Islamic State suffering setbacks in Syria and Iraq

November 06, 2014

BEIRUT (AP) — For a force that has built its reputation on an aura of momentum and invincibility, the Islamic State group is now dealing with a series of military setbacks in Iraq and a prolonged stalemate in the small Syrian border town of Kobani.

Gone are the days when IS was able to seize territory in both countries with relative ease. Its newfound problems, including a loss of oil revenue, raise questions about the extent to which it will be able to continue recruiting fighters who want to be with a winner.

"ISIS has run a very effective psychological campaign to intimidate its rivals and attract support and recruits," said Faysal Itani, a resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, using an acronym for the extremists. But now, he said, the need to maintain its reputation is limiting the group's options.

This is particularly true in Kobani, where a pre-emptive IS withdrawal in the face of U.S.-led bombings from the sky and ethnic Kurdish fighters on the ground could prove too costly. "They have invested a lot in this battle, and people are noticing. They will soon start asking what's going on?" said Ayed, a Turkey-based Syrian activist who travels back and forth to the group's stronghold in the Syrian city of Raqqa. He declined to give his full name.

The prolonged fighting in Kobani is also distracting IS from more strategically important areas in Syria and Iraq where the militant extremists are already stretched on multiple fronts. Nearly two months after IS launched its lightning assault on the Kurdish-dominated town near Turkish border, the group is bogged down in an increasingly entrenched and costly battle.

Syrian and Kurdish activists estimate nearly 600 Islamic State fighters have been killed — its heaviest losses since taking over large parts of Syria and Iraq in a summer blitz. Kurdish residents say the group appears to be struggling with personnel, bringing in inexperienced fighters and new recruits to reinforce the town. These include members of the IS police force known as Hisba, reassigned from nearby towns and cities, such as Raqqa and Manbij, under the group's control.

"Many Hisba members have left Raqqa in the past two weeks, telling people they were headed to Kobani," Ayed said. They are not fighters." Kobani residents say recent U.S. airstrikes targeting IS in Kobani have inflicted heavy damage. "Their bodies are left for days rotting in the street without anyone picking them up," said Farhad Shami, a Kobani-based activist.

In a move that some observers interpreted as a sign of weakness, the Islamic State group recently released a video showing a captive British photojournalist "reporting" from a place identified as Kobani. In the video, he says the battle for Kobani "is coming to an end" and IS is "mopping up."

But despite seven weeks of fierce fighting and the reinforcements on both sides, fighting positions around Kobani remain much the same as they did several weeks ago, with IS controlling about 40 percent of the town, according to Syrian and Kurdish activists and observers.

IS has also recently suffered losses on several fronts in Iraq, where it is fighting government forces, peshmerga and Shiite militias aided by Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah group. Last week, Iraqi forces recaptured the town of Jurf al-Sakher. IS also lost Rabia, Mahmoudiyah and Zumar, a string of towns near the Syrian border, last month. Besieged Iraqi troops have also managed to maintain control of Iraq's largest oil refinery outside the town of Beiji north of Baghdad, despite numerous attempts by the Islamic State group to capture it.

The group's diminishing returns in Iraq partly reflects the fact that it already controls so much of the territory populated by minority Sunnis. It would have a much harder time conquering areas populated by Shiites.

But even in Sunni areas, IS is having to contend with dissent. Over the past few days, the group has massacred more than 200 Sunni tribesmen from the Al Bu Nimr tribe in what is likely to be revenge for the tribe's siding with Iraqi security forces. The killings, in which the militants lined up and shot the men, suggest IS fighters now view them as a threat.

The group's difficulties are striking considering the relative ease with which it seized other towns and cities in Iraq and Syria this past summer. In Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, Iraqi security forces quickly abandoned their positions and weapons in the face of the marauding militants, melting away quickly in humiliating defeat.

Most other towns in northern and western Iraq saw a widespread disintegration of the security forces, mostly because of the Islamic State group's reputation alone in addition to grievances among the Sunni population that the militants were able to exploit.

In Syria, the group was able to capitalize on the chaos of the civil war to seize towns and villages abandoned by the government, routing out rival fighters in quick succession. By the time it got to Kobani in mid-September, IS was stretched on multiple fronts. Riding on the momentum, however, it captured dozens of Kurdish villages and a third of the town in lightning advances that sent waves of civilians fleeing across the border into Turkey. Expectations were that the town would fall to the militants within days.

But unlike in Iraq where the militants already had a substantial, years-long presence, the IS fighters in Kobani found themselves in an alien environment and unfamiliar terrain, fighting against highly motivated and surprisingly resilient Kurdish fighters, according to Syria observers as well as Syrian and Kurdish activists.

