Fox News - ISIS may have " burned to death 45 Iraqi people " an hour ago

Islamic State militants reportedly have burned to death 45 people in the western Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi on Tuesday, just five miles away from an air base staffed by hundreds of U.S. Marines.

The identities of the victims are not clear, the local police chief told the BBC, but some are believed to be among the security forces that have been clashing with ISIS for control of the town. ISIS fighters reportedly captured most of the town last week.

Col. Qasim Obeidi, pleading for help from the Iraqi government and international community, said a compound that houses families of security personnel and officials is now under siege.

The reports come days after ISIS released a video purportedly showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians along a beach in Libya, sparking an international outcry, including commendation from Pope Francis, who called the killings "barbaric.”

On Friday, a media group linked to ISIS released a four-minute video titled "Peshmerga Captives in Kirkuk Province,” which purportedly showed Kurdish prisoners -- imprisoned in iron cages -- being driven around on trucks in Iraq, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.

The imagery of the prisoner convoy in orange uniforms was similar to the scenes of an execution of a Jordanian pilot. In a video released by ISIS two weeks ago, Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh was shown being burned alive in a cage.

Al-Baghdadi is only about five miles from Ain al-Asad air base, in the western province of Anbar, where 400 U.S. military personnel are training Iraqi soldiers and Sunni tribesmen to take on ISIS. The base was raided last week by a small band of fighters, in what some experts believe may have been a probe in preparation for a full-scale attack.

The base has been the target of sporadic mortar fire in past weeks, and the jihadist army has been moving forces from its strongholds in Syria to Anbar Province, possibly setting the stage for a major clash with forces on the base that is now the sole bulwark between ISIS and Baghdad.

There are currently nearly 2,600 U.S. forces in Iraq, including about 450 who are training Iraqi troops at three bases across the country, including al-Asad. Forces from other coalition countries conduct the training at the fourth site, in the northern city of Irbil.

But even if Islamic State militants close in on the base, taking it would require a massive force, that would present a target for airstrikes, retired Col. Thomas Lynch, a National Defense University fellow, told Fox News.

Iran's meddling is undermining US strategy in Iraq, Washington Post warns

Iran is undermining US strategy in Iraq by taking over the country's ongoing battle with Islamic State terrorists, the Washington Post newspaper has warned.

The Iranian regime's meddling is interfering with the US aim of bolstering the central government, rebuilding the Iraqi army and promoting reconciliation with the country’s embittered Sunni minority, the paper said.

The paper wrote: "With an estimated 100,000 to 120,000 armed men, the militias are rapidly eclipsing the depleted and demoralized Iraqi army, whose fighting strength has dwindled to about 48,000 troops since the government forces were routed in the northern city of Mosul last summer, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.

"A recent offensive against Islamic State militants in the province of Diyala led by the Badr Organization further reinforced the militias’ standing as the dominant military force across a swath of territory stretching from southern Iraq to Kirkuk in the north.

"As they assume a greater role, the militias are sometimes resorting to tactics that risk further alienating Sunnis and sharpening the sectarian dimensions of the fight. They are also entrenching Iran’s already substantial hold over Iraq in ways that may prove difficult to reverse."

These militia, who are backed and often funded by Iran, openly proclaim allegiance to Tehran and many of the groups such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kitaeb Hezbollah are veterans of the fight to eject American troops in the years before their 2011 departure, the Washington Post said.

The Washington Post added: "But the militias’ chain of command runs through their own leaders, and in many instances directly to Iran. The man appointed to coordinate their activities is Iraq’s deputy national security adviser, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the nom de guerre of an Iraqi sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for his role as a top Iraqi commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. He was convicted in absentia by Kuwait for his part in bombings at the U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait in 1983.

The paper said: "On a tour of the recently liberated villages, the danger that the militias’ role might only serve to enhance sectarianism was apparent. In one village, al-Askari, every home had been burned, a tactic Sunni politicians allege is intended to cleanse whole areas of Sunnis and prevent them from returning home.”

EIFA condemns murders of Iraqi Sunni leader, son and bodyguards

The European Iraqi Freedom Association has strongly condemned the murder of Sunni tribal leader Sheikh Qassem Sweidan al-Janabi, his son, and nine bodyguards by Shia militia affiliated to the Iranian regime.

The Sheikh and his entourage were ambushed and killed by gunmen in Baghdad. Moderate Sunni Muslim Janabi was found shot in the head with his hands tied behind his back, his son was killed by a bullet to the chest and most of his bodyguards were shot in the head.

EIFA President Struan Stevenson said: "Sheikh Janabi was a prominent figure in the religiously mixed areas south of Baghdad, often described as a key player in efforts to combat sectarianism. His son Dr Mohammed Al-Janabi, 29, was recently awarded his PhD in law from the Glasgow Caledonian University.

"Lawmaker Zeid al-Janabi, a nephew of the tribal leader, was with the group when they were ambushed but was later released after severe torture and humiliation.

"These murders came a few days after the statements of Hadi Al-Ameri, commander of the terrorist Badr organization, a well know agent of Iran and close friend of Iranian General Qassem Suleimani, the Commander of the terrorist Quds Force.

