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KIRKUK, Iraq At least two people were killed and six injured when multiple Islamic State suicide bombers attacked a base in northern Iraq where U.S. military advisers are stationed, security sources said on Sunday.

In addition, two of the militants died when they detonated their vests at the entrance to the K1 base overnight, and three more were killed by Kurdish peshmerga forces who control the Kirkuk area where it is situated.

"They were wearing uniforms like the Kurdish peshmerga and had shaved their beards to look like us," one officer told Reuters.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying it had killed and wounded dozens of "crusaders and apostates", referring to the peshmerga and Western military advisers.

Iraqi forces backed by a U.S.-led coalition are fighting to dislodge Islamic State from Mosul, 140 km northwest of Kirkuk, but large pockets of territory remain under militant control, including Hawija, which is near the targeted base.

(Reporting by Mustafa Mahmoud and additional reporting by Ahmed Tolba, editing by Larry King; writing by Isabel Coles; editing by Larry King)

BEIRUT Fighting between Syrian rebel and government forces eased on Saturday as a Russian-led effort to shore up a ceasefire took effect, although battles continued on important frontlines near Hama and Damascus, rebels and a war monitor said.

BEIJING China will further tighten its internet regulations with a pledge on Sunday to strengthen controls over search engines and online news portals, the latest step in President Xi Jinping's push to maintain strict Communist Party control over content.

CAIRO A French citizen who was kidnapped in Chad in March and taken to the restive Darfur region of Sudan has been freed and is on his way to the capital Khartoum, Sudan's national security service said.

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Islamic State attacks kill two at Iraqi base where US advisers stationed - Reuters

WASHINGTON (AP) An embattled U.S. contractor, accused of failing to promptly disclose sex trafficking, alcohol smuggling and security violations on a nearly $700 million contract to secure an Iraqi air base, is denying many of the charges. An attorney for investigators, who were fired by the company, says the explanations don't stand up.

Revelations of the allegations, published Wednesday by The Associated Press, were based on documents and interviews with the investigators, whom the company dismissed in March, and multiple other former employees.

The company, Sallyport Global, is responsible for securing the F-16 fighter jets at Balad Air Base that are used by the Iraqi air force in efforts to uproot the Islamic State group.

The company first called allegations that managers had shut down sex trafficking investigations "absurd" but later acknowledged that senior management had opened a second probe months later.

They say the late push to determine whether employees were involved in prostitution, was the initiative of new managers, including a new corporate ethics and compliance officer.

"The new company management would never shut down an internal investigation into serious allegations like prostitution," Chief Operating Officer Matt Stuckart wrote in a statement.

The company contends the second probe found all the allegations of prostitution on the base were unfounded. But the fired investigators and an attorney representing them, Debra Katz, said their attempts to interview key suspects involved in the first case were again blocked by managers.

According to the investigators' original report in February 2016, four Ethiopian women who were suspected of working at a hotel in Baghdad as prostitutes moved to the base after customers at the hotel complained about contracting sexually transmitted diseases. Those customers included Sallyport employees, the investigators said The original report also listed the first names of the women and the going price for four hours of sex: $200 for the women and $300 for their pimp.

The company also denies allegations by the investigators that its lawyers ordered them to keep two sets of files in order to hide some of the investigators' information from the U.S. government, which was footing the bill for the company's contract.

"The investigators were specifically told to continue keeping a log, available to the U.S. government, of every investigation but not to include any attorney-client privilege information on that log - a standard practice," Stuckert said.

But attorney Katz disagreed.

"They were explicitly told to keep double books," she said. "There is no argument of attorney-client privilege that could justify the orders." Based in Reston, Virginia, Sallyport was founded in 2003 to work in Iraq on reconstruction, and has since expanded its operations globally. Some of Sallyport's top managers joined the company after stints with other military contractors active in Iraq.

Sallyport president and CEO Victor Esposito previously worked at Blackwater Worldwide, a private military company. He then became the chief operating officer of Xe, as Blackwater renamed itself after its employees shot scores of unarmed Iraq civilians in 2007 at a Baghdad traffic circle. Jeff Morin, who worked as a Sallyport director until this week, also previously worked for Blackwater.

Twice in 2013 the company was sued by former employees. In 2013, a U.S. Air Force veteran sued the company for negligence in federal court in Virginia, alleging he was severely beaten by his supervisor during a drunken card game at an air base in Iraq. Sallyport's lawyers successfully argued that the veteran had no standing in U.S. court for events that occurred in Iraq. The lawsuit was dismissed.

Also that year, another ex-Sallyport employee sued the company alleging she was racially discriminated against and wrongfully terminated over drinking alcohol at a base in Qatar. While she denied she drank on the job, in her lawsuit Eboney Mayfield alleged that other Sallyport employees routinely drank on duty and weren't punished.

After a judge denied the company's request to dismiss the case, Mayfield's lawyers agreed to voluntarily drop it prior to trial, indicating the parties likely reached a settlement.

