>> prime minister nouri al-maliki is the elected prime minister of that country. it may not be perfect, but it was good. government formation was messy, but he emerged as the prime minister and that's more legitimacy than most governments in the region have. it's incumbent on us to support him. if he has no longer the prime minister in april, he has no longer the prime minister. we want a democracy in iraq, let's see what it gives us. >> wouldn't it be worse if it falls apart? >> worse for who? >> if you have a civil war between the sunnis and the shia. >> they are having a war between the government and the population in anbar province. >> secretary of state john kerry and the white house made clear they planned to support iraq militarily but there'll be no troops. this is what was said on monday. >> we have, as secretary of state john kerry said, made a significant commitment to helping the iraqi government in dealing with that situation. and what secretary of state john kerry's point was, and this is a broader point about conflict in the season, this is somethi

nouri al-maliki has his agreement and is poised to act >> translation: there's increased coordination with the army and tribesman. the army supplies the tribes with weapons. it will be resolved within one or two days. >> that may well be optimistic. the iraqi army sent out a video, they are limited to the cities. other strongholds are in the desert in the boarder with syria, getting rid of the fighters will be challenging. adding to the ones of the government are critics of the prime minister. >> we call on the government to meet demands of the people, not related to terrorism by any means. if there's a further escalation here, worse things may happen, especially because of what is happening in the region. >> the reason for the criticism is simply. general elections are scheduled for april. the political parties are looking to get themselves in the best position they can, forcing nouri al-maliki to take the blame for the worst conscious in iraq, a fact unscored by the car bombs ripping through the country. >> secretary of state john kerry says the obama administration is concerned abo

the prime minister nouri al-maliki was going to pull the troops out, and changed his mind and sent in reinforcements. >> malabbingy wants to talk to sunni leaders in anbar, but not those that are armed. >> translation: we welcome our brothers were anbar who speak to us, consult and discuss. we need them, not those claiming to represent anbar. >> the army cleared a sunni protest camp in ramadi. it had been there for a year. maliki accused many of them being members of al qaeda. >> the operation led to gun battle, and 44 members of parliament protested against it. >> gunmen took control of electricity and police station, and government buildings. they stopped the anbar television station from broadcasting, and burnt military vehicles. >> many sunni tribesman are opposed to the shi'a-led government, accusing it of neglecting their interest. the government gave aid to anbar, including oil, food and medicine. it all seems too late. iraq's sunni population has deep grievances with the government. it needs political instruments to deal with the unhappy sunni population, and military instrume

nouri al-maliki has done the things he has done. libya we should have helped and didn't. egypt is adopting a constitution that shrines the superiority in every way of the military. they'll have an insurgency op their hands. >> more of my conversation with senator john mccain coming up later. next - failure to notice. a disturbing new report on the west virginia chemical leak. plus - reducing the list. five years after the miracle on hudson, new efforts to stop bird >> minutes ago senator john mccain told me he believes that under the obama administration influence influence in the middle east is waning. joining me from tel aviv early morning in carlos tevez is -- morning in positive , is alawn pinkas. ambassador alawn pinkas. thank you for getting up early for us. >> thank you. pleasure to be with you. >> i want to address the issue that's been in the news for the last couple of days. the minister of defence in israel came out with tough statements regarding the secretary of state john kerry, saying that he turned up in israel determined to act out of misplaced obsession

nouri al-maliki prime minister sent a s.w.a.t. team to a member of the sitting parliament.hey arrested him, dragged him off in shackles because they met resistence from his guards there was a fire fight, and his brother and possibly his sister were killed. then 44 members of particle part have sent in their resignations. some of the important part of the structural problems must be laid at the feet of the united states. >> we're going take a short break. when we come back we'll talk about what the best you can hope for in iraq in the coming years. what needs to happen inside the country to move forward from today? stay with us. this is inside story. >> welcome back to sympathy story. i'm ray suarez. on this edition of the program we've been discussing the way forward for iraq and how the violence there effected the broader middle east, ambassador, you wanted to respond. >> yes sure, to understand the problems before us we have to realize in contrast to what the professor said, it wasn't a paradise up until that time. saddam has invaded two of his neighbors, he had fired roc

