Ukraine's EU Deal: 'Not A Good Day For Russia'

Beyond all the bickering over the EU presidency, a bit of history was being made at the summit in Brussels on Friday.

Three former states of the USSR - Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova - signed association agreements with the European Union, formally shifting their countries away from their Soviet past, towards a new, European future.

For Ukraine, this is the culmination of what so many fought for on the Maidan - the local name for the popular uprising in Kiev, which removed president Victor Yanukovych from power.

It was his refusal to sign this very same EU trade deal in November that brought the first of the protesters onto the streets, triggering a movement against a presidency many saw as corrupt and leading their country back to its old Kremlin masters.

The EU flag became one of the symbols of the protest - they flew it from the barricades and wrapped it around themselves - demanding what they saw as European human rights: justice, democracy, and the rule of law.

Petro Poroshenko (R) and EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy shake hands

For all of the sentiment expressed by British politicians of late, it's worth remembering what the European Union means to so many of those beyond its borders in the east of the continent.

I remember one man telling me he considered himself middle class - that he had a nice apartment, a nice car, plenty to lose.

But he wanted a future for his children and grandchildren that would be fairer - that would not be subject to the whim of local bureaucrats or the ability to grease the right palms.

He was realistic about the short-term pain that would follow, but he said it would be worth it.

He wanted a 'European' future for his children.

Of course the reality will not be utopian.

The security situation in the East is deteriorating, Kiev insists, fuelled by the Kremlin.

A ceasefire is supposedly in place in Ukraine

Despite the ceasefire supposedly in place, on Thursday night four Ukrainian servicemen were killed, five wounded, in fighting near Kramatorsk.

The United Nations' refugee agency says 110,000 people have fled across the border into Russia since the start of the year.

The national finances are in a parlous state: the currency has fallen 45% since January, the price of Russian gas is rocketing, and that's before Moscow has enacted the "grave consequences" its deputy foreign minister warned would follow.

For Russia this has not been a good day.

Mr Putin wanted Ukraine to join his own Eurasian Customs Union - watching this 'brotherly nation' instead publicly wrenching itself from the Kremlin's sphere of influence is deeply troubling.

This is not just about losing Ukraine to Europe - it's the prospect of the EU, and with it the old Cold War bogeyman of Nato, expanding East, right up to Russia's border.

Ukraine's success, or otherwise, will depend on Russia's reaction, and western politicians' resolve.

But Friday was an important day - "perhaps the most important day", said President Petro Poroshenko, in the country's post-independence history, "a symbol of faith, and unbreakable will".

He will need both in the months to come.

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Ukraine Risks Russian Wrath By Signing EU Deal

Ukraine's president has signed a trade pact with the EU, seven months after his predecessor set off a crisis in the country by backing out of the same deal.

Petro Poroshenko said it may be "most important day" for Ukraine since it became independent from the Soviet Union.

But the deal has angered Russia, which, according to the Reuters news agency, warned of "grave consequences".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would take measures to protect its economy if it is negatively affected by the pact.

Shortly after returning to Kiev from Brussels where he signed the pact, Mr Poroshenko announced on his website that Ukraine had extended a ceasefire by government forces against pro-Russian rebels by 72 hours until 10pm on Monday.

On Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a ceasefire to allow talks between Kiev and the rebels.

Mr Poroshenko gives a thumbs up to Angela Merkel at a meeting in Brussels

In Brussels, two other former Soviet republics, Georgia and Moldova, also signed agreements with the EU.

The deals mean businesses whose goods and practices meet EU standards will be able to trade freely in any union country without tariffs.

"Over the last months, Ukraine paid the highest possible price to make her European dreams come true," said Mr Poroshenko, who claimed to have signed the Association Agreement with the same pen his predecessor would have used.

"It's absolutely a new perspective for my country."

Alongside the deal is a long-term plan for Ukraine to adopt EU product regulations, modernise its economy and strengthen the rule of law and independent courts.

Moscow previously warned Ukraine that signing the deal could end its free trade arrangement with Russia.

Meanwhile, the UN's refugee agency reported a sharp rise in the number of people fleeing eastern Ukraine.

More than 16,000 people have fled their homes in the past week, bringing the number of displaced within the country to 54,000.

A decision by former president Viktor Yanukovych last November to turn his back on Europe in favour of closer ties with Russia prompted violent protests on the streets of Kiev.

