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Iraq and Saudi Arabia are negotiating a new alliance that would give Riyadh a leading role in rebuilding Iraqs war-torn towns and cities, while bolstering Baghdads credentials across the region.

Meetings between senior officials on both sides over the past six months have focused on shepherding Iraq away from its powerful neighbour and Saudi Arabias long-time rival, Iran, whose influence over Iraqi affairs has grown sharply since the 2003 ousting of Saddam Hussein.

Iraq and Saudi Arabia have long been considered opponents in the region, but a visit by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to Riyadh last week and a follow-up trip to the UAE further thawed relations which had already been much improved by high-profile visits between the two countries.

The arrival in the Saudi capital of Sadr a protagonist in the sectarian war that ravaged Iraq from 2004-08 and who has enduring ties to Iran highlights a new level of engagement which could see Riyadh play a significant role in the reconstruction of the predominantly Sunni cities of Mosul, Fallujah, Ramadi and Tikrit.

This visit was an important step in ensuring that Iraq returns to the Arab fold and is supported in doing so by friendly partners, said the former Saudi minister of state Saad al-Jabri. This necessitates limiting Tehrans continued attempts to dominate Iraq and spread sectarianism. Broader engagement between Riyadh and Baghdad will lead the way for enhanced regional support for Iraq, especially from the Gulf states. This is essential after the capture of Mosul from Isis and as Iraq looks towards national reconstruction.

Sunni areas of Iraq have borne the brunt of the three-year US-led war against Islamic State, which has been largely successful. Isis no longer controls any city; it is confined to a series of towns in the north-west and throughout Anbar province.

But it is thought it will cost more than $100bn (78bn) to rebuild Iraq, and the four Sunni cities, as well as three mainly Sunni provinces, are central to hopes of national reconciliation in a country where more than two-thirds of the population are Shia.

As Iraq moves towards national elections early next year, the prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, and Sadr have both said the re-enfranchisement of Sunnis who lost privileges and status after the fall of Saddam must be central to rebuilding plans.

It is also worth noting that Sadrs visit had a practical aspect and led to some immediate benefits, from the reopening of border crossings and support for internally displaced people, to the potential appointment of a new ambassador and the opening of a consulate in Najaf, said Jabri. These are clear signs that there is a concrete desire to recreate a strategic relationship between the two countries of mutual benefit.

In Baghdad, where attitudes towards Saudi Arabia have been openly hostile throughout the war on Isis, rhetoric blaming Riyadh for the jihadist insurgency has softened recently.

The relationship is growing now more than ever and this is due to the new US administration helping Saudi Arabia and the Gulf rebuild its relationship with the rest of the region, said Abdulbari al-Zebari, the head of the foreign relations committee in the Iraqi parliament. We welcome any foreign or regional funding. This would be a really smart move on behalf of the Arab countries and foreign countries.

Baghdad and Riyadh had not exchanged ambassadors for 25 years until the ill-fated return of a Saudi envoy in 2015, which prompted a vitriolic series of allegations about responsibility for Iraqs insurgency and the broader regional chaos. But over the past year, Abadi and the Iraqi president, Fuad Masum, have visited Riyadh, and the Saudi foreign minister has travelled to Baghdad.

This is a new beginning, a new page of Iraqi Saudi relations, said Ihsan Al Shameri, the head of the Political Thought Centre in Baghdad. It was troubled and on edge in the past, especially during [the former prime minister] al-Malikis rule. Now that the Saudis have found a non-sectarian political figure in Haider al-Abadi, they are willing to work together. They are no longer focused on a Shia-Sunni rift. Moreover, Iraq wants to return to the Arab fold and the window to the Arab world is Saudi Arabia.

This funding now to rebuild the country is an act of goodwill and their way to show solidarity with the Iraqis knowing we are going through tough economic times.

Senior officials in Riyadh, which has set itself an ambitious economic and cultural reform agenda, see opportunity in rebuilding the Sunni areas of Iraq as part of broader moves to curb Iran and assert the kingdom as a post-Isis force.

The situation in Iraq matters to the entire region, in security, economic and political terms, said Jabri. It is therefore natural for the Saudi leadership to seek foreign policy avenues to support Iraq at this critical moment. This visit is a clear step in that direction. Muqtada al-Sadr is a respected leader with significant influence. He understands that Iraqs future lies within the Arab world, and has repeatedly expressed concern about Irans growing influence in Iraq.