the struggle for control of iraq's biggest province is getting more intense the iraq prime minister nourimaliki have talked about dire consequences if they support the army and military reenforcements are going in and they are on stand by to wait to see if local tribes can defeat the fighters. and u.s. vice president called the iraq's prime minister for support against the fight against al-qaeda the u.s. is speeding up the delivery of missiles to iraq. >> we are accelerating foreign military sales and health fire missiles as early as this spring. >> reporter: and al jazeera's conn spent a lot of time in iraq and joins us to give us more of an idea of what is going on there in iraq and what is the u.s. military angle here, they are talking about speeding up delivery of military equipment, is it going to get there in time for this offensive? >> probably not. this military equipment was promised to prime minister nouri al-maliki over the summer and he had a huge shopping list of what he wanted and got most of what he wanted and has missiles which will be key in a battle like this but will no

nouri al-maliki now has an agreement to act. >> translation: there's increased coordination between the army and tribesman. the army provides the tribes with weapons and everything they need in the battle against the terrorists. the issue will be resolved within one or two days of expelling the groups. >> the iraqi army sent out a video of air strikes against the i.s.i.l. they are limited to the cities. other strongholds are on the desert. getting rid of the fighters there will be challenging. adding to the iraqi government are critics of the prime minister. >> translation: we call on the government meet the demands of the people, demands not related to terrorism by any means. if there's a further escalation of the violence in iraq, worst may happen. the reason for the criticism is simple - general elections are scheduled for late april. the political parties will be looking to get themselves into the best positions and force nouri al-maliki to take the blame for the worst security since 2008. a fact underlined by car bombs ripping through the capital on sunday. >> sunni tribes proteste

now prime minister nouri al-maliki has his agreement and is poised to act. >> translation: there's increased coordination between the army and tribesman. i think this issue will be resolved within one or two days to expel the armed groups. >> one or two days is optimistic. the israeli army sent out a video against the i.s.i.l. they are limited to the cities. others are on the border with syria, and getting rid of the fighters. only adding to the woes of the iraqi government are increasingly vocal visitors. >> we call on the government to meet demands of the people, not relate to terrorism by any means, if there's a further escalation of violence in iraq. worst things may happen, because of what is happening in the region. >> the reason is simply. general elections are scheduled for april. all the political parties will be looking to get themselves into the best positions and force nouri al-maliki to take the blame for the worst position in iraq, a fact underscored by car bombs ripping through the capital. >> an al qaeda-linked group in iraq is on the ground in siia and has come under attack

sunnis started anti-government protest in six provinces, accusing the government of prime minister nouri al-maliki of sectarianism. they said baghdad was using the army. a reason why the people of fallujah and ramadi refused to allow the army to enter their areas. the government denies the accusation. this crisis is internal and is linked to the war in syria. it controls vast areas of territory, which allows them free movement. >> critics of prime minister nouri al-maliki says he's using the fight for political reasons, to boost his image and targetting opponents in general elections in april. nouri al-maliki is winning support not only from his voters, but the u.s., which is speeding up the process of selling weapons and equipment to the iraqi regime. though washington is adamant that u.s. troops will not return to iraq. this is iraq's biggest crisis since u.s. forces left and could have serious consequences not only for iraq, but the region. >> egypt's army chief is interested in becoming president. the general abdul fatah al-sisi has not announced he would run, he would is the the req

nouri al-maliki has september in armed reinforcements.e says he wants to talk to sunni leaders, but not those allied with al qaeda. >> we welcome our brothers from anbar who would speak forward to speak to us, consult and discuss. we need those from anbar. >> iraq has become bitterly sectarian. there are deep grievances with the sunni government. attacks are often along sectarian lines. it was not like this before the iraq war. it's a challenge to reconcile. >> it needs political instruments to deal with the unhappy sunni population, and military instruments to deal with al qaeda. as long as the two things are conflated, there's no hope of a successful resolution. the government has given extra aid to anbar province, including oil, food and medicine. maliki says fighter are taking advantage of the fighting to make things unstable for the april elections. he does not have much time to try to calm things down. >> let's dig a little deeper. joining us from baghdad, a political analyst and journalist. an infernalal circle of violence, the u.n