Mr Yanukovych was eventually ousted in February, before the crisis that saw Russia annexe Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

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Obama Seeks $500m To Support Syria's Rebels

President Barack Obama is seeking $500m from US lawmakers to train and equip "vetted" Syrian rebels, the White House says.

Mr Obama has been under pressure from some lawmakers to bolster assistance to moderate Syrian insurgents. 

If approved, the budget request would mark the first open US military involvement in the Syrian conflict, which began three years ago.

There is already a covert CIA training programme for the rebels, US officials have previously confirmed. 

A prime White House concern has been weaponry ending up in jihadist hands

The $500m is part of a broader $66bn overseas operations request sent by the administration to Congress on Thursday.

White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said in an emailed statement the money would go towards "appropriately vetted elements" of the opposition.

"These funds would help defend the Syrian people," she wrote, "stabilize areas under opposition control, facilitate the provision of essential services, counter terrorist threats, and promote conditions for a negotiated settlement." 

The insurgency in neighbouring Iraq had focused minds in the administration

It is not clear what type of military equipment would be included under the request.

US officials last year said they had begun shipping small-arms ammunition, as well as non-lethal assistance, to the rebels.

But the administration balked at opposition requests for portable anti-aircraft missiles.

A prime concern for the White House has been that such weaponry could wind up in the hands of jihadists.

Syria's moderate rebels are waging a war on two fronts - against the forces of President Bashar al Assad and Islamist militants.

The Obama administration has renewed its focus on Syria's conflict in recent weeks as it fans an al Qaeda-inspired insurgency in neighbouring Iraq.

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Suarez Bite Suspension: Uruguay FA To Appeal

Life And Times Of Luis Suarez: Factfile

Updated: 4:26pm UK, Thursday 26 June 2014

From humble origins the controversial Uruguayan has risen steadily up the football ladder to become one of the best players in the world.

1987: Born January 24 in Salto, Uruguay.

2005: Makes professional debut with Montevideo club Nacional, scoring 12 goals in 29 games in his one and only season in South America.

2006: Signs for Dutch side FC Groningen and fires 10 goals in 29 appearances for the club.

2007: February 8 - Makes debut for Uruguay against Colombia and is sent off in the 85th minute.

August - Joins Ajax in a deal reportedly worth 7.5m euros (£6m).

2010: May - Enjoys his most prolific season in Holland, with 35 goals in 33 Eredivisie matches.

June - Scores three goals to help Uruguay reach the World Cup quarter-finals but is then sent off for a goal-line handball against Ghana in the last eight. Ghana miss the resulting penalty before Uruguay go on to triumph in a shoot-out.

November - Banned for seven matches after being found guilty of biting PSV Eindhoven's Otman Bakkal.

2011: January 28 - Liverpool agree a deal worth up to £22.8m with Ajax for Suarez.

February 2 - Scores on his Liverpool debut in a 2-0 victory over Stoke at Anfield.

July - Scores four goals and is named player of the tournament as Uruguay win Copa America.

October 15 - Manchester United defender Patrice Evra claims Suarez racially abused him during the 1-1 draw between Liverpool and United.

November 17 - Suarez is charged by the Football Association with racially abusing Evra following a month-long investigation.

December 7 - Charged with improper conduct following a gesture to fans as he left the pitch following the 1-0 defeat at Fulham.

December 20 - The FA bans Suarez for eight matches and fines him £40,000 for the Evra incident. Liverpool issue a strongly-worded statement in defence of the player.

December 28 - Suarez banned for one match and fined £20,000 after admitting improper conduct charge relating to his gesture towards Fulham fans.

2012: February 11 - On his return to the first XI, refuses to shake Evra's hand before going on to score in Liverpool's 2-1 loss to Manchester United. Afterwards, Sir Alex Ferguson says he is "a disgrace to Liverpool Football Club", adding: "I would get rid of him if I were them."

February 12 - Apologises for his refusing to shake Evra's hand.

August 7 - Signs new long-term contract with Liverpool.

2013: April 21 - Bites Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic on the arm before going on to score equaliser in 2-2 draw at Anfield. Apologises for his "inexcusable behaviour" soon after the match.

April 22 - Fined by club and charged by the FA with violent conduct for Ivanovic incident. Pledges to donate money to Hillsborough Family Support Group. Managing director Ian Ayre issues statement saying the club want Suarez to see out his contract, which runs until summer 2016.

