Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Iraqi security forces take part in training, as they prepare to fight against militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, at a training camp on the outskirts of Mosul on January 10, 2015. (Reuters/Azad Lashkari)

Iraqi cabinet moves forward on National Guard project

by Hamza Mustafa | Jan 29, 2015 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Iraq’s government has announced it has officially approved the creation of a National Guard force to assist in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Earlier this week, Iraq’s cabinet agreed to the formation of National...

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This file photo taken on March 12, 2003 shows an Iraqi Kurd working at an oil refinery in city of Suleimaniyah in the Kurdistan region in Iraq. (AFP Photo/Behrouz Mehri)

War of words continues between Baghdad and Erbil over oil dispute

by Hamza Mustafa | Jan 28, 2015 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Disagreements over outstanding debts are threatening to undermine the agreement signed in late 2014 to end a near year-long oil dispute between the Iraqi government in Baghdad and the government of the country’s autonomous Kurdish...

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Iraqi government forces celebrate after they claimed they have gained complete control of the Diyala province, near the town of Muqdadiyah, on on January 26, 2015 (AFP PHOTO / YOUNIS AL-BAYATI)

Iraqi forces claim victory over ISIS in Diyala

by Hamza Mustafa | Jan 27, 2015 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—At the same time that the Iraqi army has announced the liberation of Diyala province in the east of the country from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the region’s local tribes accused some of the Shi’ite volunteer forces who helped...

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Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr (L) speaks next to Iraq’s Defense Minister Khaled Al-Obeidi (R) during a news conference in Najaf, south of Baghdad, on January 19, 2015. (REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani)

Militias undermine Iraqi army, says Sadr

by Hamza Mustafa | Jan 20, 2015 | Middle East

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—Sectarian militias and other armed groups are a danger to the “unity and prestige” of the Iraqi army, the head of the Shi’ite Sadrist Movement, Moqtada Al-Sadr, said on Sunday. Speaking at a joint press conference with Iraq’s Minister of...

Media ID: 55340465
Caption:

Iraqi security forces take part in training, as they prepare to fight against militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, at a training camp on the outskirts of Mosul on January 10, 2015. (Reuters/Azad Lashkari)

Nineveh: “The city is stronger than the tribe”

by Hamza Mustafa | Jan 15, 2015 | Features

Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat—In June 2014 the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) launched its lightening advance across northern areas of Iraq, taking control of Mosul, the capital of Nineveh province and Iraq’s second-largest city. Since then, planning has been under...