nouri al-maliki has been speaking in the last hour, saying the elections will happen on time. you spoke to so many politicians and hear the public estimates. you realised they are saying an operation like the one in anbar, means that sunnis can't come out to vote. they won't have their voices heard in an election, allowing the dowa party, dominated by nouri al-maliki an advantage. that's why he's going in, a lot of toing and froing and accusations. sebbing tarrian pol -- sectarian politics are coming to the fore, with the groups all accusing each other of jostling for position. a lot of this is to do with the election, and the election, prime minister nouri al-maliki says will be held on time. there are many analysts and world folk in iraq wondering whether they'll be held on april 30th. >> thank you imran khan for keeping an eye on what is going on in iraq. >> we are getting pictures showing the aftermath of an air strike in duma. wounded children and an injured baby is being pulled out of the baby. more than 100,000 have been killed since the conflict in sudan in 2011. >> a

nouri al maliki. the same time the sunni minority that was all by doing the rule of saddam suddenly finds itself. and the united states has recruited in the last year or so all its occupation. significant tribal militant groups in barbara brahmans and also in nearby cities again. the united states was paying to fight al qaeda now new deal maliki is not one predicting with the sons of iraq as they were called them so they are right and all these forces are combining together against. him or a more serious challenge. he packed thank you very much indeed for this middle east expert from roehampton university in london thank you very much indeed for joining us meanwhile a fresh un resolution on syria seeking to condemn the assad government has failed the statement drafted by expressed outrage today strikes on aleppo which are being carried out since last month seven hundred are believed to be killed in the resolution was scuppered after diplomats refused to add amendments offered by russia well that for m

how do you break that apart so that nouri al maliki has a chance? >> reporter: well, he needs to listen to the concerns of the tribal leaders. the central government in baghdad needs to be sensitive to local concerns. and make sure they're working on the real-life problems of the sunnis who live in places like anbar and north and west of baghdad, which is, of course, a critical region. and he needs to -- he needs to make the decision that he's going to be a national leader. and is he's going to work with the kurdish and sunni communities. this is -- most of the violence can be attributed to the new al qaeda threat. but there is a way to fight it, and i think the way to fight it is to look back at what happened successfully when iraq and the united states work so closely together in -- from baghdad to put down the sunni rebellion of 2007 and 2008. there is that historical precedent at work. >> yeah. and i guess the problem is whether or not the united states really has the kind of influence in determining what nouri al maliki does, if he's an effecti

nouri maliki chose a different path. the appetite for him, he has become a dictator and we find ourselves tethered to maliki. and he is bidding for a third term this coming april as prime minister when the constitution of iraq specified two terms as the limit. and iran in april, a candidate of the supreme leader in iran and president obama, and of none other than bashar al assad in damascus. al maliki has been the great disappointment of the struggle for the new iraq. >> and iraq seems to be falling apart pretty much right now. it was totally, totally predictable, these tensions between tribal leaders, between sunnis and shiites and kurds, going on for centuries, if you will, but it's obviously coming to a floor once again. thanks very much. >> thank you, wolf. >>> still ahead, a very different story, if you don't have the flu, count yourself lucky right now. the outbreak has more than doubled from 10 to 25 states. we will tell you who is especially at risk. we still run into problems. that's why liberty mutual insurance

