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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Brit Jihadi Film Leaves Family 'Heartbroken'

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: Shia Cleric Issues Threat To US Forces

A Shia cleric loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada al Sadr has warned that the 300 US military advisers en route to Iraq will be attacked.

In a sermon from Baghdad's Sadr City district, Nassir al Saedi threatened what he called "the occupier", saying: "We will be ready for you if you are back."

The warning comes after President Barack Obama announced the deployment of US military advisers, made up mostly of special forces.

Their aim is to help the Iraqi government in its fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group of Sunni extremists who have seized cities and towns across northern Iraq.

Mr Obama is deploying 300 military advisers as pressure mounts on Mr Maliki

Al Saedi's threats highlight a potentially dangerous secondary front for US forces heading to Iraq. Moqtada al Sadr's militia fought the Americans in at least two rounds of street warfare during the eight years US troops were on the ground there.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged the Iraqi government and its supporters not to retaliate against Sunni communities in revenge for ISIS' "barbaric attacks".

He warned that any possible airstrikes against the Islamist militants "might have little lasting effect or even be counter-productive" if Iraq's feuding communities fail to unite against the terrorists.

Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has asked the US to launch airstrikes to contain the militant group.

On Thursday, Mr Obama said "targeted" military action remained an option in Iraq, but said US forces on the ground would not take part in combat operations.

Mr Maliki, a Shia Muslim, has come under mounting criticism for failing to halt ISIS in its tracks.

Iraq's Shia religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, who had previously called for all Iraqis to join the fight against the militants, has now called for a new "effective" government.

He urged the newly-elected parliament to start work without delay after the results of recent elections were ratified by Iraq's federal court.

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Spain's New King Felipe VI Officially Sworn In

Felipe VI has been officially sworn in as the new king of Spain at the country's parliament following the abdication of his father, Juan Carlos.

The swearing-in ceremony lacked the usual pomp and ceremony associated with a royal coronation in recognition of the hardship being endured by many Spaniards in austere times.

The 46-year-old, wearing military uniform with a sash, took an oath of loyalty to Spain's constitution before giving an address.

Felipe VI with his wife, Queen Letizia, and their children greet the crowds

"We have a great country. We should all be proud of being Spaniards," Felipe, who officially ascended to the throne at midnight, said at the ceremony.

Felipe promised "a renewed monarchy for new times", after scandals tainted his father's reign.

To shouts of "Viva el Rey (Long live the king)!", Felipe said: "Today, more than ever, the people rightly demand our public lives be guided by... moral and ethical principles."

He ended his speech by saying "thank you" in three Spanish regional languages - Catalan, Basque and Galician - where independence movements are strongest.

Felipe's mother, Sofia, during the swearing-in ceremony

Felipe, a former Olympic yachtsman, was then honoured with a military parade before being driven through the sunny streets of central Madrid with his wife, Queen Letizia, a former journalist.

Thousands of supporters lined the streets and cheered the king - the occasion providing a welcome distraction to Spaniards reeling from their team's shock exit from the World Cup.

The newly crowned king, his wife and their daughters, Princesses Leonor, 8, and Sofia, 7, then greeted crowds from the balcony of the Royal Palace with other members of the royal family.

Felipe later disappeared to host an afternoon reception at the Royal Palace with 2,000 guests from all walks of society.

His father did not attend the swearing-in ceremony so as not to distract attention from the new monarch, according to the palace.

The outgoing king lost favour after going on an elephant hunting trip

Monarchists hope Felipe becoming king will bring in a new era for the troubled royal household.

He has remained untouched by a royal corruption scandal, in which his brother-in-law is charged with embezzling millions of euros of public funds in a case that shocked the public.

The outgoing king, credited with helping the country's transition to democracy, also lost favour after going on a secret elephant hunting trip at the height of Spain's recession.

Although polls show the decision to hand over to Felipe has boosted the popularity of the royals, nearly two thirds now also support the idea of a referendum on whether Spain should continue to be a constitutional monarchy.

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Africa 'Must Unite' To Stop Boko Haram Spread

Boko Haram Snatches Young Boys Across Border

Updated: 10:47am UK, Thursday 19 June 2014

By Alex Crawford, Special Correspondent, in Cameroon

The Nigerian-born Islamic militant group Boko Haram is terrorising communities inside neighbouring Cameroon and snatching young boys from across the border and forcing them to join the sect.

We saw abandoned villages and burned-out schools inside Cameroon, despite the presence of hundreds of troops including some of the country's top soldiers from the elite rapid response unit Battalion D'Intervention Rapide (BIR).

The huge 1,243-mile (2,000km) border with Nigeria is mostly unmanned and un-policed, allowing Boko Haram to cross over and mount attacks inside Cameroon with horrifying regularity.

Soldiers from the BIR are desperately trying to stop the spread of Boko Haram in their country.

But the sect, which appears to be trying to create an Islamic fundamentalist belt across West Africa, continues to wreak terror and destruction all along the border.

Nigeria has accused Cameroon of not doing enough and has said Boko Haram fighters and leaders are using the country as a safe haven.

But the country's military leaders insist that is not the case.

Cameroon Defence Ministry spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Badjeck told us: "They are not in Cameroon. Why would we allow that? This is bad for Cameroon.

"We are suffering, too, at the hands of Boko Haram."

He said the country may have reacted slowly to the Boko Haram threat but had reacted as soon as they realised it was growing and encroaching into Cameroon.

There are now hundreds of troops including those from the elite BIR unit, in the north.

The border lines are often difficult to decipher with no markings or obvious difference between the two countries.

In the town of Amchide, the border cuts right through the town with roughly two-thirds of the town under Nigerian control and the remaining third in Cameroon territory.

We were with the elite unit as soldiers patrolled through the town and up to a rope across the road which signalled the end of Cameroon land.

About 100 metres away, some Nigerian soldiers cheerily greeted their counterparts.

There appears to be much more cordial relations on the ground among the foot soldiers than there is between their respective political masters.

In other communities, the villagers told us how Boko Haram militants stormed in during the day, trying to snatch young boys to add to their recruits.

One young lad told us how he was approached by the militants as he worked in the fields.

They at first tried to persuade him to join them. When he refused, the situation turned ugly but somehow he managed to run away.

The eyes of the world are on Syria and Iraq at the moment as the Islamic militants there shock with their brutal attempts to wrestle control of swathes of both countries.

But according to the Cameroon military, the Islamic militants of Boko Haram are fighting a similar terror campaign in West Africa.

The sect is spreading across the northeast of its own country but also spilling over into its neighbours.

Cameroon, with its long, unchecked border, is possibly most vulnerable.

And so far, despite the attempts of even some of its top soldiers, the Boko Haram fighters, far from being defeated, appear to be growing in strength and numbers.

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