"The Iraqi army was a severely demoralized force that didn't see a purpose in fighting for a central government whose credibility they questioned," said Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank.

The Kurds, on the other hand, "are fighting a truly existential battle," he said. A group of 150 Iraqi Kurdish forces known as peshmerga deployed last week to Kobani with more advanced weapons including anti-tank missiles and artillery to help bolster their Syrian brethren defending the town. They have provided artillery cover for fellow Kurdish fighters, but it is too early to say whether this has already made any difference on the ground.

Bayan Jabr, an Iraqi cabinet minister, said IS was simply fighting too many battles. He predicted a Sunni uprising in Anbar province following the massacres targeting the Al Bu Nimr tribe. "I think Daesh is starting to fade," he said, using the Arab acronym for the group.

Associated Press writer Vivian Salama contributed to this report from Irbil, Iraq.

Libya's top court rules against elected parliament

November 06, 2014

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — In a blow to anti-Islamist factions, Libya's highest court on Thursday ruled that general elections held in June were unconstitutional and that the country's parliament and government, which resulted from that vote, should be dissolved.

The development further deepened the rift in the politically divided Libya, which has been mired in months-long clashes and turmoil that have left the country with two rival parliaments and governments, killed hundreds and displaced whole populations of war-torn cities and towns.

The Supreme Constitutional Court handed down the ruling in the capital, Tripoli, which is controlled by Islamist-allied militias from the powerful western coastal city of Misrata. The militias, which took Tripoli in August after bitter street battles, revived an earlier parliament that ran the country before the elections. They also forced the elected parliament, dominated by anti-Islamists, to leave the capital and convene in the far eastern city of Tobruk.

The fact that Libya's top court ruled from Tripoli raises the question whether it did so under pressure from the militias. The ruling essentially declared illegal a March amendment to the country's transitional constitution that allowed the June elections to take place. Thus, the ruling also rendered the parliament and government that resulted from that vote illegal.

The Tobruk parliament convened later Thursday and rejected the ruling, saying it was handed down "at gunpoint." "Tripoli is out of control, ruled by militias outside the state legitimacy and therefore, the ruling was issued at gunpoint," it said.

The parliament's Facebook page reported that the house of Supreme Constitutional Court judge Bashir al-Ryani, who had withdrawn from the court Wednesday, was attacked and torched "for (his) refusing to participate."

Abu-Bakr Baeira, a leading lawmaker in Tobruk, described the ruling as "politicized" and warned it would only further partition Libya. "We don't recognize anything that comes out of it," Baeira told The Associated Press over the phone.

In Misrata, rallies were held, complete with fireworks, to celebrate the ruling. Saleh al-Makhzoum, the deputy speaker of the Tripoli-based parliament, which is not internationally recognized, hailed the ruling as a "victory for the nation."

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that Washington was looking to obtain the full text of the ruling "to understand what the decision implies." "We have long recognized the (Tobruk-based) House of Representatives as the legitimate parliamentary representative body, so we will take a look at the text and determine what that will mean," she said.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya, or UNSMIL, said it was studying the ruling and warned rival camps from taking actions that only "escalate the existing polarization or result in a further deterioration of the security situation."

The Tobruk parliament was Libya's second elected legislature since longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi was overthrown and killed in a 2011 uprising against his rule. Since then, Libya has been gripped by unrest as authorities struggled to contain militias vying for power.

Thursday's ruling comes against the backdrop of full-blown war underway in the eastern city of Benghazi — the birthplace of the uprising — where pro-government forces are battling Islamist militias for control of the city.

Also, another warzone has opened up in western Libya, where the Misrata militias and allied fighters from a handful of western towns are fighting pro-government forces, including the rival Zintan militia in the mountain town of Kikla.

In the past three weeks, at least 400 people have been killed in both areas of fighting, thousands wounded and thousands were displaced. Omar Homaidan, the spokesman for the Tripoli-based parliament, suggested that the supreme court's reasoning for the ruling was the fact that the March amendment had been adopted without a needed majority in parliament, which was "under tremendous pressure" at the time.

Homaidan said a possible way out of the crisis was to wait for a 60-member panel to finish writing Libya's new constitution, then call a referendum on it and hold elections after that. Libya never had a constitution under Gadhafi's 42-year-rule and the turmoil that engulfed the nation since his ouster has stood in the way of the panel finishing its work.

__ Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Cairo and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

School shelling deaths in Ukraine hurt peace hopes

November 06, 2014

DONETSK, Ukraine (AP) — The shelling of a high school in Ukraine's rebel stronghold of Donetsk has chilled even the battle-hardened in this weary nation.

