The Iraqi government says that it holds Saudi Arabia “responsible” for the current crisis and has blamed Riyadh for encouraging “genocide” in the country through the backing of Sunni militants.
READ MORE: Gruesome ISIS atrocities: Video shows Iraqi soldiers insulted, then executed
“We hold them [Saudi Arabia] responsible for supporting these
groups financially and morally, and for the outcome of that -
which includes crimes that may qualify as genocide: the spilling
of Iraqi blood, the destruction of Iraqi state institutions and
historic and religious sites,” the Shiite-led cabinet said
in a statement issued by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office.
Comments from Riyadh this week "indicate siding with
terrorism."
Maliki pointed the finger at both Saudi Arabia and Qatar for
perceived support of terrorism in Iraq in March.
Making the statement could have serious implications for the
conflict, only serving to deepen religious divisions in Iraq
society.
“Sectarian tensions in Iraq are part of a larger ‘Cold War’ going on between Iran and the Gulf States-namely Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. So the US- if it can send a protection force in to protect its embassies and it can try to deal with sectarianism in Iraq, but unless it gets on top of this wider regional conflict, and namely, until it starts to deal with its allies in the gulf and stop them spreading sectarian hate, events in Iraq are going to spill over,” Warwick University’s Dr. Oz Hassan told RT.
Crisis in Iraq spiked after a massive and sudden siege by Sunni
ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) militants who
captured cities in the north of the country – including the main
city of Mosul – and started marching towards Baghdad shortly
afterwards.
The jihadists have already declared the capture of the capital
Baghdad to be their top priority objective. Since the group began
its mission at the beginning of June, militants have carried out
violent beheadings. UN staff and foreign embassy staff have been
partially withdrawn from the country out of personal safety
fears.
“If sectarianism spills out onto the streets of Baghdad it’s
going to be incredibly hard to contain because you’re going to
have Sunnis and Shi’ites fighting each other street to
street,” Hassan said.
It was reported Monday that the USS Mesa Verde, with 550 Marines
onboard, has entered the Persian Gulf for a possible operation in
Iraq.
Iraq has requested the hastened delivery of major weapons orders,
including dozens of F-16 fighter jets contracted with Lockheed
Martin and dozens of Boeing’s Apache helicopters, to counter the
insurgent fighters.
An offshoot of Al-Qaeda, ISIS, the hyper-fundamentalist group
active in Iraq and Syria, fell out with the global terrorist
network. It gained notoriety for its ruthless tactics, which
include publicly crucifying and beheading those who violate their
strict religious interpretations. Its rise and consolidation owe
a great deal to the simultaneous power vacuum that arose after
the Syrian civil war broke out and the ongoing tumult in Iraq
after the US invasion and occupation.
Fighting against the Shia governments of Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki in Baghdad and Bashar Assad in Damascus has also
allowed the Sunni organization to recruit thousands of people
under its aim of eventually turning the entire region into an
ultraconservative Muslim caliphate.