Iraq will certainly need significant regional and international support with reconstruction, particularly of cities such as Mosul, Fallujah and Ramadi. Set against the backdrop of a reinvigorated Saudi foreign policy and the importance of the historic Saudi-Iraqi relationship, I would not be surprised to see significant Saudi investment in reconstruction efforts in addition to regional and international leadership on the issue.

Additional reporting: Nadia al-Faour

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Saudis in talks over alliance to rebuild Iraq and 'return it to the Arab fold' - The Guardian

A Snatch Land Rover vehicle on patrol. Photograph: John D Mchugh/AFP/Getty

The defence secretary has apologised to families of British soldiers killed while travelling in Snatch Land Rovers for delays in replacing the lightly armoured vehicles.

In the letter to families seen by the BBC, Michael Fallon said bringing better protected vehicles into service could have saved lives.

Among the recipients of the letter was Sue Smith, whose son, Pte Phillip Hewett, 21, of Tamworth, Staffordshire, died in July 2005 after the Snatch Land Rover he was travelling in was blown up in Amara, south-east Iraq.

Last year the Chilcot inquiry found a string of Ministry of Defence failings in the preparation for the Iraq war, including a delay in replacing the lightly armoured Snatch Land Rovers, which are vulnerable to bombs.

A number of families, including Smiths, have been given the go-ahead to bring compensation claims against the government under legislation covering negligence and human rights.

Fallon wrote to Smith to express his regret at Hewetts death. I am fully aware of the struggle you have had to bring this matter to court over the last decade and I recognise that this has had a significant impact on you and your family, he wrote.

The government entirely accepts the findings of Sir John Chilcot in the Iraq inquiry in relation to Snatch Land Rover.

I would like to express directly to you my deepest sympathies and apologise for the delay, resulting in decisions taken at the time in bringing into service alternative protected vehicles which could have saved lives.

He goes on to say that lessons have been learned, adding: The government must and will ensure that our armed forces are always properly equipped and resourced.

Smith told the BBC the apology was bittersweet, adding: Id like it to be that his death made a difference. Hes not just a casualty of Iraq.

Jocelyn Cockburn, lawyer for the families, said: The Ministry of Defences stance of delay, deny and defend has caused untold suffering to already grief-stricken families over a needlessly long period.

However, I am relieved that their battle is over and genuinely hope that their apology signals a sea change in the way the MoD seeks to deal with bereaved service families.

An MoD spokeswoman said: We offer our deepest sympathies and apologise for the delay in bringing into service alternative protected vehicles which could have saved lives. The government acknowledges and fully accepts the findings of Sir John Chilcots inquiry in relation to Snatch Land Rovers.

Our armed forces now use a number of highly capable and extremely well-protected patrol vehicles, including Mastiff, Ridgback, Husky and Wolfhound.

Gen Sir Mike Jackson, chief of the general staff between 2003 and 2006, told BBC Radio 4s Today programme it was a fair assumption that a more heavily armoured vehicle would have offered much better protection for British troops.

He said he believed replacements for the Snatch Land Rover could have been brought in more quickly, adding: The army at that point did not have its own procurement budget. It does now, and perhaps that is one of the good lessons learned thats come out of this whole rather sorry story: we do have our own procurement budget now.

Yes, better vehicles, better-protected vehicles were eventually procured, but the process was rather byzantine and inevitably, thereby, lengthy.

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Fallon apologises to families of soldiers killed in Land Rovers in Iraq - The Guardian

The secrecy and subterfuge behind the Iraq war links Spain to Islamist terror.Jose Maria Aznar, the Prime Minister at the time, and his government misled the country by claiming that a devastating massacre in Madrid, a direct retaliation for the invasion, was the work of Basque separatists rather than al-Qaeda.

Mr Aznar had backed George W Bush and Tony Blair in the conflict which is now recognised as a catalyst for the upsurge in jihad which continues to this day. The coordinated attack on commuter trains at the Spanish capital in March 2004, killing 192 people and wounding 1,800, remainsthe deadliest terrorist attack on Europe this century andwas among the first of the murderous backlash.

Spain had escaped the worst of the Islamist terror attacks suffered by other European states since then. Some government ministers had claimed that this was due to the experience in confronting the Basque militants of ETA over decades and also because the countrys Muslim population was relatively assimilated.

A similar conceit had existed, to an extent, in the UK with its experience with the IRA and a similar view about the Muslim population before this was blown away by the 7/7 bombings and the atrocities which followed.