April 24 - Handed 10-game ban by an independent regulatory commission for biting Ivanovic, confirmed by the FA.

May 31 - Signals his intentions to leave Liverpool.

August 6 - Repeats his desire to leave after a bid from Arsenal of £40,000,001 is turned down. Made to train away from the first team.

August 14 - Returns to first-team training and apologies for trying to leave.

September 25 - Makes his return from suspension.

December 20 - After scoring 17 goals since his return, signs a new long-term contract with the Reds.

2014: April 20 - Scores the second goal in a 3-2 win over Norwich to become the first Liverpool player to score 30 league goals in a season since Ian Rush in

1987. April 27 - Wins the Professional Footballers' Association's Player of the Year award.

June 24 - Finds himself at the centre of further controversy, and the subject of Fifa disciplinary proceedings, when footage shows him appearing to bite Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini while playing for Uruguay in a World Cup Group D match.

June 26 - Fifa announces Suarez has been suspended for nine international matches and banned from all football activity for four months. He is also fined 100,000 Swiss francs (just under £66,000) for the incident.

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Asiana Crash: Boeing 777 System 'Too Complex'

Boeing should change flight controls on its 777 airliner following last year's deadly Asiana Airlines crash in San Francisco, say US accident investigators.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) primarily faulted pilot "mismanagement" for the crash, which killed three people and injured 187.

The three veteran pilots were found to have committed 20 or 30 errors in the final approach.

But the agency's final report also cited the "complexities" of the 777's auto-throttle system and auto-flight director as contributing factors.

The jetliner, with 307 people on board, descended too low and too slowly

Boeing, a US manufacturer, said in a statement that it "respectfully disagrees" with the findings.

The NTSB's report also faulted insufficient pilot training by the South Korean airline.

The wide-bodied jetliner, with 307 people on board, descended too low and too slowly during the landing attempt last July 6. Its tail struck a seawall and tore off.

The NTSB recommended Boeing "develop and evaluate" changes to the controls

The NTSB's acting chairman, Chris Hart, said on Tuesday the pilots were experienced but "over-relied on automated systems that they did not fully understand".

The agency recommended that Boeing "develop and evaluate" changes to the control systems.

Asiana conceded the probable cause of the accident was the crew's failure to check the plane's airspeed, and to abort landing, according to documents released by the NTSB.

The three passengers killed were Chinese teenagers

But the airline also said the pilots had reason to believe the auto-throttle, which they unintentionally deactivated earlier in the flight, would keep the plane flying at the right speed.

Doug Adler, media relations spokesman for Boeing, told Sky News that the company would carefully review the agency's report.

"Boeing respectfully disagrees with the NTSB's statement that the 777's auto-flight system contributed to this accident, a finding that we do not believe is supported by the evidence," he said.

It is the only fatal passenger airline accident in the US since 2009

He noted the system had been used for more than 55m safe landings.

All three of the fatalities in the Asiana crash were Chinese teenagers, one of whom died after she was run over by a fire engine in the confused aftermath.

It was the first fatal accident involving the 777 since its launch in 1995.

It is also the only deadly passenger airline crash in the US in the last five years.

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Passenger Dies As Gunmen Hit Landing Plane

A woman passenger has been killed after gunmen opened fire at a plane landing at Peshawar airport in Pakistan.

Five bullets hit the Pakistan International Airlines plane as it was about to touch down at the airport in the country's volatile northwest.

A female passenger on board the plane died on the way to the hospital, said Mashood Tajwar, a spokesman for the airline.

Two other people on board were also wounded.

Authorities were scouring the area around the airport to find whoever was responsible.

Peshawar airport is in the volatile northwest of the country

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion will likely fall on militants that the government has been fighting in the country's northwest.

On June 15, the military launched an operation against militants using the country's North Waziristan tribal area to attack targets in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees have poured out of North Waziristan since the operation started.

People across Pakistan have been bracing for reprisal attacks ever since the operation started.

The operation came after the Pakistani Taliban and an Uzbek militant group attacked the hospital in the southern port city of Karachi.

During the audacious attack, gunmen battled with airport security and other law enforcement authorities for roughly five hours.

The mayhem at Pakistan's largest airport shocked the country and raised questions about the security of other airports around the country.

