Kerry-iraqi-lawmakers-meeting-to-form-new-government-next-week

Kerry presses Maliki as Iraq loses control of two borders





Little small talk as US secretary of state meets prime minister to discuss Isis advances



First published:
Mon, Jun 23, 2014, 15:51



US secretary of state John Kerry met Iraq’s prime minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad today to push for more inclusive leadership. The meeting came as Mr al-Maliki’s forces abandoned the border with Jordan, leaving the entire western frontier beyond government control.

Sunni tribes took the Turaibil desert border crossing, the only legal crossing point between Iraq and Jordan, after Iraqi security forces fled, Iraqi and Jordanian security sources said.

Tribal leaders were negotiating to hand the post to Sunni Islamists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, who took two main crossings with Syria in recent days and have pushed the Shi’ite-led government’s forces back toward Baghdad.


Screengrab of Isis recruitment video showing what is believed to be Nasser Muthana (right), a 20-year-old from Cardiff. Photograph: YouTube/PA Wire Father of British Isis volunteer says his son has ‘betrayed’ his country

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore is in Luxembourg today for a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the ongoing crisis in Iraq and developments in Ukraine.Gilmore in Luxembourg to discuss crisis in Iraq

“We are strongly opposed to US and other intervention in Iraq,” IRNA news agency quoted Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying. Photograph: ReutersAyatollah Khamenei accuses US of exploiting Iraq crisis

Ethnic Kurdish forces control a third border post with Syria in the north, leaving government troops with no presence along the entire 800km western frontier which includes some of the most important trade routes in the Middle East.

For the insurgents, capturing the frontier is a dramatic step towards the goal of erasing the modern border altogether and building a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.

Washington, which withdrew its troops from Iraq in 2011 after an occupation that followed the 2003 invasion which toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, has been struggling to help Mr Maliki’s administration contain a Sunni insurgency led by Isis, an al-Qaeda offshoot which seized northern cities this month.

US president Barack Obama agreed last week to send up to 300 special forces troops as advisers, but has held off from providing air strikes and ruled out redeploying ground troops.

But Washington has also been sympathetic to complaints from many Sunnis, who dominated Iraq under Saddam, that Mr Maliki has pursued a sectarian Shi’ite agenda, excluding them from power.

One of the most important Sunni leaders active in Baghdad politics, speaker of parliament Osama al-Nujaifi, agreed with Mr Kerry that a twin-track approach was needed to defeat the threat from Isis: “We have to confront it through direct military operations and through political reform,” he told Mr Kerry.

Washington is worried that Mr Maliki and fellow Shi’ites who have won US-backed elections have worsened the insurgency by alienating moderate Sunnis who once fought al-Qaeda but have now joined the Isis revolt. While Washington has been careful not to say publicly it wants Mr Maliki to step aside, Iraqi officials say such a message was delivered behind the scenes.

There was little small talk when Mr Kerry met Mr Maliki, the two men seated in chairs in a room with other officials. At one point Mr Kerry looked at an Iraqi official and said, “How are you?”

The meeting lasted one hour and 40 minutes, after which Mr Kerry was escorted to his car by Iraq’s foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari. As Mr Kerry got in, he said: “That was good.”

Mr Kerry denied a charge from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Washington of trying to regain control of the country it once occupied.

Iraqis are due to form a new government after an election in April. Mr Maliki’s list won the most seats in parliament but would still require allies to win a majority.

Mr Kerry has said the United States will not choose who rules in Baghdad, but added that Washington had noted the dissatisfaction among Kurds, Sunnis and some Shi’ites with Mr Maliki’s leadership. He emphasised that the US wanted Iraqis to “find a leadership that was prepared to be inclusive and share power”.

Senior Iraqi politicians, including at least one member of Mr Maliki’s own ruling list, have said that a message that Washington is open to Mr Maliki leaving power has been delivered in diplomatic language to Iraqi leaders.

Recent meetings between Mr Maliki and American officials have been described as tense. A close ally of Maliki has described him as having grown bitter toward the Americans in recent days over their failure to provide strong military support.


