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Issue 6, Year 1 www.thearabweekly.com UK £2/ EU €2.50 May 22, 2015 Exclusive US aid to interview rebels is in ISIS crosshairs, Oubai Shahbandar P5 warns Iraqi president Iraqi Shia militias Riad Kahwaji P3 Khalil Hamlo

Can ISIS redraw Baghdad Middle East Map? raqi President Fuad Masum said Baghdad is now in danger from Islamic State jihadist mil- Claude Salhani P6 itants following their capture of the strategic western city of IRamadi, only an hour’s drive from the capital. Pakistan’s calculus Masum told The Arab Weekly in the Gulf in a May 20th interview at his pal- ace in Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone that he is rallying the Sabahat Khan P15 Iraqi Army and its allies to mount an offensive to recapture Ramadi, stormed by ISIS May 17th after the Stories of Arab Iraqi military garrison collapsed and fled. Americans “Baghdad is certainly in danger,” Masum warned, declaring that his forces plan to defend the capital on P22 Najwa Margaret Saad the banks of the Tigris river while mounting a counter-offensive to Lebanese charity drive ISIS out of Ramadi, the pro- vincial capital of the vast Anbar restaurants province. The fall of Ramadi is a major loss President Fuad Masum during interview P21 Samar Kadi to the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and a potentially crippling setback to ports that Iranian officers were The president, a veteran Kurd- Masum made an emotional ap- US-backed efforts to drive ISIS out helping the Iraqi Army fight ISIS. ish politician, said that once ISIS is peal to the Sunni tribes in Ramadi of the large parts of western and But he admitted receives “ad- driven out of Ramadi, a reconcilia- to join Iraq’s Shia-dominated army northern Iraq the extreme Islamist vice” from military officials from tion between majority Shia and mi- to defeat ISIS. “We depend on the militant group overran in a surprise several countries, prominent nority Sunnis, once the backbone sons of Ramadi in this war,” he de- lightning offensive in June last year. among them Major-General Qas- of Saddam’s regime but marginal- clared. “They’re the descendants of “There’s going to be an offensive sem Soleimani, commander of the ised since his overthrow, as well tribes renowned for their courage on Daesh positions and they will be elite Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic as and other ethnic groups, and military skills. kicked out of Anbar,” Masum de- Revolutionary Guard Corps, and would follow. Among them there are many re- clared, referring to ISIS by its David Petraeus, a former com- tired officers who have the experi- acronym. Despite his call for ac- mander of US forces in Iraq. ence to defend Anbar. tion, Baghdad’s efforts to forge an Masum addressed the sectar- “Baghdad is “In the end, Iraq is above all these effective fighting force ian problems during the inter- certainly in danger” political differences. All Iraqis agree of regular troops, Sunni view in the Green Zone, a highly on defending Anbar against sectari- tribesmen and Iranian- protected 10-sq. kilometre area of anism and when all the sons of Iraq backed Shia militias have government offices, embassies and But he stressed the process would are united, they can be victorious.” been hampered by tribal pol- military headquarters in central exclude members of Saddam’s dis- itics and deep Sunni distrust of Baghdad. The Green Zone was es- banded army and Ba’ath Socialist Khalil Hamlo is a Syrian al-Abadi’s government and the Shia tablished by the US occupation ad- Party who had collaborated with contributor. He conducted this militias formed by Tehran. ministration after the 2003 invasion ISIS and “engaged in all forms of interview for The Arab Weekly in The Iraqi president denied re- that toppled . terrorism against Iraqis and Iraq”. Baghdad. Blitzkrieg in Ramadi

Jamal J. Halaby Sunni-dominated Anbar has stirred been sent by Baghdad. The weap- Bedouin affiliations, who have For Jordan, the presence of ISIS concerns of renewed abuses against ons had been supplied by the Unit- been ostracised by successive Shia on two common borders — Iraq and the Sunni minority and could rekin- ed States and Russia. governments. Syria — “is a nightmare”, said a Jor- Amman dle sectarian hostilities. Ramadi is one of seven cities ISIS’s seizure of Ramadi could danian government official, who “The situation is bleak,” shouted that make up Anbar, a vast desert make Anbar a safe haven for mili- declined to be identified. slamic State’s capture of Ram- Muhannad Haimour, a spokesman region that borders Jordan, Syria tants and give them freedom to “Anything is possible now,” he adi, the capital of Iraq’s largest for Anbar’s governor, in a telephone and Saudi Arabia and is inhab- move more freely within the prov- cautioned, referring to media re- province, sent jitters through interview with The Arab Weekly. ited mostly by Sunnis with tribal ince and to and from Syria. ports speculating that the militants’ the country and neighbouring “People are frightened and secu- seizure of Iraqi arms and possibly states which fear extremists on rity forces laid down their weapons chemical weapons in Syria risks Itheir doorstep. and fled,” Haimour said. He said unconventional warfare — perhaps The fall of Ramadi to ISIS, despite more than 500 civilians and soldiers using chemical warheads on short – more than 160 US-led coalition air had been killed in and outside Ram- or medium-range missiles to strike strikes in the area in the last month, adi over two days of fierce fighting, at pro-Western Jordan. is the biggest triumph yet this year which ended with ISIS takeover late The fall of Ramadi underlined for the extremist group, which con- on May 17th. the failed strategy of the Iraqi gov- trols vast areas of Iraq and neigh- ernment and the ineffectiveness of bouring Syria, all part of its self-pro- its army, which launched an offen- claimed caliphate. The development ISIS’s seizure of sive in April to retake Anbar. It also is a serious setback for Iraqi Prime Ramadi could make raised questions about the efficacy Minister Haider al-Abadi. of Washington’s air strategy and its Ramadi is strategically located on Anbar a safe haven overall military support to the Ira- the western edge of the Iraqi capital, for militants qis. Iran’s endgame is also a source the seat of al-Abadi’s Shia-dominat- of suspicion as Shia militias are be- ed government. A further ISIS ad- ing sent to the Ramadi front. It is vance towards Baghdad threatens Meanwhile, Anbar Operations not clear at this stage if anyone has the downfall of the first Arab capital Command headquarters said Iraqi the means or the intent to come re- to the militants. forces left behind a huge cache of ally to the rescue. By the same token, al-Abadi’s heavy weapons, including rocket- call on Shia militias, some of them propelled grenades and heavy Jamal J. Halaby is The Arab Iranian proxies, to enter the fray in machine guns, which had recently A mourner in the funeral of a pro-Iraqi government fighter Weekly’s Levant section editor.