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Militant Leader Vows To Stop PM 'Burning Iraq'

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent, in Irbil

A senior Iraqi Sunni leader has told Sky News that his men will continue to fight Iraqi government forces until the current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki steps down.

"If Maliki stays in power Iraq will end," Sheikh Ali Al-Salmam told us.

"We will never allow that to happen, whatever it costs us. He is using the same policies as Saddam. He is burning Iraq to stay in power."

Sheikh Al-Salman heads a militant group of fighters which now number in the thousands. His army is growing daily.

"I think Iraq is facing two choices: either a white civil war or a divided Iraq," he predicts.

"The international community is to blame. The US administration should not leave Iraq like this. They should not walk away from Iraq."

Sheikh Al-Salman (L) wants Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to stand down

His Military Council for the Revolutionary Tribes' is based in Ramadi but controls large parts of Anbar Province to the west of Baghdad, the scene of recent insurgent fighting.

Al-Salman's men are currently fighting alongside ISIS against the Iraqi military.

But whilst they have a mutual cause, he warns that ISIS has no future in Iraq.

"ISIS came after our revolution and they tried to benefit from it. ISIS has tried to open Iraq up to international interference. Will we fight ISIS? Yes, but not for the time being."

Before ISIS captured headlines in Europe and America, Sheikh Al-Salman was the first person to take arms against Nouri Al-Maliki's government six months ago. They laid the ground for ISIS to join the fight.

Sheikh Al-Salman has been contacted by the US government but he hasn't held direct meetings with them although he told us he is willing to work with them to find a solution.

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Michael Schumacher's Medical Records 'Stolen'

Medical records purportedly belonging to Michael Schumacher have been stolen and are being touted for sale to the media, it has been claimed.

Schumacher's manager Sabine Kehm has warned potential buyers that purchase or publication of the documents is a criminal matter.

Ms Kehm said she was unable to say whether the documents belonged to the driver, but said they were "clearly stolen".

She said Schumacher's managers will "press for criminal charges and damages" if the documents and data are made public or even referenced in a report.

Schumacher was injured in a skiing accident on December 29 last year

After waking from a coma, the 45-year-old Formula One great was last week transferred from a French hospital to one in Lausanne, Switzerland, to continue his recovery.

He was placed into the medically-induced after suffering a serious head injury in a skiing accident in the French Alps resort of Meribel on December 29.

The seven-times F1 champion was reportedly travelling at speeds of up to 60mph when the accident happened.

It is thought he was saved by his skiing helmet, which split on impact.

However, the racing legend's chief doctor said in March that it was unlikely he would ever fully recover from the accident.

Doctor Gary Hartstein wrote on his blog: "As time goes on, it becomes less and less likely that Michael will emerge to any significant extent."

The German, who won a record 91 Grand Prix victories, left motor racing in 2013 after a disappointing three-year comeback.

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'Spread Of Terror' Fears As ISIS Tightens Grip

Barack Obama and John Kerry have said ISIS, which is carrying out a lightning offensive in Iraq, could grow in power, destabilise the region and pose a threat to the US.

The US president spoke hours after the Islamist militants made dramatic gains by capturing four towns in western Iraq on Sunday.

Haditha, Anah, Rawa, Rotba - along with a number of villages - were taken as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) swept east from the Syrian border, where it captured a border crossing on Saturday, in its latest offensive.

The group was also reported to have seized two more border crossings - the Turaibil crossing with Jordan and the al Walid crossing with Syria.

"We're going to have to be vigilant generally," Mr Obama said.

"Right now the problem with ISIS is the fact that they're destabilising the country. That could spill over into some of our allies like Jordan."

But he said that was just one of an array of threats the US must guard against, citing the group Boko Haram in north Africa and al Qaeda groups in Yemen.

Sky's Sam Kiley says Iraqi forces 'folded-up without a fight'

"What we can't do is think that we're just going to play whack-a-mole and send US troops occupying various countries wherever these organisations pop up," Mr Obama said on CBS Face The Nation.

"We're going to have to have a more focused, more targeted strategy and we're going to have to partner and train local law enforcement and military to do their jobs as well."

Secretary of State John Kerry, on a diplomatic tour of the Middle East and Europe, said: "ISIL is a threat to all of the countries in the region and no country is safe from that kind of spread of terror."

Speaking from Baghdad, Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Sam Kiley said the militants' rapid grab of power "is very significant as it appears the Iraqi army has folded-up without a fight".