Security officials had been warning for a while that Spain, too, would be an arena for global jihad. The Iberian peninsula, which was under Moorish rule from the early 8th to the end of the 15thcentury, features regularly in Isis and al-Qaeda messages as Muslim land stolen by Christians which should be a primary target for retribution. One recent Isis exhortation was for assaults on tourist venues using guns, bombs and trucks.

A number of planned attacks had been averted, including one three months ago by two men of Moroccan origin who were allegedly planning to use vehicles and explosives in Madrid. One of them had sought to get a licence for a specific type of truck, the same as the oneused to murder 86 people in Nice on Bastille Day last year. Another suspect detained five months earlier had also said he wanted to emulate what happened at Nice.

Europol figures show that Spain had the second highest number of Islamist terrorist arrests, with 187, in 2015. France was top with 424. However, the Muslim community make up 2.1 per cent of the population in Spain compared to 7.5 per cent in France.

As in other countries, there has been increasing evidence in Spain that prisons had become recruiting ground for jihad. According to reports in Spain some of those who plotted the Barcelona and Cambrils attacks had previous criminal convictions.

A study by academics from the University of Granada and officials from the Union of Prisons found that: The activities of jihadist recruiters are not curtailed once they are arrested and deprived of their liberties but can be continued within penitentiary institutions. Radical extremists are able to carry out various activities within prison walls, indoctrinate, generate group identity, legitimise terrorism Activities that may be considered favourable for Islamist radicalism and recruitment.

There are now additional pressures on public safety. Around 170 Spanish Muslims have gone to fight in Syria. This is a lower number than some other European states, but the whereabouts of most of them are unknown. In addition the security agencies say they are monitoring 1,100 people with extremist views. The country is also receiving large numbers of refugees from North Africa with 9,000 arriving in the last eight months, three times as many as last year. Although the vast majority are genuinely seeking refugee status there are indications, say security officials, that Isis, as it loses its bases in Libya, is trying to infiltrate fighters.

Spain announced in 2015 that it would not join the US-led air campaign against Isis in Iraq and Syria. It has an army training team in Iraq but its members do not take part in combat.

In 2003 the Aznar government had sent a small force to join the Iraq invasion. Twelve years later Mr Aznar was claiming that in terms of international support for our goals, Spain emerged a winner. In 2005 a Spanish parliamentary panel investigating the Madrid bombing concluded that the Aznar government had manipulated and twisted information to blame the Basques rather than al-Qaeda for the attacks.

General Francisco Jose Gan, a former head of the intelligence service, spoke in May of the Basque factor in facing the security threat: I do not say Spain is safe. I say it is better prepared because we learnt in a very traumatic way.ETA announced in April this year that it has disarmed and will not take up weapons again. But as the attacks on Thursday have shown, the trauma from terrorism is not about to end.

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Barcelona attack: How the Iraq war is linked to Spain's outbreak of Islamist terror - The Independent

Mosul is back in the Iraqi governments hands and the war against Isis seems to finally be approaching its end. This is the good news. But one of the by-products of the campaign is that Irans reach now extends even deeper throughout Iraq and seems unlikely to go away any time soon.

A crucial fighting force in the battle for Mosul and other areas liberated from Isis was provided by paramilitary groups that receive supplies and support from Iran, and cross the Iran-Iraq border at will. These weresanctioned by the Iraqi governmentin November 2016 and made part of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, a coalition of paramilitary groups, some of which have multiple loyalties.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a paramilitary commander who is considered one of Irans closest Iraqi allies, declared on 4 July that the Popular Mobilisation Forces will not go away, even if the government orders them to dissolve. Muhandiss statement essentially amounted to Iran saying that it plans to protect its interests in Iraq for years to come. These units, and the political forces that are associated to them, intend to prevent Iraq from establishing its own independent security policy, which could limit Irans ability to support its allies in Syria and elsewhere.

Mosul after the war: 'Utter and total devastation'

But many Iraqis are not happy to see Iran working in their country through local armed groups. This is not just a sectarian issue, either. Many Shias want to see Irans influence limited. In addition to historical animosities and theological differences with Iran, most Iraqis Sunni and Shia alike are exhausted by decades of conflict, and worry that Irans meddling will promote confrontation.

Ahead of next years general election, a large majority of Iraqs political forces are seeking to reinforce their independence from Iran. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who can take credit for the recent victories against Isis, has long had strained relations with Iran. Now he has become a critic of lawless behaviour in some elements of the security forces, including Iranian-backed groups. His governments position has been to strengthen state institutions and to reinforce the chain of command.

