beigy town is in control. government forces are cut off from baghdad which is where they rely for supplies and reinforcements, they have control of the oil refinery, but are in a tense situation. they are cut off from supply, and the rebels control the major town, which is a few kilometres away from the beigy oil refinery. >> the iraqi army is in control of the oil refinery as far as we know, and the i.s.i.s. are in control of the town nearby. that's the situation as we know it. >> that's right. that's what we understand so far. >> and is fighting continuing to - by the fighters, to take over the oil refinery? >> at the moment, like i said, i.s.i.l. fighters made a tactical withdrawal. they say after negotiating with tribal sheikhs, and went back to the town of beigy, now we are in a situation where both sides are regrouping, and deciding what they'll do next. as i say, it's up to the iraqi army to hold the beijing refinery, and use it as a landing post to go into the town itself. >> how important is the beiji

previous reports during the last week we understand the fighters have the upper hand in and around beigy where the refinery is located. >> what would a takeover of the refinery mean for nouri al-maliki's government and i.s.i.l. to control a big refinery like that will be a big boost. >> absolutely. it's a blow to the government's effort. the refinery is the biggest in the country. it will not affect exports. most of iraq's oil exports go from the south, from basra. however, it will affect the local consumption of gas and fuel, and again it will boost the moral of the rebels, who are advancing in different parts of iraq. the government is saying that they are sending reinforcements and are trying to retake different towns and sis, including the re -- cities, including the refineries. the government is making a lot of statements trying to affirm iraqis that their forces have the upper hand not only in beigy, but in other parts of iraq as well. >> the white house has urged nouri al-maliki to reach out to iraqi sunnis and kurds in order for him to get more u.s. aid. the prime minister appare

what about the refinery in beigy, a big battle. reports are that some iraqi troops are holding on to a small part of the refinery. it's a crucial refinery. there's reports that the i.s.i.l. insurgents raised the black flag over the facility. >> now the situation is under the control of the iraqi government. iraqi forces managed to repel the attackers in the last 48 hours. now that they are in charge of that refinery, our sources there say that the rebels withdrew from the installation. now the refinery is back to the government's hand. however, it remains short. that has created a shortage of fuel and gasoline and cooking oil. there is a fear that the wider town of beigy is under the control of i.s.i.l., and other rebels, so they could try to retake the refinery from the deposit forces. >> the obama administration is reportedly actively pursuing alternatives to nouri al-maliki, who can be accused of feeding into the sectarianism because of all of this. the president warned maliki that he had to reach out to sunnis and kurds. he did

reuters is reporting that rebels were seen in the northern city of beigy setting fire to the course house after freeing prisoners there. correspondent imran khan is in the capital baghdad. there has been a lot of talk of this sunni rebellion, fighters marching towards the capital. how secure is baghdad? >> well, before i tell you that, overnight there were some more clashes on the border with baghdad security force, repelling what they say were i.s.i.l. fighters. there's no confirmation on who the fighters were. the sunni rebels say they would march on baghdad. it's been taken seriously by the fighters over the last three days. they put in various measures, including ringing the city with more security. bringing more mobile controls in and mounting more checkpoints. what you are hearing is in shia neighbourhoods they are setting up unofficial militia checkpoints. whether they have done that or not is unclear, but if they are, it is a worrying development. that means the neighbourhoods are segregated. they are becoming militarized. we saw it in 2006, 2006 and '08. and saw most neighbourhoo

certainly, if isis is able to take over the oil refinery in the north, in beigy, the largest oil refinery in the north, also a power station for the entire north, that would be a major blow to this government. last we heard, fighting was continuing there. there was still iraqi forces on-site there. some had said to have left, according to at least one source that i have talked to. you know, there's a lot of -- there's obviously concern here in baghdad. there's a lot of uncertainty here in baghdad. people aren't really sure what to believe. a lot of the statements coming out of the iraqi government. it's hard to verify them. they haven't really held up to the light of day. after they have been made. we heard from nouri al maliki earlier today in a weekly address. he is said to be making a statement on iraqi television any time now this evening. so we'll watch to hear what he says. bt as you said, he says that they have turned the tide, the momentum is going in their favor. we have not really seen evidence of that here on the ground. and certainly, he has a warning for the united states, fo

> reporter: government forces are in full control of the country's biggest refinery in the town of beigy in baghdad. in the town, also the fighters withdrew from the refinery. the refinery remains shut and there's a severe shortage of fuel and cooking oil. further north in the town, the government says they are in areas, however, the rebel sources there deny those reports. and they say they are in full control of the town, which lies in the northwestern part of iraq. in another development, prime minister maliki has offered to pay over $500 a month for volunteers to join the iraqi army. >> and president obama is said to make a statement on iraq at 12:30 eastern time. tracking the day's developments in the nation's capital, randall, are you hearing anything when what the president is expected to say? >> we don't have any specific details. we of course are very eager to hear what he has to say. and this will be the president's first specific message, on friday, on the south lawn before the west coast trip. and of course he has been keeping close tabs opt situation there with his national s

at the country's biggest oil refinery in beigy, north of baghdad.hese pictures show smoke riding from the refinery. al jazeera can't verify the images, but it accounts for a quarter of iraq's refining capacity. >>> iraq's neighbour iran says it will do what is can to project holy sites in iraq. many people are taking up arms to defend cabala and ley jaf, says nouri al-maliki. >>> another battle frond in iraq is the -- front in iraq is the oil-rich province of kirkuk. peshmerga troops from kurdistan held off the attack. >>> thousands have been heading to the kurdish region to escape violence in other parts of the country. hoda abdel-hamid reports. >> reporter: it's not disif to spot displaced -- difficult to spot it's placed iraqis, usually they are stranded by the side of the road at a checkpoint waiting to get into the kurdish region. more and more are heading north. these are the new arrivals. the latest to fall into the hands. sunni rebels. this is not their fight. >> translation: we left because of the fighting. we don't want to stay here, i'm t

back to beigy, it is still under the control of the rebels from the islamic state of iraq and levant, backed by other sunni fighters. when it comes to the refinery, the government is in control of the refinery. i.s.i.l. fighters attack the refinery. the government is telling us they killed dozens of attackers. it is, however, shut. >> what about the government of nouri al-maliki. vladimir putin is pledging support, american help is on the way, and nouri al-maliki is losing support upon the base. one of the most important clerics said that nouri al-maliki has to go. politically. >> that's anyone's gs at this statement -- anyone's guess at this stage, because nouri al-maliki is emboldened. he has the support of the community, from volunteers to beef up the security. he also has managed to portray this fight as a fight against terror. that's why he galvanised most of the shi'a support. when it comes to the grand ayatollah, he is influential. he made a statement through a representative in a sermon. he called on the politicians to act quickly to form a new government and called on the par