Middle Orient

IS CLAIMS UNIVERSAL AUTHORITY, DECLARES BAGHDADI CALIPH

BAGHDAD, June 30, (Agencies): Ruthless jihadists spearheading a Sunni militant offensive in Iraq have declared an “Islamic caliphate” and ordered Muslims worldwide to pledge allegiance to their chief, in a spectacular bid to extend their authority. Iraqi forces meanwhile pressed a counter-offensive Monday against executed dictator Saddam Hussein’s hometown of …

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US says Pakistani ‘charity’ front for banned militants

JuD condemns ‘terror’ label ISLAMABAD, June 26, (Agencies): The US State Department has named a self-proclaimed Pakistani charity as a “foreign terrorist organization”, a status that freezes any assets it has under US jurisdiction. Jamaat-ud-Dawa calls itself a humanitarian charity but is widely seen as a front organization for the …

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Jihadists said to target Kuwait

KING ORDERS SAUDIS TO GEAR FOR THREAT PARIS, June 26, (Agencies): Israel offered Thursday to help moderate Arab nations threatened by a lightning offensive by Islamic militants in Iraq, as the country’s top diplomat met with John Kerry. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Kerry at a meeting in Paris …

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Sistani repeats call for ISIL ouster – India cancels labor travel clearance

Move to make Maliki go … Abdul-Mahdi, Ayad Allawi may replace BAGHDAD, June 20, (Agencies): Iraq’s top Shiite cleric urged all of its people Friday to unite and expel Sunni Muslim insurgents, as Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki came under growing pressure at home and abroad. The call came after …

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UK jihadist’s father wants to cry over video – There is no life without jihad: Muthana

LONDON, June 21, (AFP): The father of a British man who left to fight in Syria said on Saturday he “wants to cry” after his son appeared in an online video aimed at recruiting jihadists. Ahmed Muthana identified the man in the 13-minute video, entitled “There is No Life Without …

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Gunmen kill ‘many’ in attack on Nigerian village: witness

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, June 21, (Agencies): Suspected Islamist militants stormed a village in northeast Nigeria on Saturday, killing several people and torching houses near where more than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped two months ago, a witness said. Clad in military uniforms, the attackers raided the village of Koronginim in a convoy …

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INSURGENTS SEIZE 2 STRATEGICALLY LOCATED TOWNS

Iraq Shiite militias parade in cities BAGHDAD, June 21, (Agencies): Thousands of heavily-armed Shiite militiamen paraded through several Iraqi cities Saturday as Sunni militants seized two strategically located towns in what appeared to be a new offensive in western Anbar province. The capture of the two towns — Qaim on …

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More towns fall in jihadist offensive

KHAMENEI REJECTS U.S. HAND…ROUHANI WARNS GULF BAGHDAD, June 22, (Agencies): Sunni militants advanced through west Iraq after seizing a strategic Syria border crossing, as US Secretary of State John Kerry called Sunday for the country’s leaders to rise above sectarianism. The latest assaults saw the security forces making “tactical” withdrawals …

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Militants ‘turn back clock’ in Mosul

Statues of poets removed BAGHDAD, June 22, (AFP): In the two weeks since it was seized by Sunni militants, some residents of the northern Iraq city of Mosul feel the clock has been turned back hundreds of years. The militants, led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant …

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IRAQ LOSES CONTROL OF SYRIA, JORDAN BORDER

‘Week may decide fate of Iraq’ BAGHDAD, June 23, (Agencies): The fate of Iraq may be decided over the next week, the top US diplomat said Monday, and largely depends on whether its leaders keep their commitment to meet looming deadlines to seat a new government before a Sunni insurgency …

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