The killing of two teenagers as they were playing soccer after lunch Wednesday is a stark reminder that the cease-fire agreed upon in September has only really ever existed on paper. Four other students were wounded, according to Dr. Vladimir Voropayev, chief of the children's trauma unit at the regional hospital in Donetsk.

The warring sides — government troops on one side and pro-Russian separatists on the other — now look as far from any lasting settlement as they ever were. In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki condemned the shelling of the school.

In the soccer field at Donetsk's school No. 63, two bloodied coats still lay out in the open Thursday as relatives and staff gathered at the scene. Alexander Yeliseyev, the father of one victim, 18-year-old Andrei, walked by in shock as he gathered belongings left behind when his son's body was removed — a dark brown coat and a pair of sneakers.

"They went to play football at about 2 p.m., while I was at work. And then the shelling began. Here you see the result," Yeliseyev said, gulping back sobs. He said 14-year-old Danya, another student, was also killed.

Authorities in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev said the security services will investigate the shelling of a school, but officials already appear to have made their mind up. Security spokesman Andriy Lysenko said preliminary information indicated the shells flew into the school from a location controlled by separatist forces.

The rebels, however, swiftly blamed Ukrainian forces for the deadly attack, saying government troops often indiscriminately target residential areas in eastern Ukraine. All that is certain so far is that the school where the shells landed is at least 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the nearest government position but close to rebel posts. That would appear to lend weight to claims of Ukrainian culpability — government troops shelling the rebels — but Lysenko said the shelling was planned in advance by the rebels to discredit government forces.

Government officials have failed to produce cast-iron evidence of such claims in the past, and independent rights groups say there's evidence that government artillery has hit homes in eastern Ukraine. Residents of stricken areas have frequently complained that rebels deploy artillery near homes, invariably drawing return fire.

The UN estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed over six months of fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. That includes several hundred who have died since a much-violated cease-fire was signed in early September.

At school No. 63, which was lavishly refurbished last year with funds provided by local billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, a dozen teachers and sobbing parents huddled by the soccer field Thursday as the roar of outgoing missile fire was heard a few kilometers (miles) away.

Two mortars had landed on the school premises Wednesday: one next to a concrete porch by the school, shattering a few windows. The one that killed the students landed behind a goalpost, scorching the ground and leaving a small crater.

Oksana Safonova's son, 11-year old Kirill, was lucky to sustain only wounds to the shoulder, hip and ribs. Quick thinking may have saved his life. "He said to me: 'Mom, we got down on the ground and then the mortar landed next to me. I passed out. It hurt so bad. Then I realized that I don't want to die and I came around,'" Safonova said.

At the regional trauma hospital in Donetsk, a pale, frail-looking Kirill asked after his friend, Nikita, who was also being treated for injuries. Later Thursday, Nikita was discharged from the intensive care unit and joined his schoolmate.

Voropayev, the doctor, said his staff has treated 39 other children injured in artillery strikes since June. At the peak of the fighting in summer, they had to evacuate the children into the basement for three days.

Accustomed now to the sounds of shelling and war, Donetsk residents near the front lines have come to ignore some basic safety precautions. Safonova said her perception of what is dangerous has been dulled by living for months in a war zone, but added that parents still strive to instill caution in their children.

"The sense of peril is everywhere, but we are not hiding," she said. "I used to tell him: 'Stay at home, don't go outside.' But you can't tie him down, he's just a boy."

Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.

100,000 workers protest Belgian labor reform

November 06, 2014

BRUSSELS (AP) — About 100,000 workers marched across Brussels Thursday to protest government free-market reforms and austerity measures, and the demonstration ended in violence when people set fire to cars and threw cobblestones and police responded with tear gas and water cannons.

About 50 people were injured and 30 detained, police said, in one of biggest postwar labor demonstrations in Belgium, a country long seen as a vaunted welfare state. The violent end overshadowed a raucous but largely peaceful march for better protection of workers during the economic crisis. The workers were protesting government policies that will raise the pension age, freeze wages and cut into public services.

"They are hitting the workers, the unemployed. They are not looking for money where it is, I mean, people with a lot of money," said Philippe Dubois, who came from the industrial rust belt of Liege. The unexpectedly big march opens a monthlong campaign by the trade unions against the business-friendly governing coalition and is to be capped with a nationwide strike on Dec. 15.

Despite the opening of government-led talks with employers and unions later Thursday, Socialist trade union leader Rudy De Leeuw vowed to continue the protests for weeks on end. Belgium has a long postwar tradition of collective bargaining between employers and workers, and successive coalition governments representing a full scale of public opinion often have been able to contain social disagreements. But the current coalition, made up of three pro-business parties and the centrist Christian Democrats, is the first in decades that has been able to set such a clear free-market agenda.