in an interview with cnn, he took aim at prime minister nuclearyy nouri al maliki.s what he told my co anchor, michael holmes. >> supporting this. and unfortunately, the country is moving on sectarian route now, which was very dangerous to start with in the very beginning. and i want auto the leaders in the world and the region thats in this is averted, iraq really is on the start of a civil war to the point of no return. wh once they reach the point of no return. >> our michael holmes joining us from baghdad. good to see you as always. a couple questions i have for you. first of all, why did allawi want to talk to you? why did he agree that he would come forward and speak with you now, and does he think anything different should happen when it comes to the u.s. role and what it should play in that country? >> reporter: yeah, well, i guess he spoke to us because he's a politician. so he's -- you know, he's an opposition politician. he actually technically won the 2010 election by two seats. but because of a lot of political maneuvering and what have you with nouri a

nouri al-maliki warned of a long fight ahead. 75 people killed in a series of attacks in baghdad, more than 500 people have been killed already in iraq this year. we have more. >> reporter: once again the twisted melt from a bomb blast is spread across a baghdad neighborhood. it's something that we see time and time again in busy markets residential neighborhoods, car bombs go off and brood spills. there has been no immediate claim of responsibility, but the attacks follow a familiar pattern. they want to keep tension boiling. prime minister al maliki said there is a war on terror and those responsible will be funned. >> they have possibly been taken over by al-qaeda and used as bases, and the houses that were the source of fire that will be targeted by our forces. >> reporter: elsewhere in iraq it's not just shear muslim that is have been punished. medics attend the funeral of a fighter in the northern city that was attacked. in the past two weeks alone 500 people have died as a result of violence across iraq. >> we cross to iraq, the figures are quite astonishing, the u.n. saying tha

prime minister nouri al-maliki said, "this is up to the tribes, something they need to do."'s take a look at what is going on. >> a standoff between fighters and the al qaeda-linked groups. pro-government continues in fallujah. the humanitarian crisis gets worse. fuel and food is getting into the town, it is not enough. >> translation: there's nothing available in fallujah. government services are not provided. there's no gas, oil or petrol. these terrible conditions affect the people of fallujah. >> pro-government fighters called on army fighters to leave. prime minister nouri al-maliki spoke to the nation in a televoiced address, urging the leaders to take the initiative. >> translation: i call on them to take action. we are with them, stand beside them, constantly. the army is ready, but we want them to take the initiative and pull the rug from the people, and target the city, chased away from the people of anbar and fallujah. i call on them to unit and take a stance in fallujah city. >> an interim deal has been struggle, which saw iraqi army forces withdraw, and the loca

terrorists, muslim extremists, on the other hand the awakening counsels who are allied with prime minister nouril-maliki are taking the side of the police and fighting against the sunni extremists. we're going back to a situation that we saw in 2007-2008 where the sunni arabs are themselves divided, and some of them are on the side of the government. >> ambassador jeffries, is this frustrating for to you see something like the precursor to the so-called sunni awakening that happened in the last decade? are we right back where we started from? >> this is a serious situation as my two colleagues have underlined. but at the same time there is still hope that the iraqis can work their way out of this as they've worked their way out of it in the past. this is not a shia-sunni civil warlike we see in syria. the shia population is not rising up against its sunni brethren. you have two or three -sided struggle between tribes and local police vaguely supporting al maliki, but also very unhappy with the steps that al maliki has taken. iraq is under tremendous pressure because of syria and foolish moves by

prime minister nour nouri nouri, he demanded troops withdraw from all cities in anbar. the prime minister hasn't accepted the resignations yet. >> we trace anyone who talks about militia and sectarianism. we will distinguish between a sunni and shiite in these with regards. despite this we have the same approach which is to protect the security of the society and to face al-qaeda and the militias. >> reporter: in another move seemingly aimed at implicating anbar residents the cabinet decided to provide extra aid to the province including food and medical items. sectarian has killed more people this year than any 12-month period since 2008. but providing aid has had little affect of calming the anger of sunni government. charles stratford, al jazeera. >> joining us now from washington, d.c. is daniel, professor at johns hopkins university. welcome to the program, sir. john, al maliki has pulled the army out and provided more aid, but clearly that's not enough. what can the iraqi government do to try to calm things down? >> well, the iraqi government has two problems in a

