‘Iran will do everything to protect shrines’
Tehran: President Hassan Rouhani said that Iran would do whatever it takes to protect revered Shia Muslim holy sites in Iraq against Sunni militants fighting the Baghdad Government. “Dear Karbala, Dear Najaf, Dear Kadhimiyah and Dear Samarra, we warn the great powers and their lackeys and the terrorists, the great Iranian people will do everything to protect them," he said, naming the sites of the shrines in an emotive speech in Khoram-abad, near the Iraq border.
Saudi warns of civil war in Iraq
Jeddah: Saudi Arabia warned of the risks of a civil war in Iraq with unpredictable consequences for the region, after Sunni militants seized large areas from Shia-led Government forces. The unrest in Iraq "carries warning signs of a civil war with unpredictable consequences for the region," Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said at the opening of an Islamic bloc meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.
Karzai: Afghanistan WIll not be A repeat of Iraq
Kabul: Afghan President Hamid Karzai has dismissed suggestions that his country could descend into the same chaos as Iraq when US-led troops pull out and leave the national police and army to impose security. Both countries have been at the centre of US wars, and are plagued by insurgencies fighting against local security forces trained by the American military.