Sunnis seize Iraq’s largest oil refinery
Iraqi Sunni tribes fighters managed to take control of the largest refinery in Baiji, reports ITAR-TASS with reference to the satellite TV channel Al-Arabia.
The units of the government troops who were guarding the enterprise laid down weapon and left him after negotiations with the sheikhs of the so-called "revolutionaries of the Arab tribes", opposing the central Shiite government of Nuri al-Maliki. The refinery is located 40 kilometers from Tikrit, the administrative center of the province of Salah al-Din.
Earlier it was reported that last week the plant tried to seize the militants of the extremist group "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant", which controls a number of areas of Iraq. However, according to the Sunni fighters, they have nothing to do with terrorists. They present the events in the country as an uprising or a “people's revolution” against the rule of Nuri al-Maliki.
It is known that a large number of soldiers of the Iraqi army from the time of Saddam Hussein, as well as Baath party functionaries, who want to overthrow the Shiite premier and form power structures that take into account the interests of all ethnic and religious communities, are in the ranks of the Sunnis.
In addition, representatives of the military command of "revolutionaries of the Arab tribes" stated that Tikrit, Mosul, as well as a number of other cities are controlled by them, and not by the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant."
According to Arab TV channels, folk festivities began in the streets of Baiji in connection with the "liberation" of the plant.
The units of the government troops who were guarding the enterprise laid down weapon and left him after negotiations with the sheikhs of the so-called "revolutionaries of the Arab tribes", opposing the central Shiite government of Nuri al-Maliki. The refinery is located 40 kilometers from Tikrit, the administrative center of the province of Salah al-Din.
Earlier it was reported that last week the plant tried to seize the militants of the extremist group "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant", which controls a number of areas of Iraq. However, according to the Sunni fighters, they have nothing to do with terrorists. They present the events in the country as an uprising or a “people's revolution” against the rule of Nuri al-Maliki.
It is known that a large number of soldiers of the Iraqi army from the time of Saddam Hussein, as well as Baath party functionaries, who want to overthrow the Shiite premier and form power structures that take into account the interests of all ethnic and religious communities, are in the ranks of the Sunnis.
In addition, representatives of the military command of "revolutionaries of the Arab tribes" stated that Tikrit, Mosul, as well as a number of other cities are controlled by them, and not by the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant."
According to Arab TV channels, folk festivities began in the streets of Baiji in connection with the "liberation" of the plant.
Information