political parties will be looking to get themselves into the best position and force prime minister nouril-maliki to take the blame for the worst security situation in iraq since 2008. a fact underscored by a number of car bombs ripping through the capital. >> some republicans are blaming president obama for the renewed violence in iraq. senator john mccain has about there and faulted the government for pulling out troops, but today we were told there was no choice. >> i don't think, in my view, that's correct. i don't think the american public would have tolerated more american deaths in iraq. there are two other points to make. first of all, i think al qaeda has been successful in using the american presence as a recruiting tool to get members. >> how so? >> saying, "we are being invaded by outsiders, in is our country, why should these foreigners take over our resources and steal our wealth." >> having a nationalist feel. >> that's right. the second point is that you can't kill these people, you can't arrest these people, you have to undermine the support and it's not for the american

the concern is will nouri al-maliki use the helicopters against his political enemies?ay tuned to this space. >>> the white house says president obama will outline the so-called year of action in his "state of the union" address tomorrow night. aides will not give exact details, as is custom, but will say that he will not let gridlock in congress stop his agenda. >> mindful of congress' reluctance to be cooperative at times, the president is going to exercise his authority. he is going to use his pen and his phone to advance an agenda that is focused squarely on expanding opportunities. >> some republicans are talking about what they'd like to hear from the president. senator roy blunt of missouri says, if all he has to offer is more of the same, or if he refuses to acknowledge that his own policies have failed to work, the president is simply doing what many failed leaders have done before him, trying to set one group of americans against another group of americans. we're get something clues about which issues the president might address by looking at the white house g

own accommodations for the departure the united states, whether it be hamid karzai, or whether what nouri al-maliki did, or the saudis who have lost trust in us. yesterday the defence minister of israel basically insulted our secretary of state and the prime minister of israel did not repudiate him. >> the u.n. says 2013 was the deadliest year in iraq since 2008. almost 8,000 people were killed last year. >> there is now hope a u.s. soldier who disappeared from a base in afghanistan in 2009 is still alive. army sergeant bo bergdahl is the only u.s. prisoner of war. the u.s. military says it has proof of life video shot by its captors. u.s. officials believe bo bergdahl is held in pakistan by a network with links to the taliban. the pentagon said in a statement: >> reacting to the video the bergdahl family said: >> a massive scandal is upfolding that involves air force personnel in charge of the country's nuclear arsenal. 34 air force officers are facing accusations ranging from drug use to cheating on important exams. there are - there are supposed to be safeguards to the u.s. missile def

maliki -- nouri al-maliki has vowed to eradicate al qaeda . [speaking foreign language] >> i call upon all those who have been taking part to return to reason. -- open a new chapter to settle their cases. >> this morning -- this comes ahead of what he says will be a major assault against sunni fighters who have taken control of fallujah and parts of the and bar -- the and bar provincial -- the anbar provincial capital. footage, provided by the iraq he defense military -- the iraqi defense military, is set an attack inow which 25 militants were killed. for those who remain, basic commodities are hard to come by. >> the price of gasoline is 50,000 iraqi dinars. all of this because of al- maliki. and fathers are left behind to take up arms as the battle draws into its second week. >> thousands of african migrants -- toed to resume soon jerusalem to take their protests directly to israeli lawmakers. 10,000 people took part. it is the fourth straight day of unrest. they are demanding that illegal immigrants being granted refugee refugee- be granted

the prime minister nouri al-maliki wants to resolve the standoff but will not compromise. we welcome our brothers from anbar, who speak to us, consult and discuss. we need the real people of anbar, not those claiming to represent anbar. >> maliki said the fighters are adding to the chaos to destabilize iraq before upcoming elections. they'll have to calm the situation in anbar before then, to show he has control of the country. >> the secretary of state started another day of talks with israeli and plip leaders -- palestine leaders, trying to reignite the process. john kerry met the foreign minister, and will meet benyamin netanyahu later. he'll travel to roou manneda to meet mahmoud abbas. al jazeera is demanding the release of three staff members held in custody. the company is condemning the rest of the journalist. the award-winning correspondent peter crest on the right, face further -- peter greste, on the right. face further questioning. they were aarrested with baher mohamed. egypt's prosecutor says they were arrested for joining a terrorist group and spreading lies

