni Muslims and the Shia sect. "It will end with civil war and this civil war will lead to alliances in the region. Because we are a country that suffered from the civil war of a sectarian background, we fear for the future of Syria and the whole region."
Although relations with Mr Assad, once a strong supporter of Saddam despite being a member of the Alawite Shia sect, were initially strained, his regime has collaborated with Baghdad to curb militant groups linked to al-Qaeda operating along the Iraqi-Syrian border.
Many in Mr Maliki's coalition fear that if Syria's Sunni majority were to come to power, it could revitalise Sunni militants in Iraq's Anbar province who fought a long and bloody insurgency in the aftermath of the US invasion and who may harbour secessionist intentions.
Mr Maliki has refused to align Iraq with a growing Arab consensus to ostracise the Syrian regime for its repression of the uprising against Mr Assad. » | Adrian Blomfield, Middle East Correspondent | Sunday, December 04, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
PRESS TV: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has warned that the deployment of troops from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf littoral states to protest-hit Bahrain could spark a sectarian war.Maliki's warning came after Saudi Arabia and the UAE sent hundreds of troops to the tiny Persian Gulf state to help the Kingdom's brutal crackdown on Bahrain's anti-government protesters.
"The situation in Bahrain is different from those in Libya and Egypt. In Libya and Egypt the issue is not sectarian while in Bahrain it has become between Sunnis and Shias," Maliki said in an interview with the state-funded BBC Arabic television service aired on Friday.
His comments come in the wake of Bahrain's heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protesters that have been seeking political reforms and an end to the two-century long rule of al-Khalifa dynasty.
"We did not move to support the Shias in Bahrain but we called for interference in Bahraini affairs to be stopped and don't want to make it a sectarian issue. Because if it happens, it will be like a snowball, it will get bigger if it is ignored ... The region may be drawn into a sectarian war," the Iraqi premier noted.
Maliki has previously criticized the military intervention in Bahrain by Persian Gulf Arab states. » | DB/HRF/MGH | Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 26, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Iraq is heading for a dangerous and uncertain future after its prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, lost its general election by the narrowest of margins but refused to step down without a fight.
After three weeks of counting, marred by delays and accusations of fraud, the nationalist Iraqiya bloc led by Ayad Allawi won 91 seats, to 89 for Mr Maliki's State of Law.
Mr Maliki, who earlier accused election officials of fixing the result and demanded a recount, said the result was "not final" and that he did not accept it.
More worryingly, his supporters have openly threatened there would be a return to sectarian violence if Mr Allawi were declared the winner. >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Friday, March 26, 2010
Monday, April 13, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Iraq's leaders have been accused of ignoring a wave of violence against homosexual men.
In recent weeks, 25 young men and boys have been killed in the country and gay rights groups claim the government has given tacit support to the death squads by staying silent on the crimes.
The lack of action by the authorities has prompted Amnesty International to the Iraqi President, Nouri al-Maliki, demanding "urgent and concerted action" by his government to stop the killings, according to the Independent.
The majority of the deadly attacks have taken place in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, controlled by ultra-conservative Shia militia.
The bodies of four gay men, each bearing a sign with the Arabic word for "pervert" on their chests, were discovered in Sadr City three weeks ago. No arrests have been made.
Amnesty said the murders appeared to have been committed by militiamen and relatives of the victims, who had been incited by religious leaders who condemned 'deviancy'. >>> | Monday, April 13, 2009
THE INDEPENDENT: Iraqi Leaders Attacked over Spate of Homophobic Murders
Dozens of young men and boys killed by death squads in Baghdad
Iraqi leaders are accused of turning a blind eye to a spate of murders of homosexuals after 25 young men and boys were killed in recent weeks.
Gay groups claim the Iraqi government is giving tacit support to the death squads targeting young homosexuals who venture outdoors.
In an unusual move, Amnesty International will today write to the Iraqi President, Nouri al-Maliki, demanding "urgent and concerted action" by his government to stop the killings. Amnesty said the murders appear to have been carried out by militiamen and relatives of the victims, after being incited by religious leaders. Homosexuality has always been taboo in the country, but a surge of killings followed religious leaders' sermons condemning "deviancy".
The violence came after the improved security situation briefly encouraged some gay men to start meeting discreetly in public. This led to furious condemnation from clerics who have called for homosexuality – which can lead to a prison sentence of seven years – to be eradicated from Iraqi society.
Most of the killings have taken place in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City, controlled by ultra-conservative Shi'ite militia. Murders have also been reported in Basra, Najaf and Karbala.
The bodies of four gay men, each bearing a sign with the Arabic word for "pervert" on their chests, were discovered in Sadr City three weeks ago. Following the discovery of another two corpses six days later, an unnamed official in the city told Reuters: "They were sexual deviants. Their tribes killed them to restore their family honour." >>> By Nigel Morris, Deputy Political Editor | Monday, April 13, 2009
YOUTUBE: Gay Life, Gay Death in Iraq
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