John Kerry warned of the 'spread of terror' while speaking in Cairo

"These are major strategic prizes, not necessarily big towns but all of them on the main route to Syria and on the Euphrates river."

He added: "This is is rackling the international community because they are very fearful that if this landscape of ungoverned space becomes established as an Islamist heartland it will attract jihadis from all over the world."

Kiley said the big prize appears to be Haditha, which contains an important power-generating plant for Baghdad.

Dozens of Iraqi tanks, armoured vehicles and special forces troops were being sent to Haditha in an attempt to regain control and protect a dam across the Euphrates, according to Sky sources.

Satellite image of Iraqi forces bombing a suspected ISIS target

ISIS had already taken control of the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in predominantly Sunni Anbar province before it seized Iraq's second city Mosul, and Baiji, home to the country's largest oil refinery, in an aggressive offensive in the north.

Cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith has said the UK could provide logistical support if the US were to begin its own bombing raids.

Young Iraqis have been flocking to recruitment centres at the weekend to join the counter-offensive against ISIS. According to official records, some two million young men have volunteered in the past seven days.

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Jihadist's Mother Pleads For Him To Return Home

Faith Lost In Iraq PM Amid Political Limbo

Updated: 5:46pm UK, Friday 20 June 2014

By Sam Kiley, Foreign Affairs Editor, in Baghdad

The US President, Shia politicians, Sunni chieftans and none other than the Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani has joined the clamour for Iraq's Prime Minister to move fast and form a government.

The nation has languished since elections on April 30 in a political limbo that arguably undermined faith in the central government, even among the Shia-dominated armed forces.

That might, partly, explain their rapid collapse in the face of far fewer forces from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) plus their allies.

But now that Iraq's supreme court has ratified the results of the elections what possible reason could Nouri al Maliki have for delay?

One explanation may simply be political.

His stewardship over previous years has entrenched sectarian divisions and seen an explosion in corruption.

His party bloc won 92 of the 328 seats in Iraq's parliament and he'll need 165 to form a coalition administration.

He, therefore, has to get involved in some serious horse trading with other Shia parties to build his coalition.

But they are now losing faith in him. Particularly in his apparent refusal to reach out to Sunni parties and offer them stakes in the central government - such as a security portfolio and a ministry which would give them access to patronage systems such as an education or public works - so that they feel both secure and that they have an investment in the future political structures.

A more conspiratorial thesis, fuelled by the conspiratorial utterances of lame duck ministers left over from the previous administration, is that Iraq's latest travails are the fault of external forces.

Jordan, Saudi Arabia (both Sunni countries), the US and others are being blamed for manipulating the Middle East and somehow creating ISIS.

There is evidence of Saudi individual, and possible state funding, for extremist militant groups in Syria, which may include ISIS.

And Jordan has played a significant role in trying to boost the fortunes of the non-extremist Free Syrian Army.

But Mr al Maliki may have calculated that he can either weather the latest storm - or let ISIS form an impoverished caliphate in the desert north of his country which would leave the Shia with Baghdad and the south.

It's the south, after all, that holds the lion's share of the world's second largest oil reserves.

It can ship its oil out through the Gulf, via Kuwait, or via Iran.

A Shia state or semi-state would not only be self-sufficient - it would be spared the burden of sharing Iraq's spoils with other sectarian groups like the Sunni and the Kurds (who already have their own autonomy and oil industry).

Such a move, or allowing events to drift to this reality, would place the south of Iraq firmly inside Iran's imperial embrace.

That is not something that Saudi Arabia would be able to tolerate in the long term as it vies with Iran for influence in the Middle East.

Nor is it anything that a rump Sunni 'caliphate' would be able to live with - the extremists within it would forever plot how to steal it back by force.

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Iraq Militants Take Border Post In Bloody Battle

Dozens of Iraqi troops have been killed as Islamist militants seized the al Qaim crossing into Syria, security officials say.

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took the border post, about 200 miles west of Baghdad, after heavy fighting throughout Friday that left some 30 Iraqi troops dead.

Although the Sunni militants have been able to cross the border with some ease for months amid the conflict in neighbouring Syria, control of the crossings makes it simpler to move weapons and other heavy equipment between the two countries. 

The al Qaim crossing. Pic: File

The mayor of Rawah confirmed militants had captured the town, some 175 miles (275km) northwest of Baghdad.