prime minister nouri al-maliki is calling for international help. he's warning of a long fight ahead. >>> well, this wave of attacks comes as fighters from the islamic state of iraq have taken mortar tore in anbar province. earlier we spoke to a professor at the university of michigan, he said al maliki has failed to unite the country. >> it's a flaw in the iraqi political system that al maliki is can be prime minister even if not a single sunni voter votes for him. he does have incentive to the shia, that's his power base. the party that incorporates sunnies and shiites, and the politics is purely sectarian. this is al maliki's preference. he was a conspirator for 20 years, and he doesn't reach out very easily. he has been prime minister for some time now, and he has taken on militias and won, and so he is a street fighter, but i really wonder if that's what iraq needs right now. it seems to me that someone who is able to spread around the oil largess, and who is able to convince people that he's there president as well, united, not a divider, it s

when nouri al maliki was elected back in 2006, he promised to be inclusive of sunnis.d to be inclusive. now, it got worse and worse and worse. the day the americans left, in fact, they put out an arrest warrant for the vice president, a sunny. and he fled the country and was sentenced to death in ab essentialia. sunnis feel totally disenfranchiseded by this government, cut out of the process all together. alienated. they feel they do not have a say. nuri al maliki says what's happening in anbar is a fight against terror, a fight against al qaeda and fallujah and elsewhere in that province. and to a degree, that is true. those elements are there. but sunnis say it's disingenuous, it's a smokescreen. it's to hide what is a grass roots rebellion, if you like, against being cut out of the system. and they say that if they're not brought back into the fold, given some sort of meaningful concession by this government, this is going to get only worse and worse. and that's not good for iraq and it's not good for the region and it's not good for american interests, quite frankl

it's a sign of how little they trust the government of nouri al-maliki. the prime minister is not backing down, describing the operation as vital to the security of iraq. >> translation: there's nothing left in that sovereignty. we have to uni-item to fight for those -- yin ute to fight for those destroying processes. >> the sunni tribal leaders in ramadi. the other main town in anbar province have secured the city. fallujah is tense. >> sunni tribal leaders say they've been harassed targeted and arrested by government forces and are calling for the reform of the sahwa, a paramilitary force disbanded when al qaeda was defeated in 2008. with little trust on either side, the baghdad government and the sunni groups are at a stalemate. >> now to syria's war, where violence is spilling over into lebanon. the same al qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for a bombing in beirut on thursday. five were killed after a suicide car bomb exploded in an area of the city controlled by hezbollah. despite the group's efforts to punish the syrian government's ally, op

now nouri al maliki, has the upper hand. >> the army provides the tribes with all the weapons they need against the terrorists, one or two days to expel the armed groups. >> reporter: but one or two days may be optimistic. surgical air strikes against the isil fighters. getting rid of the fighters there will prove to be more challenging. only adding to the worries of the iraqi government are increasingly vocal critics of the prime minister. >> we call on the government to call on the demands of the people, demands that are not related to terrorism by any means. worse things may happen especially of what's happening in the region. >> reporter: the reason for the criticism is simple. general elections are scheduled for late april. all the political parties will be looking to get themselves into the best position they can around forcing prime minister maliki into the situation? imran khan, al jazeera. >> at least 16 people have died in election related violence in bangladesh. despite pretty tight security heading into those polls. 300 parliamentary seats are up for grabs but the main oppos