Meanwhile, Ammar al-Hakim, one of Iraqs leading politicians and the scion of one of the countrys most prominent Shia families, announced in late July that he would leave the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a political party that his family founded in Tehran with Iranian assistance in the 1980s. He has also formed his own party, from which he continues to establish his independence from Iran.

The Sadrist movement, which represents millions of poor Shia Muslims in Baghdad and throughout southern Iraq, has also openly aligned itself in the anti-Iranian camp. The grass-roots movements leader, Moktada al-Sadr, paid a visit this summer to Saudi Arabia, Irans biggest regional rival. He also visited the United Arab Emirates, another Sunni state that opposes Iran. These trips were intended to help develop bilateral relations and, thus, Iraqs independence from Iran.

The only major political coalition to have formally adopted a pro-Iranian approach is led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Since leaving office in 2014, Maliki has been tainted by the armed forces humiliating defeat by Isis, for whichhe has rightly been blamed, and which has affected his popularity. He has since sought to reinvent himself as the patron saint of a pro-Iranian militant Iraq that is in confrontation with an ever-growing list of conspirators, including Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Kurds and the United States, among others.

With nearly all of Iraqs political forces lined up against Iran in 2018, it looks likely that the pro-Iranians will be trounced at the ballot. And yet it looks just as likely that this will have little effect on Irans influence in Iraq.

In Iraqs electoral system, its very difficult for any one alliance to take much more than 20 per cent of the vote. This means the various alliances must engage in horse trading and coalition building to form a government. As parties try to secure lucrative ministries, they will lose sight of the goals that they campaigned on like Iraqi independence. Like every government formed since the invasion in 2003, the next one will be made up of parties pulling the country in different directions. It is a recipe for inaction and Iran will prey on this.

Neither the United States nor Saudi Arabia nor any other country will be able to have a decisive influence. Outside countries have consistently failed to positively influence Iraqi politics. If these parties really want to prevent Iranian influence, they should provide assistance to security units, like thecounter-terrorism service, which has been by far the most effective force against the Islamic State. The continued success of professional security services, rather than Iran-backed paramilitary groups, will allow for Iraq to guarantee its own security.

Against this backdrop, there remains one wild card that could present a real challenge to Iranian domination: intervention by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraqs Shia spiritual leader.

In 2014,Ayatollah Sistani issued a fatwathat called for Iraqis to defend the country against the Islamic State. In response, tens of thousands of Shias joined the army and other groups, including pro-Iranian paramilitary forces. The fatwas unintended effect was to give these groups some form of religious legitimacy. Many commentators have speculated that Ayatollah Sistani may now be on the cusp of rescinding his fatwa, which could, in turn, force the Popular Mobilisation Forces to dissolve.

For now, that seems unlikely. The Popular Mobilisation Forces enjoy broad legitimacy for their contribution to the war effort, and many Iraqis prefer that they be maintained as part of the official security forces. Even Abadi hasopposedany such dissolution for many of these same reasons.

But a new fatwa from Ayatollah Sistani, following the total liberation of Iraqi territories from Isis, could redefine the obligations of those Iraqis who volunteered in 2014 as being to support Iraqs army and police which prohibits Iraqis from engaging in any actions that would undermine Iraqs national sovereignty. Abadi has already insisted that the Popular Mobilisation Forces areprohibitedfrom acting outside of Iraq. If the religious establishment supported the prime minister in this, it could nudge Iraq toward greater independence from Iran.

Since 2003, Ayatollah Sistani and the religious establishment have largely failed to control the worst tendencies in Iraqi politics. Now the stakes are so high that there is reason to hope for more decisive action. Iraqs future is in their hands. The margin for error is worryingly small.

Zaid al-Ali was a legal adviser to the United Nations in Iraq from 2005 to 2010, and is the author of The struggle for Iraqs future: how corruption, incompetence and sectarianism have undermined democracy.

This piece originally appeared on the New York Times.

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Can anyone stop Iran from taking over Iraq? - The Independent

Photo of Mosul in February 2017 by Arshed Baghdadi

Videographer Alessandro Pavone has been reporting in Iraq for the past three years since the Islamic State group took control of the Northern city of Mosul in the summer of 2014. Herecounts some of the key moments on the front lines.

I was on assignment in Afghanistan when Mosul fell to the Islamic State group in the summer of 2014. I had almost no access to Internet during the day and I wasnt really following the news. Out of the blue, my editor called: Pack your gear, we need you in Erbil tomorrow. I had never been to Iraq before, and I had no idea what I was getting into.