Hussein AIi al-Aujail said fighters had ransacked government offices there.

ISIS has seized swathes of land in the west of the country and north of the capital Baghdad in recent weeks and despite many Iraqis reportedly flocking to join the fight against the militants the government is on the back foot.

PM Nouri al Maliki is under increasing pressure as the crisis continues

On Friday hundreds of black-clad Shia militants, members of the newly formed "Peace Brigades", marched in the holy city of Najaf, heeding a call to defend holy sites by cleric Muqtada al Sadr.

The cleric once led a powerful militia, the Mahdi army, that battled US troops and was blamed for attacks on Sunni civilians at the height of Iraq's sectarian conflict in 2006 and 2007.

Militiamen also marched at a parade in Kirkuk, where they were called on to "sacrifice" themselves in defence of their country.

Militiamen loyal to Muqtada al Sadr march in Kerbala

In Baghdad, about 20,000 men marched through the Sadr City district with assault rifles, rocket launchers, artillery and missiles. Similar parades took place in the southern cities of Amarah and Basra.

Some carried Iraqi flags, while others held signs with messages including "We sacrifice for you, O Iraq," "No, no to terrorism," and "No, no to America".

The fall of the crossing comes as Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki faces mounting pressure to form an inclusive government or step aside.

A volunteer shouts as he takes part in a military parade in Najaf

A top Shia cleric and the White House have both strongly hinted that Mr Maliki is in part to blame for the worst crisis in Iraq since US troops withdrew at the end of 2011.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, the most respected voice for the country's Shia majority, on Friday joined calls for Mr Maliki to reach out to the Kurdish and Sunni minorities, remarks that could seal his fate.

A day earlier, President Barack Obama challenged him to create a leadership representative of all Iraqis.

There are fears Iraq could be on the brink of civil war

"Only leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able to truly bring the Iraqi people together and help them through this crisis," Mr Obama said.

Mr Maliki has until the end of this month to form a majority coalition after winning the most seats in April's election.

If he were to step aside, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, would assume the role until a new prime minister is elected, according to the constitution.

But he has been in Germany for treatment since 2012, so his deputy, Khudeir al Khuzaie, a Shia, would step in

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British Jihadi In Video 'Radicalised In UK'

The father of a British student seen in an ISIS recruitment video appealing for Muslims to join the fight in Iraq has pleaded with him to come home.

Ahmed Muthana told Sky News he believes his son Nasser was radicalised in a mosque in the United Kingdom, but did not know which one.

He said: "The way he talks is not Nasser talking, it's someone else … He was a very soft person, he was very nice, but why he left his family I don't know. Who drove him? I don't know.

"The way he talks, the radicalism he is talking about, recruiting, asking British-born Muslims to come Syria is not Nasser's way.

"Nasser has never persuaded anybody like this before. It's the first time for me and devastating for me and my family."

The 20-year-old is seen in the video - released on social media - wearing a white turban and using the name Abu Muthanna al Yemeni.

ISIS fighters have taken control of large areas of Iraq

In the film, entitled "There is no life without Jihad", he claims the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has fighters from as far afield as Cambodia, Australia and the UK.

His family, from the Cardiff area, said that he travelled to join the conflict with younger brother Aseel Muthana, 17.

Muthana is one of three apparent Britons to feature in the video, which calls for their countrymen to "answer the call and fight for Allah".

When asked if he had a message for his son, Mr Muthana said: "My message to Nasser and Aseel is please come back home.

"Your home is the United Kingdom, not the Middle East."

ISIS, which has taken over large parts of Iraq in recent weeks, has launched a global campaign asking Muslims to post messages "to support the Islamic State" on social media.

The three apparent Britons that appear in the video

The militants have used it to release videos of them parading around towns they have claimed in northern Iraq.

One of the co-founders of Twitter has told Sky News the platform remains a "force for good" despite being utilised by groups such as ISIS.

Biz Stone told Digital View: "When you create a large-scale platform where hundreds of millions of people have the freedom of expression you have to take the good with the bad.

"I'd rather this sort of thing be out in the open than hidden in the back waters."

The Home Office said in a statement: "We do not tolerate the existence of online terrorist and extremist propaganda, which directly influences people who are vulnerable to radicalisation.

"We already work closely with the internet industry to remove terrorist material hosted in the UK or overseas."

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