prime minister nouri al-maliki spoke to the nation in a televised address, urging tribal leaders to take the initiative. >> translation: i call on them to take action. we are with them. the army is ready, but we want them to take the initiative to pull the rug from under the feet of evil people and to drive them outside the cities, where they'll be targeted by armed forces and chased away by the people of anbar and fallujah. i call on them to unite. >> an interim deal has been struck which saw iraqi army forces withdraw from anbar province, and the local tribes with police forces move to take checkpoints, with fighters not wanting to surrender, a ground assault may be the only option left. >> new members of parliament have been sworn in in bangladesh. political tensions remain high in the country after a violent election and opposition boycott. we have more from the capital dakar. >> the question most people ask is how the new government is going to function. it came under heavy criticism from the international community. whether the government can take part in engagement with the intern

rebels united in opposition to shia led prime minister nouri al maliki, and they've tightened their grip on fallujah and ramadi on monday. >>> an al-qaeda chief has died while in custody. he went into kidney failure while receiving kidany treatment. >>> thousands of families are fleeing their homes in the south sudanese city of bor. many are going to north where the red cross says the largest concentration of displaced people in the country are located. eight agencies estimate fighting between the government and those loyal to the country's former vice president has caused over 60,000 people to flee. bor has been at the center of the fighting since it began in december. joining me now is hilda johnson, united nations' special representative for the republic of south sudan. good afternoon. we understand the warring parties in south sudan say there will be no talks until an agenda is drafted and both sides agree. how big of a set back is this in terms of ending the fighting as soon as possible? >> well, according to the ministry of foreig foreign affan ethiopia who are hosting these talks,

it's joint grief. >> reporter: with national elections in april, many see nouri al maliki unlikely tosions to sunnis any time soon. and many sunni leaders in anbar province maintain their own hard line. meanwhile, those al qaeda-linked fighters feed on the dissent. but for ordinary citizens, politics and power plays mean little. just getting home alive at the end of the day is all that counts. >>> and you know, that's the thing, suzanne. the vast majority of those victims are just people trying to live their lives. you see a lot of different numbers for the monthly death toll. but one group, iraq body count, they've got a pretty good database, a very detailed one. and they say that so far this month, we're getting upwards to 700 people who have died violently in iraq. and you can multiply that many times over for the wounded. suzanne? >> so sad. thank you, michael. the leading syrian opposition group is threatening a pull-out of this week's peace talks in geneva. opposition leaders give the united nations until 2:00 eastern to rescind an invitation to made to iran to join talks or for

it's a sign of how little they think of nouri al-maliki. the prime minister is not backing down, describing the operation as vital to the security of iraq. >> translation: there's nothing left for us in the sovereignty. we have to unite to fight for ones destroying our country, to stand by the security forces and make sure we succeed in the political process they want destroyed. >> the sunni tribal leaders in ramadi, and other anbar province managed to rerout, and take the city. but fallujah is tense. sunni tribal leaders say they've been harassed, targeted and arrested by government forces and call for the reform of the sahwa, a military force disbanded when iraqi forces took control. the sunni groups in the anbar province are now at a stalemate. >> there are reports that the iraqi group took a defeat in another base, in the islamic state of iraq. opposition fighters accused the group of hijacking the rebellion in syria, and zeina khodr explains why. >> protests are growing and they are more widespread. people in the rebel-held syria want

at the same time, the prime minister, nouri al-maliki, all on the people of falluja to expel the militantsthinking that this way they could avoid an all-out assault by ethnic forces. they also ordered the troops not to strike residential areas. said to be the deadliest time in the province in years, and now that is a challenge the government's authority. how it remains is unclear. this threat of al qaeda in iraq and beyond, i enjoyed by a director of international security and defense policy center at the rant operation. thank you very much for coming in. why are we seeing this, two years after the americans pulled out, with this al qaeda-linked violence now? what i think one reason is that researched, also in lebanon and in the sinai, so this is part of an organization that is better funded now, better equipped, and is trying to expand. >> how worrying is this? >> al qaeda is not on the verge of taking the cities him including falluja, for very long, but the idea that the government is on the verge of very serious fighting indicates this is some serious concern and that the iraq he govern