Photo of Iraqs Kalak refugee camp in June 2014 by Alessandro Pavone

Photo of Iraqs Kalak refugee camp in June 2014 by Alessandro Pavone/World Food Program

My first encounter with the frontline happened near a camp for displaced people in Kalak, right at the checkpoint with the autonomous Kurdish province. After few kilometers is the so-called caliphate Islamic State territory. Some came on foot, others by car. I remember hundreds of people crossing the desert lands of the Nineveh planes carrying nothing but the clothes they were wearing and the few things they could grab from their homes.

Every single building inside the old city has been destroyed. We have to move forward inside tunnels made by ISIS.

From the summer of 2014 until August 2017 I have been frequently traveling to KRG, the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in Northern Iraq, to film the perils and struggles of Iraqi families trying to survive after escaping death. About 500,000 people have fled their homes since the battle started. Most of them have no family to shelter them.

Photo of Iraqs Kalak refugee camp in June 2014 by Alessandro Pavone/World Food Program

Kalak is one of the biggest makeshift camps I have visited. The setup is always the same: clothes hanging outside the tents, families of 10, sometimes 15people, sleeping or just lying on the bare floor. Its simply too hot to do much else. At midday, temperatures reach 120 degreesFahrenheit. Sometimes it is so hot that even my video equipment refuses to work, and I can barely operate my camera because the metal parts are burning.

Photo of Bashiqa, Iraq, in November 2016 by Alessandro Pavone

After delays and delays, the offensive for Mosul finally began in spring 2016. Hundreds of international TV crews rushed to Erbil to film Kurdish and Iraqi forces advancing toward Mosul. The battle quickly becomes a TV set: reckless Kurdish camera teams driving a mobile studio track in between tanks, hipster correspondents armed with selfie-sticks going live on Instagram and Snapchat from the frontline, drones flying all over, Iraqi soldiers taking selfies with exotic western TV correspondents. At some point, bullets were passing over our heads on the top of this roof near the Kurdish town of Bashiqa, and we started to film each other ducking forcover.

READ MORE: Long-awaited battle to take back Mosul from ISIS will be toughest yet

The battle is brutal. ISIS snipers hidden on every corner inside Mosul target any moving human beings: soldiers, civilians and journalists. You try to quickly take cover, and you might step on one of the thousands of land mines the soldiers of the caliphate have placed all over the city.

You never know what to expect from day to day when reporting in Iraq. Photo by Matt Cetti-Roberts

Special correspondent Jane Ferguson and I wereembedded with the Iraqi armies on a number of operations. Due to our limited budget, we couldnt afford a field producer, and we had to roll with what we could find every day. After waiting and waiting to join a military operation, I was always scared when the moment came, and the Army officers would yell,Yalla, yalla! (Go, Go!) Get inside the armored vehicle, we are going inside Mosul. It was like Russian roulette, you never knew what you would get. And I will never forget those moments when the operations were over and we were finally back to the military bases safe and sound. The stress was gone, just waiting for the next day.

Photo of Mosuls old city in July 2017 by Alessandro Pavone

Photo of Mosul in July 2017 by Marcia Biggs

The last days of the battl e for the old city were probably the toughest ones. Temperatures reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the streets were too narrow, and armored vehicles couldnt be of much use anymore. The fight turned into urban warfare, and the Iraqi army started to escort TV crews to the frontline on foot patrols. Every single building inside the old city has been destroyed. We have to move forward inside tunnels made by ISIS. Its a somber and sinister scenario: the smell of dead bodies left behind the front lines is unbearable. The only sign of life left is desperate families, reduced to skeletons due to starvation, trying to leave the old city.

Photo of Mosul in February 2017 by Alessandro Pavone

After almost nine months, the war is over, and ISIS has been defeated. Life in Mosul is starting to go back to normal. Shops and markets are open again, young students are going back to schools and universities or what is left of them after heavy bombardments almost destroyed every building inside the city. The new threat now is to be hugged by local residents eagerto take selfies with you. Only few weeks ago, they could risk their lives just for having a phone in their hands. But deep down I believe this is only the beginning of a new bloody chapter of this battle.

The violence and brutality my colleagues and I had the privilege of witnessing will never disappear from our minds. I have been reporting from other conflict countries, but I have never seen anything like this before. Too many people died for no reason, too many families were torn apart. And now some Iraqis feel it is time for revenge. I know I will be back again and again.

Special correspondent Marcia Biggs and videographer Alessandro Pavone report on the backlashfrom recapturing Mosul.

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Analysis: Here's what I learned from 3 years reporting in Iraq - PBS NewsHour