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US company denies security risks, prostitution at Iraq base - WDBJ7

From the first panel of the exhibit, anyone who cares about the origins of civilization or the fate of modern Mideastern people will find rough going in "Cultures in the Crossfire," on view through next year at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia.

Up front, organizers screen a video of two ISIS members demolishing a wall of the 2,700-year-old palace at Nimrud, not far from Mosul in Iraq, in 2015.

One swings a sledgehammer against the stone, reducing delicate relief sculpture to shards and dust. Another dislodges the slab and the block, carved and fitted so carefully and proudly standing for millennia, smashes to the ground, obliterated.

This performance, captured by skillful videography, is part of ISIS's war on ancient culture in the cradle of civilization. Besides killing and dislocating millions, "They want to destroy things precisely because they are world heritage sites. It gets everybody's attention," said curator Lauren Ristvet.

She is one of many field archaeologists who can no longer dig in Syria because of ongoing violence, and who have had to watch with the rest of the world while ISIS bulldozes sites of global significance dating back to the Bronze Age. Artwork and artifacts from several millennia have been torn out of their settings and sold on the black market for antiquities.

Ebla, southwest of Aleppo in Syria and "one of the most important archaeological discoveries of the past 75 years," has been heavily looted of its treasures.

"These are not just war-torn places. These are places that have contributed an enormous amount to the world," said Ristvet. "What's going on now is just one part of that story."

The museum drew from its holdings to demonstrate the sweep of history in Iraq and Syria, a region where agriculture, writing and cities first arose and where learning blossomed while the rest of the world endured the Dark Ages. Numerous cultures jostled each other in the region over millennia.

The exhibit offers a look at this garden of diversity through objects such as a tombstone with a Hebrew inscription, believed to be from the ancient center of Babylonian Jewry in modern Anbar, Iraq; an illuminated page containing the first surah, or chapter, of the Quran; small, delicately carved ivory pieces depicting the Egyptian god Horus, which were found in Iraq; and a small ceramic lamp from the region decorated with the Christian cross.

Despite their theological differences, all faiths in the area agreed that burying a small bowl inscribed with protective incantations outside the house was a good idea to keep one's home and family safe. Several examples of these personalized objects are on view.

Conditions in Syria are such that refugees are living in an archaeological site in northwest Syria known as the Dead Cities, a region deserted for around a thousand years. Archaeologists, native and foreign, have been reduced to minimizing damage to sites from the inevitable bombing.

Should anyone not get the point, video is presented showing ISIS destroying ancient buildings in Palmyra, a desert city whose heritage dates from the Stone Age through the Romans and beyond. Among previously excavated artifacts on view are funerary portrait sculptures of ancient Palmyrans.

"We wanted to leave people with a sense of hope, and a sense of depth," said Ristvet. "We tried to get a sense of the people who have lived in this area, in Syria and Iraq, over a period of a long time, and have them like people you might find here."

In a parallel to modern obituary photos that show the deceased at his or her best, Palmyran sculptors rendered their subjects in their best clothes, one lady sporting an elaborate jeweled headdress.

Syrian curators asked the Penn Museum for help protecting ancient mosaics from the Dead Cities in a museum in Ma'arra, who feared their facility would be bombed. Experts from Penn and the Smithsonian Institution trained local curators in low-tech preservation involving water-soluble glue, plastic cloth and sandbags heaped in front of the most important images.

Later, the museum was bombed but "Amazingly, the mosaics survived," said Ristvet.

The Syrian curators moved on to preparing for the day the museum can be rebuilt. Similarly, Penn archaeologists helped a fellow professional in Iraqi Kurdistan who is documenting the city of Dohuk. She wants a record of the town in case historic structures are destroyed through war or other means, said Ristvet.

"We were able to help in sort of a nice, small way, getting her some computers, some software, some cameras," she said.

Artifacts from the Penn collection demonstrate not only what can be learned about ancient cultures, but also the value of scientific excavation, ever more endangered by bombs, looting and development.

Over decades, archaeologists have found everything that relates to the human experience, from toys to medieval books on subjects such as hydraulics, music theory and geometry, to 6,000-year-old gold jewelry. They excavated magnificent wall tiles from 16th-century Damascus and cylinder seals that date from the dawn of writing.

As a counterpoint to the glories of the past, the curators also included elements you won't usually see in the archaeological museum. Works by contemporary Syrian artist Issam Kourbaj reflect his outrage at the victimization of his compatriots and their culture.

These are difficult to view, especially "Lost," sculptures made from the clothes of Syrian and Iraqi refugee children who died trying to cross the Aegean Sea. "Book of the Dead, Dismembered" uses X-ray images that are more than usually grueling to view.

"Cultures in the Crossfire" is on view through Nov. 25, 2018.