The government says it has been forced to push through stringent austerity measures to keep the budget deficit within European Union constraints and insists that businesses need more lenient tax policies to become more competitive in the global market.

The trade unions object to government policies that promise to raise the pension age from 65 to 67, freeze the automatic link between wages and inflation, and cut public services in a way that would affect the entire population.

New 'Star Wars' film is titled 'The Force Awakens'

November 06, 2014

NEW YORK (AP) — The new "Star Wars" film has a title.

Walt Disney Pictures announced Thursday that the movie previously known only as "Episode VII" has been dubbed "The Force Awakens." Disney also said that principal photography has wrapped up on the J.J. Abrams-directed sequel six months after it began.

The shoot was one of the most closely followed productions in recent memory, with constant rumors emanating from the tightly guarded set. Shooting shut down for several weeks in July after Harrison Ford broke his leg during filming at the Pinewood Studios outside London.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" will be released in December 2015.

Burkina Faso leader cross with regional mediators

November 06, 2014

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso's military leader lashed out at regional mediators on Thursday.

The comments from Lt. Col. Isaac Yacouba Zida come as the international community pressures him to hand over power to a civilian transitional government nearly a week after he declared himself in charge. Zida's ascension came after Burkina Faso's president of 27 years fled the country amid mounting opposition to his bid for a fifth term.

International envoys are pressing Burkina Faso to quickly designate a civilian leader for a transitional period until new elections can be held, and the African Union has threatened sanctions if that doesn't happen soon.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "We continue to call for a civilian-led transition as quickly as possible." Talks on Wednesday failed to designate a leader, but diplomats said some progress had been made: All sides have agreed that the transition should last one year and elections should be held in November 2015.

"I believe that in days, rather than in weeks, we will be able to reach an agreement and install a transitional government," Ghana's president, John Dramani Mahama, said late Wednesday after meetings ended. "I am certain that we will not reach the stage where the international community will have to impose sanctions."

Mahama, who currently chairs the regional bloc of West African states, known as ECOWAS, was mediating talks along with the presidents of Senegal and Nigeria. On Thursday, the opposition and other prominent leaders met to determine their criteria for a transitional leader and to describe how they would like the transitional period to proceed.

ECOWAS is holding an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the crisis in Burkina Faso as well as the Ebola outbreak.

Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.

Georgia's foreign chief quits amid govt tensions

November 06, 2014

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia's foreign minister and three of her deputies resigned Wednesday, alleging that the firing of the defense minister a day earlier was politically motivated and endangers the ex-Soviet nation's aim of eventually joining NATO and the European Union.

The events highlight growing tensions between the Georgian Dream party and the Free Democrats in the country's governing coalition over corruption and the aim to integrate with the West and fend off the influence of neighboring Russia.

The Georgian Dream party was founded by billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia. Even though he has expressed repeated support for Georgia's pro-West course, he has also worked to improve relations with Russia, and has been labelled a Kremlin pawn by foes.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, a Georgian Dream member, has come under fire recently from critics who say he did not adequately react against a proposed integration agreement by Russia and the Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia, which declared independence after the countries' brief war in 2008 and is outside Tbilisi's control.

Garibashvili on Tuesday fired defense minister Irakli Alasania — a Free Democrats member — amid an investigation into corruption in the military. Later the same day European Integration Minister Aleksi Petriashvili resigned in protest and on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Maya Panjikidze and three of her deputies followed suit. They are all members of the Free Democrats.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said "the United States notes with concern the Georgian Prime Minister's dismissal of Defense Minister Alasania and his deputy ministers, and the subsequent resignations of State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Petriashvili and Foreign Minister Panjikidze and her deputy ministers."

"We have greatly appreciated the work of these ministers in service to their country and in partnership with the United States," Psaki said in a statement. Psaki added that "it is in Georgia's interest to demonstrate stability, unity, commitment to due process and the rule of law.

"We urge all parties to work towards these goals and to focus on securing Georgia's Euro-Atlantic future," she said. Panjikidze, who is Alasania's sister-in-law, said she resigned because his dismissal was a political attack on pro-Western figures.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili gave a similar assessment of the brewing political crisis on Tuesday, saying political opposition is "creating a threat to the Euro-Atlantic integration of the country."

Political analyst Gia Nodia said the political infighting "doesn't mean that the current government is changing its foreign-policy direction which is oriented toward the West." "That's a choice made by the Georgian people and the authorities can't go against it," he said.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this story.