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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| Iraq crisis: Arming Kurds on EU agenda in Brussels | Iraq crisis: Arming Kurds on EU agenda in Brussels |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| EU foreign ministers are holding an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss plans to arm Iraq's Kurds against an extremist insurgency. | EU foreign ministers are holding an emergency meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss plans to arm Iraq's Kurds against an extremist insurgency. |
| France and the US have already begun to supply weapons to the Kurds, whose Peshmerga fighters are trying to halt an advance by Islamic State militants. | France and the US have already begun to supply weapons to the Kurds, whose Peshmerga fighters are trying to halt an advance by Islamic State militants. |
| On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki resigned and conceded power to Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's deputy speaker. | On Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki resigned and conceded power to Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's deputy speaker. |
| Over a million Iraqis remain displaced from their homes, the UN says. | Over a million Iraqis remain displaced from their homes, the UN says. |
| The UN has declared the situation in the country a "level three emergency", its highest level of humanitarian crisis. | The UN has declared the situation in the country a "level three emergency", its highest level of humanitarian crisis. |
| A UN Security Council meeting on Friday is expected to approve a resolution threatening sanctions against any country which finances or supports IS. | A UN Security Council meeting on Friday is expected to approve a resolution threatening sanctions against any country which finances or supports IS. |
| 'People dying' | 'People dying' |
| The emergency EU meeting was called for by France, whose foreign minister Laurent Fabius criticised the EU for inaction on Iraq. | The emergency EU meeting was called for by France, whose foreign minister Laurent Fabius criticised the EU for inaction on Iraq. |
| "When there are people dying... you have to come back from your holidays" he told EU foreign policy chief Baroness (Catherine) Ashton in a letter earlier this week. | "When there are people dying... you have to come back from your holidays" he told EU foreign policy chief Baroness (Catherine) Ashton in a letter earlier this week. |
| About 20 ministers will discuss EU-wide approval to ship arms to the Kurds and the Iraqi army. | About 20 ministers will discuss EU-wide approval to ship arms to the Kurds and the Iraqi army. |
| Military aid pledges | Military aid pledges |
| Several EU countries, as well as the US, have made drops of aid in northern Iraq in the past week. | Several EU countries, as well as the US, have made drops of aid in northern Iraq in the past week. |
| The US has also engaged in limited airstrikes against IS targets. | The US has also engaged in limited airstrikes against IS targets. |
| The former leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats, Lord Paddy Ashdown, welcomed moves to arm Kurdish fighters but called on western governments to tackle the "underlying issues" in the Middle East. | The former leader of Britain's Liberal Democrats, Lord Paddy Ashdown, welcomed moves to arm Kurdish fighters but called on western governments to tackle the "underlying issues" in the Middle East. |
| "Instead of having a series of plans for a series of humanitarian catastrophes, we need to have an integrated strategy for containing a widening war," he told the BBC. | "Instead of having a series of plans for a series of humanitarian catastrophes, we need to have an integrated strategy for containing a widening war," he told the BBC. |
| "We will see a shape of the Middle East which is much more arbitrated by religious belief than by old imperial preferences," he warned. | "We will see a shape of the Middle East which is much more arbitrated by religious belief than by old imperial preferences," he warned. |
| Maliki resigns | Maliki resigns |
| Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's resignation on Thursday evening was welcomed by the UN and US. | Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's resignation on Thursday evening was welcomed by the UN and US. |
| The resignation brought an end to eight years of often divisive rule, when Mr Maliki's government was accused of favouring the Shia majority. | The resignation brought an end to eight years of often divisive rule, when Mr Maliki's government was accused of favouring the Shia majority. |
| Prime-minister designate Haider al-Abadi is one of Iraq's most senior politicians, having held several high-profile posts since returning from exile in 2003. | Prime-minister designate Haider al-Abadi is one of Iraq's most senior politicians, having held several high-profile posts since returning from exile in 2003. |
| He is regarded by some as a moderate within Mr Maliki's Dawa party, and has shown more of a willingness to compromise than his predecessor. | He is regarded by some as a moderate within Mr Maliki's Dawa party, and has shown more of a willingness to compromise than his predecessor. |
| The change in government comes as the Iraqi army proved unable to stop Islamist fighters from seizing vast areas in northern Iraq. | The change in government comes as the Iraqi army proved unable to stop Islamist fighters from seizing vast areas in northern Iraq. |
| The offensive by the self-styled Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim jihadist group formerly known as Isis, has triggered a security and humanitarian crisis, driving an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis from their homes. | The offensive by the self-styled Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim jihadist group formerly known as Isis, has triggered a security and humanitarian crisis, driving an estimated 1.2 million Iraqis from their homes. |
| Thousands of Iraqis from the Yazidi religious minority reached camps inside the Kurdish region, most with no possessions but the clothes on their backs, AFP news agency reports from Dohuk. | Thousands of Iraqis from the Yazidi religious minority reached camps inside the Kurdish region, most with no possessions but the clothes on their backs, AFP news agency reports from Dohuk. |
| Conditions in the camps are spartan, with one man, Khodr Hussein, saying: "We went from hunger in Sinjar to hunger in this camp." | Conditions in the camps are spartan, with one man, Khodr Hussein, saying: "We went from hunger in Sinjar to hunger in this camp." |
| Are you in the region? Email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk putting 'Iraq crisis' in the subject heading and including your contact details if you feel it is safe to do so. | |
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