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2017-08-14 21:13

Basra - International legends will play in Iraq next month in an exhibition match aimed at helping people in the war-torn country to forget hardship, organisers said Monday.

The game in the southern city of Basra on September 9 is expected attract about 65,000 fans, and will feature former stars of top European clubs.

"We are going to give our best along with our Iraqi friends," former Argentina and Inter Milan striker Hernan Crespo told reporters in Basra.

He was joined at the news conference by former Spain defender Michel Salgado, who will also play in the match.

Salgado, a former Real Madrid right-back, said he hoped the "match of legends in Iraq" can help people to forget for at least 90 minutes "their hard conditions of life".

Among the other players who are to take part in the game are Brazil legends Zico and Rivaldo, as well as former Barcelona midfielder Deco, of Portugal.

Younis Mahmoud, Iraq's record international goalscorer and appearance holder, said he would participate in the match along with others who played in the side that won the Asian Cup in 2007.

"This is an important game for us Iraqis," he said.

Basra hosted Iraq's national team in June for their first home match since 2013, after the lifting of sanctions by world football's governing body FIFA.

The ban was imposed after a series of jihadist attacks that targeted football pitches and cafes during the broadcast of hugely popular matches.

FIFA lifted the restrictions in early May, limiting the holding of international matches to three stadiums in the country.

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International legends to play in Iraq - Sport24

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani recently warned about bids to break up Iraq, saying the partitioning of Arab countries serves the interests of Israel.

During a meeting with a U.S. delegation, Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed interest in partitioning Iraq.

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The Prime Minister told the group of 33 congressmen that he favored the establishment of an independent Kurdish state in the Arab country.Israel has a longstanding relationship with the Kurds, who remains one of its few non-Arab allies in the area.

The Jerusalem Post reported that a source who attended the meeting said Netanyahu referred to the Kurds as brave, pro-Western people who share our values.

Netanyahu previously spoke on the issue in 2014 when he said in a speech that Israel should support the Kurdish aspiration for independence.

Two months ago Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani warned about bids to break up Iraq, saying the partitioning of Arab countries serves the interests of Israel."The Zionist regime seeks Iraq's disintegration, Larijani accused during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in Tehran.

A report published in the New Yorker magazine in 2004 said Israeli military and intelligence operatives were active in Kurdish areas and providing training for commando units.

According to the report, Israel has been expanding its presence in Kurdistan and encouraging Kurds, its allies in the region, to create an independent state.

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Netanyahu Backs Partitioning Iraq for Kurdish State - teleSUR English

Two U.S. service members were killed and five others were injured during combat operations in northern Iraq on Sunday, the military announced in a statement.

The joint task force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Operation Inherent Resolve, said an investigation has been opened into the incident. According to the statement, initial reports suggest the casualties did not come as a result of "enemy contact."

"The entire counter-ISIS Coalition sends our deepest condolences to these heroes' families, friends and teammates," Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commander of the task force, said in the statement Sunday.

"There are no words to describe the respect I have for you and sorrow I have for your loss," Townsend continued. "I hope there is some small solace in knowing their loss has meaning for our country and all the nations of the Coalition as the fallen service members were fighting to defeat a truly evil enemy and to protect our homelands."

As NPR's Lauren Frayer reports, nine Americans involved in the operation have been killed this year, and nearly 50 service members have been wounded since the campaign was launched roughly three years ago.

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2 US Service Members Killed, 5 Injured In Northern Iraq - NPR

Middle East Eye

IS claims deadly attack on US forces in northern Iraq Middle East Eye Islamic State on Sunday claimed an attack which killed at least two US soldiers in northern Iraq. IS fighters fired Grad rockets on American troops east of Tal Afar, a town still under control of the militants west of Mosul, according to an online ... and more »

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IS claims deadly attack on US forces in northern Iraq - Middle East Eye

An asylum seeker, whose detention became the focus of protests, has been deported back to Iraq where he faces persecution, his Sydney lawyer says.

The 58-year-old Iraqi man, known only as Saeed, fled Iraq with his brother and arrived in Australia in 2012.

Illiterate, penniless and in poor health, Saeed is a member of a persecuted ethnic minority, his legal representative, Alison Battisson from Human Rights For All, told AAP.

His brother and others from his region were granted asylum, but Saeed was denied on an administrative technicality, Ms Battison said.

As he languished for years in a Melbourne detention centre, protesters paid attention to his case and campaigned for his release.

He was hospitalised for hunger strikes and, Ms Battisson said, he currently weighs less than 50 kilograms and is very weak as a result of heart conditions.

In March Saeed was transferred to Sydney's Villawood detention centre where protesters blockaded the entrance and clashed with police - four were arrested.

Ms Battisson said she called her client on Sunday afternoon and another Villawood detainee answered. He told her more than a dozen guards had taken Saeed away and he was being deported.

"As far as we know, approximately 15 officers took Saeed away from Villawood at about 4.30pm today," Ms Battisson said.

"He's at the end of his legal processes - they can deport him."

She said no one had alerted her.

Ms Battisson said she raced to Sydney international airport to try to find Saeed and his escorts.

She said she had been preparing one final appeal, directly to the Immigration Minister, to grant Saeed a visa on compassionate grounds.

"I'm in tears," Ms Battisson said.

"Saeed is a vulnerable old man. He has been deported to his death. The process failed him."

The Department of Immigration has been contacted for comment.

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Refugee Saeed quietly deported to Iraq: lawyer - SBS