France calls for inclusive Iraqi government to counter ISIS advance / Yazidi ‘mass grave’ found in northern Iraq

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius on Sunday urged Iraq’s bickering leaders to form an inclusive government in order to stem the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) jihadist insurgency.

“Iraq is in need of a wide unity government, and all Iraqis should feel that they are represented in this government, and all Iraqis should feel they are represented to take part in this battle against terrorism,” France’s top diplomat told a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart shortly after arriving in Baghdad Sunday morning.

He later travelled for further talks in the Kurdish regional capital, Arbil, where he told a press conference that France would not be joining the US in carrying out military action in Iraq.

"The Americans have intervened in a useful way while specifying – and they are right – that they have no intention of sending ground troops," Fabius said at a televised joint press conference with Massud Barzani, the president of Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan.

"As for France, our support is currently humanitarian... France is not currently planning a military-style intervention," he said..............................http://www.france24.com/en/20140810-french-foreign-minister-iraq-talks-isis-insurgency/
10/8/14
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Related:

• UN agency chief warns that northern Iraq is facing 'cultural cleansing'

• UN warns of 'humanitarian tragedy' as ISIS seizes Iraq's Sinjar

• No room for Christians in Iraq anymore, fleeing residents say

• State Department: U.S. Condemns Religious Persecution by ISIL (Christians in Mosul must either convert, pay a tax, leave)

• Yazidi ‘mass grave’ found in northern Iraq

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants killed at least 500 members of Iraq's Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north of the country, Iraq's human rights minister told Reuters Sunday.

The militant group had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and children, Mohammad Shia al-Sudani said. He added that almost 300 women were kidnapped as slaves
The news come as Iraqi Kurdish president appeals to thr  international community for weapons to fight the ISIS.

"We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic States have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar," Sudani told Reuters.

Sinjar is the ancient home of the Yazidis, one of the towns captured by the ISIS who view the community as "devil  worshipers."
"Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar," Sudani said.

The Yazidis, followers of an ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism, are spread over northern Iraq and are part of the country's Kurdish minority.

A deadline passed at midday on Sunday for 300 Yazidi families to convert to Islam or face death at the hands of the Islamic State. It was not immediately clear whether the Iraqi minister was talking about the fate of those families or others in the conflict.............................. http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/08/10/Yazidi-mass-grave-found-in-northern-Iraq-.html
10/8/14