prime minister nouri al-maliki said forces are trying to drive them out.erful sunni tribes who are becoming organised are fighting the i.s.i.l. and government forces in fallujah. >> let's look at the main players in anbar province. the islamic state is a group of sunni fighters originating in iraq following the u.s.-led invasion in 2003. it's lipped to al qaeda, wants to establish an independent rate in parts of iraq syria and elsewhere. the local tribal leaders, sunni, in 2006 they fought back formed groups known as awakening council, and backed by the u.s. defeated al qaeda in anbar by 2008. and the sunni tribes mainly control the province and don't trust the government in baghdad, which is shia dominated. they collaborate with local police who are sunni. >> they are reluctant to cooperate with the army even to defeat fighters from i.s.i.l. they have done so in a limited capacity but refuse to let the army enter fallujah. for more on what is happening inside fallujah i'm joined on the line by journalist. what is the latest? >> the tribes make progress ea

these area as government forces launch air strikes and fire artillery shells the iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki has evolved that government forces will not leave this area until all these extremist elements are to quote him eliminated but he does admit that for now the government has lost control in these cities in recent days the militants received a boost as they were joined in the fight against the baghdad government by sunni tribesmen and what is interesting is that it marks a change from the years prior to the u.s. withdrawal when major sunni tribes turned against al qaeda what we witnessing now is that they joining forces with these al-qaeda groups against the shiite led government now the american administration has been slammed for creating the situation there are many who predicted that once the u.s. forces withdrew from iraq they would be a vacuum that would be created and that this would be fulled with extremist elements the u.s. secretary of state john kerry has promised support for the baghdad government that he has ruled out the possibility of boots on the ground he has

these sectarian based political parties the the shia led leadership in iraq led by prime minister nouri al maliki was put in power and remains kept in power by the united states who provides the money the arms to keep his government in power that government has been not only incredibly corrupt and not only incredibly incompetent in terms of dealing with the needs of iraq to rebuild from these years of war but also has been incredibly sectarian in terms of what it makes success of bull to various communities in iraq so you have this scenario where the sunni population which is the minority but large minority in iraq feel completely disenfranchised disempowered disconnected from their own government washington's tactics in the middle east and beyond is up for debate later this hour in cross talk with peter the valve here on our chief. we have alliances all over the world because of a grand strategy that has been implemented especially since world war two that seeks to dominate the world and so all of our interests according to people in washington rests in every nook and cranny of the glo

but, under pressure from the united states and its allies, prime minister nouri al-maliki has decidedt to order a full- scale assault against the al qaeda-linked fighters. "because" he said "he wants to avoid bloodshed." instead he's offering local tribesmen just over $400 a month to drive the militants out themselves. it's much the same strategy the u.s. military used to defeat militants in the same area in 2005. and it worked. at least for a while. but now those same terrorists are back. but now those same terrorists are back. >> reporter: opposition leader and former interim prime minister iyad allawi said bad government has let terrorism sync deep roots in iraq. government has let terrori roots in iraq. >> reporter: the people of baghdad were reminded of that again today, scott, in spite of military and police checkpoints every few hundred yards in this city, terrorists were still able to detonate four bombs on crowded streets. 22 people are now dead. >> pelley: liz palmer in baghdad for us. liz, thank you. another new jersey mayor says he was targeted by the governor's office. an

the visit the last visit of mr nouri maliki the iraqi prime minister to watch from town was very important and this is a he thought that many times that terrorists may threaten their interests you know . americans who did not have. a governmental feedback to build. within ten years started to be interested when they found. military and. started to control all. or to whom it may concern is very important region in the very large the sixteen times the size of lebanon as boards that were just done with syria it's become slotnick you know government or under islamic control a lot about it is very rich in oil and gas and i think that americans are very interested to have their share and oil and god and the americans started and majesty to deliver weapons to iraq or then this fighting in iraq did this if seventy five missiles hellfire and the middle of september december last month and his promise to have much more missiles hundred of those missiles which used to and that fighting by the iraqi government while just you know the task. i'm not sure if they received. mr generous now is how can i pr