BAGHDAD: Gun attacks north of Baghdad killed seven members of Iraq’s security forces yesterday, the latest in a surge in violence fuelling fears the country is slipping back into all-out conflict. Coupled with a deadly standoff between security forces and anti-government fighters in the western province of Anbar, unrest this month has left more than 850 people dead, the worst prolonged period of bloodshed since Iraq began emerging from a brutal sectarian war in 2008.
On Monday the United States said it plans to sell Iraq 24 Apache attack helicopters in a $4.8bn deal to help the country fight militants while foreign leaders have urged the Shiite-led government to address long-term grievances in the disaffected Sunni community to undercut support for militancy.
In Tuesday’s deadliest violence, five soldiers and one Sahwa anti-Qaeda militiaman were killed in a gun attack on their joint checkpoint near the restive city of Baquba, north of Baghdad, security and medical officials said.
Iran accuses Israel of using nuclear issue to hide crimes
TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign minister said yesterday that Israel is using the issue of Tehran’s nuclear programme to distract from its “crimes” against the Palestinians.
Israel, along with Western countries, has long accused Iran of covertly pursuing nuclear weapons alongside its civilian programme — charges denied by Tehran — and the Jewish state criticised a landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers in November.
“Under the pretext of Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy (programme), the Zionists have always tried to distract governments and nations’ public opinion from their own crimes in Palestine,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in a statement.
He made the remarks during a rare visit to Iran by Jibril Rajub, a senior official in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which is currently engaged in US-brokered peace talks with Israel.
HRW presses Jordan to ease curbs on freedom of speech
AMMAN: Human Rights Watch urged Jordan again yesterday to reform laws that restrict freedom of expression, saying it is shameful that people can be jailed for chanting slogans or criticising officials.
In its World Report for 2014, US-based HRW called on parliament to “undertake critical reforms... to remove or amend laws that place impermissible limits on free expression.”
“It’s shameful that Jordanian prosecutors can still imprison people who simply chant a slogan at a protest or voice an opinion about a leader,” Nadim Houry, HRW deputy Middle East director, told a news conference. “Constitutional guarantees are just ink on paper if the authorities don’t get rid of penal code articles that undermine them.”Agencies
