أرشيف الوسم : iraq

The UK will send more security force personnel to Iraq to train Iraqi forces in the battle against extremist group Islamic State (IS), UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said on Wednesday. Britain has been supporting the US-led air strikes to force IS militants out of Iraq and has already trained Kurdish fighters in the country. “We will be stepping up …

When Islam was at its strongest, it was also at its most open-minded By Gerard Russell – Onfaith Ours is the oldest religion in the world,” said the Mandaean high priest to me in 2006, when we met during my diplomatic posting to Baghdad. He did indeed turn out to be the religious leader of an ancient people whose traditions …

Journalist and author Glenn Greenwald, the award winning journalist who published Edward Snowden’s US government surveillance programs, on Thursday said that Canada cannot be surprised by the recent violence in the country. “Canadians shouldn’t allow this week’s violent attacks in Ottawa and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu to scare them into giving up more freedoms and privacy to the government in the name of …

by Sheema Khan  As Canada heads to war for six months or more in Iraq (and perhaps Syria), Canadian Muslims will once again feel under the microscope. As with the 1991 Persian Gulf war, and in the years after the 9/11 attacks, this community will bear the burden of suspicion, discrimination and possible recrimination. Acts of violent extremism committed overseas, …

Eric Walberg- The Middle East Eye In recent weeks there has been a spate of articles about western youth flocking to Syria and now Iraq to join the IS “caliphate.” An estimated 11,000 such fighters have already made the leap. Up to 130 Canadians have joined them, including Hamiltonian York University student, Mohamud Mohamed Mohamud, a Somalian Canadian, known to …

Islamic State (IS) militants on Wednesday came closer to seizing control of Syrian Kurdish town Kobane and the Iraqi town Amriyat al-Fallujah, as the US warned that the fight against the group will be long and arduous. Kurdish militia have been able to resist the IS press in Kobane thanks to help from US-led air strikes, which seem to be …

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Monday said that Iran should withdraw its “occupying” forces in Syria in order to resolve the conflict in the war-torn country. “Our reservations are about Iran’s policy in the region, not about Iran as a country or people”, Prince Saud said at a joint conference in Jeddah after meeting with German Foreign Minister …

Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said that it will protect Turkey, a member-nation of NATO, against attacks from extremist group Islamic State (IS), which is battling to capture territory in Iran and neighbor Syria near the Turkish borderline. “Turkey is a NATO ally and our main responsibility is to protect the integrity, the borders of Turkey. We …

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday announced that Canadian fighter jets will participate in the battle against Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq for six months. Harper told the Canadian parliament to send air-to-air refueling airplanes as well as two surveillance airplanes to the region. Harper, however, did not mention how many jets will take part in the campaign, …

Islamic State (IS) fighters in Iraq are inflicting shocking human rights violations that could amount to war crimes, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said on Thursday. “The array of violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL and associated armed groups is staggering, and many of their acts may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity”, …