"Al-Ameri had threatened the Arab Sunnis with more bloodshed in the coming days."

Mr Stevenson called on the UN Security Council to stop the sectarian atrocities against the Iraqi Sunnis, adding: "These crimes by Iranian backed Shia militias seriously undermine the fight against ISIS. Unless the Iranian regime’s agents are uprooted and evicted from Iraq the war against ISIS cannot be won."

Amnesty International: Saman Naseem beaten, days from execution

Iranian political prisoner Saman Naseem scheduled to be executed on 19 February was beaten on Sunday to force him to make TV ‘confessions,’ according to Amnesty International.

The human rights organization published an Urgent Action to save life of Naseem who was arrested when he was 17 years old.

Saman Naseem was sentenced to death in April 2013 by a criminal court in Mahabad, West Azerbaijan Province, for “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “corruption on earth” (ifsad fil-arz) because of his membership of a Kurdish opposition group.

“Saman Naseem was allowed no access to his lawyer during early investigations and he said he was tortured, which included the removal of his finger and toe nails and being hung upside down for several hours,” Amnesty statement said.

“Saman Naseem called his family on 15 February and told them that earlier that day men in plain clothes had taken him to the security department of the Oroumieh Prison. He said the men, who he believed belonged to the Ministry of Intelligence and were carrying cameras and recording equipment, beat him for several hours to force him into making video-taped ‘confessions’, but he refused to do so.”

Iran news in brief, 16 February 2015

Jordan sentences Brotherhood leader to jail time for Facebook post

 

Published yesterday (updated) 16/02/2015 12:00

Jordan's opposition Islamists rally in support of the Syrian
anti-government protests in Amman in 2013
(AFP/Khalil Mazraawi/File)

 

AMMAN (AFP) -- A Jordanian court Sunday sentenced a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood to 18 months in prison for criticizing a decision by the United Arab Emirates to blacklist his organization.

The state security court in Amman found Zaki Bani Rsheid, deputy head of the Brotherhood in Jordan, guilty of making statements "likely to damage relations between the kingdom and a foreign country."

Rsheid, 57, made no comment after the verdict but his lawyer Saleh al-Armuti said he planned to appeal.

The Islamic Action Front, political wing of the Brotherhood's Jordanian branch, in a statement denounced the verdict as going against "individual liberties and the freedom of expression."

It was "a clear and negative political message," the IAF said.

Rsheid was arrested in November after he criticized the UAE for blacklisting more than 80 Islamist groups including the Brotherhood.

In comments published on his Facebook page, Rsheid described the UAE as "the prime godfather of terrorism," and accused the energy-rich Gulf state of serving US and Israeli interests in the region.

Jordan is a close ally of the UAE and both nations are part of the US-led campaign against the Islamic State group that controls swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

Organizations blacklisted by the UAE include al-Qaeda, IS, Yemen's Shiite Houthi militia, and the Muslim Brotherhood -- which was formed in Egypt in 1928 and has branches across the region.

The Jordanian branch of the Brotherhood is the main opposition force in the kingdom and has wide grassroots support.

U.N. Security Council tells Iranian-backed Houthi rebels to step down in Yemen

The United Nations Security Council on Sunday unanimously adopted a resolution demanding that rebels who are sponsored by the Iranian regime to immediately relinquish control of Yemen’s government.

The resolution sponsored by 10 countries and approved by all 15 council demands that the Houthi rebels “immediately and unconditionally” withdraw forces from government institutions.

The resolution was not under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which would have allowed it to be militarily enforced.

It was the first resolution adopted by the Security Council since the Houthi rebels effectively seized control of Yemen.

Arab countries have been pressing for the use of military force against what they call the rebels’ “illegitimate seizure of power.”

Worried about the Iranian regime’s meddling in Yemen, foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council on Sunday urged the Security Council to intervene.

They warned that if the world fails to respond, they are prepared to act on their own to maintain regional security and stability.

The UNSC resolution "deplores actions taken by Houthis" and calls on the rebels to adopt the roadmap drawn up by the GCC for a democratic transition in the country.

The council asked all parties, especially the Houthis, to cease all violence, while urging countries to refrain from any kind of interference in the conflict.

The Houthis, who are traditionally based in northern Yemen bordering Saudi Arabia, swept into Sanaa in September and have seized other territory since.

During the past week many officials of the Iranian regime have taken credit for training and arming the Houthis in Yemen.

Yemeni rebels are 'similar to the Lebanese Hezbollah' and 'will come into action against the enemies of Islam', Ali Shirazi, a representative of the regime’s terrorist Qods Force declared.

He told the Defa Press news agency on Sunday: "The Houthi group is similar to Hezbollah, and this group will come into action against the enemies of Islam.

"The Islamic republic directly supports the Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the popular forces in Syria and Iraq,” he said.

"Hezbollah was formed in Lebanon as a popular force like Basij. Similarly popular forces were also formed in Syria and Iraq, and today we are watching the formation of Ansar Allah in Yemen," he added.