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Kerry presses Maliki as Iraq loses control of two borders





Little small talk as US secretary of state meets prime minister to discuss Isis advances



First published:
Mon, Jun 23, 2014, 15:51



US secretary of state John Kerry met Iraq’s prime minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad today to push for more inclusive leadership. The meeting came as Mr al-Maliki’s forces abandoned the border with Jordan, leaving the entire western frontier beyond government control.

Sunni tribes took the Turaibil desert border crossing, the only legal crossing point between Iraq and Jordan, after Iraqi security forces fled, Iraqi and Jordanian security sources said.

Tribal leaders were negotiating to hand the post to Sunni Islamists from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, who took two main crossings with Syria in recent days and have pushed the Shi’ite-led government’s forces back toward Baghdad.


Screengrab of Isis recruitment video showing what is believed to be Nasser Muthana (right), a 20-year-old from Cardiff. Photograph: YouTube/PA Wire Father of British Isis volunteer says his son has ‘betrayed’ his country

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Eamon Gilmore is in Luxembourg today for a meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the ongoing crisis in Iraq and developments in Ukraine.Gilmore in Luxembourg to discuss crisis in Iraq

“We are strongly opposed to US and other intervention in Iraq,” IRNA news agency quoted Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying. Photograph: ReutersAyatollah Khamenei accuses US of exploiting Iraq crisis

Ethnic Kurdish forces control a third border post with Syria in the north, leaving government troops with no presence along the entire 800km western frontier which includes some of the most important trade routes in the Middle East.

For the insurgents, capturing the frontier is a dramatic step towards the goal of erasing the modern border altogether and building a caliphate across swathes of Syria and Iraq.

Washington, which withdrew its troops from Iraq in 2011 after an occupation that followed the 2003 invasion which toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, has been struggling to help Mr Maliki’s administration contain a Sunni insurgency led by Isis, an al-Qaeda offshoot which seized northern cities this month.

US president Barack Obama agreed last week to send up to 300 special forces troops as advisers, but has held off from providing air strikes and ruled out redeploying ground troops.

But Washington has also been sympathetic to complaints from many Sunnis, who dominated Iraq under Saddam, that Mr Maliki has pursued a sectarian Shi’ite agenda, excluding them from power.

One of the most important Sunni leaders active in Baghdad politics, speaker of parliament Osama al-Nujaifi, agreed with Mr Kerry that a twin-track approach was needed to defeat the threat from Isis: “We have to confront it through direct military operations and through political reform,” he told Mr Kerry.

Washington is worried that Mr Maliki and fellow Shi’ites who have won US-backed elections have worsened the insurgency by alienating moderate Sunnis who once fought al-Qaeda but have now joined the Isis revolt. While Washington has been careful not to say publicly it wants Mr Maliki to step aside, Iraqi officials say such a message was delivered behind the scenes.

There was little small talk when Mr Kerry met Mr Maliki, the two men seated in chairs in a room with other officials. At one point Mr Kerry looked at an Iraqi official and said, “How are you?”

The meeting lasted one hour and 40 minutes, after which Mr Kerry was escorted to his car by Iraq’s foreign minister Hoshiyar Zebari. As Mr Kerry got in, he said: “That was good.”

Mr Kerry denied a charge from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that Washington of trying to regain control of the country it once occupied.

Iraqis are due to form a new government after an election in April. Mr Maliki’s list won the most seats in parliament but would still require allies to win a majority.

Mr Kerry has said the United States will not choose who rules in Baghdad, but added that Washington had noted the dissatisfaction among Kurds, Sunnis and some Shi’ites with Mr Maliki’s leadership. He emphasised that the US wanted Iraqis to “find a leadership that was prepared to be inclusive and share power”.

Senior Iraqi politicians, including at least one member of Mr Maliki’s own ruling list, have said that a message that Washington is open to Mr Maliki leaving power has been delivered in diplomatic language to Iraqi leaders.

Recent meetings between Mr Maliki and American officials have been described as tense. A close ally of Maliki has described him as having grown bitter toward the Americans in recent days over their failure to provide strong military support.


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