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Penn Museum weighs destruction of antiquities in Syria and Iraq with "Cultures in the Crossfire" - The Intelligencer

**Baghdad, 06 May 2017 ** The virtues of Iraqs diversity as a source of strength for the country were invoked at the Iraq: Youth and Coexistence, which convened in Baghdad today its seventh and last meeting before an overarching national conference that will recommend ideas from the youth to Iraqs leaders on how to promote and advance national reconciliation.

The cross-country forum in the Iraqi capital brought together 120 youth 85 men and 35 women - from the Governorates of Anbar, Salah al-Din and Wassit, in addition to the Baghdad Governorate. The opening session was attended by Sheikh Khalid al-Yawer, representing the National Reconciliation Commission, Mr. Suhaib al-Rawi, Governor of Anbar, Mr. Malek Khalaf Wadi, Governor of Wassit, and Ms. Hana Edwar, head of the Al-Amal Association. After the opening speech of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Iraq for Political and Electoral Affairs, Mr. Gyrgy Busztin, Mr. al-Rawi, Mr. Wadi and Ms. Edwar delivered speeches.

Mr. Busztin stressed the importance of youth participating in the political process of reconciliation.

DSRSG Busztin reiterated the calls he made in previous meetings, that the youth ensure that their voice is heard and reinforced the United Nations stand that without the opinion of the youth any reconciliation initiative would be incomplete. Then he went on to explain how Iraqs diversity is a source of strength, not weakness, with Baghdad, Wassit, Salaheddin and Anbar acting as living examples.

These governorates have maintained this ethnic and sectarian diversity no matter what the terrorists and Takfiris tried to make it one color, Mr. Busztin said.

He further said that people of diverse backgrounds have coexisted throughout time despite all the crises and conflicts. Strength is in diversity, not in uniformity. Uniformity is isolationism, while diversity is openness to all. Take Baghdad, for example, it is the ideal model for this diversity where all the ethnic groups, religions and sects of Iraq live.

Hundreds of youth in the age group of 18-35 have already participated in a series of similar forums across the country, which the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) organized in cooperation with the Iraqi Al-Amal Association. The meeting in Baghdad is the seventh of the Iraq: Youth and Coexistence forums which are intended to give a voice to youth for their crucial role in charting the road to peaceful co-existence in a future Iraq. With these kind of fora, the young generation of Iraqis across different ethnic and sectarian backgrounds has the opportunity to deliberate post-conflict issues, engage on national reconciliation and voice their opinion.

The cross-country forums were first launched in Basra on 28 January 2017, and brought together about 120 participants from the four southern governorates of Basra, Missan, Dhi Qar and Muthanna. The second followed in Erbil on 19 February with 135 participants from Ninewa Governorate. The third was held in Najaf on 18 March, with 115 participants from the Najaf, Karbala, Babel and Qadissiyah Governorates taking part, the fourth was on 25 March in Diyala Governorate where 68 youth participated, the fifth in Sulaymaniyah on 08 April in which 80 youth from Sulaymaniyah, Erbil and Halabja Governorates participated, and the sixth in Kirkuk on 22 April in which 109 youth attended. The national conference in Baghdad will convene later in May and is to be attended by representatives of the youth to incorporate recommendations from these seven forums in the decisions that support the process of reconciliation and coexistence.

As with the format for all the conferences, the participants in the Baghdad forum broke up into working groups to deliberate and respond to questions about what they would like to see in a future Iraq and how they can contribute. At the end of the meeting, the participants debated their responses and adopted a set of recommendations.

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Iraq's Strength is in its Diversity, UN Says as Iraq: Youth and Coexistence Makes Last Stop in Baghdad Before ... - ReliefWeb

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is in talks with the Trump administration to keep American troops in Iraq after the fight against the Islamic State group in the country is concluded, according to a U.S. official and an official from the Iraqi government.

Both officials underlined that the discussions are ongoing and that nothing is finalized. But the talks point to a consensus by both governments that, in contrast to the U.S. withdrawal in 2011, a longer-term presence of American troops in Iraq is needed to ensure that an insurgency does not bubble up again once the militants are driven out.

"There is a general understanding on both sides that it would be in the long-term interests of each to have that continued presence. So as for agreement, yes, we both understand it would be mutually beneficial. That we agree on," the U.S. official said.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The talks involve U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Iraqi officials over "what the long-term U.S. presence would look like," the American official said, adding that discussions were in early stages and "nothing has been finalized."

U.S. forces in Iraq would be stationed inside existing Iraqi bases in at least five locations in the Mosul area and along Iraq's border with Syria, the Iraqi government official said. They would continue to be designated as advisers to dodge the need for parliamentary approval for their presence, he said.

He said al-Abadi is looking to install a "modest" Iraqi military presence in Mosul after the fight against the Islamic State group is concluded along with a small number of U.S. forces. The forces would help control security in the city and oversee the transition to a political administration of Mosul, he said.

The U.S. official emphasized that there were no discussions of creating independent American bases in Iraq, as such a move would require thousands more personnel. He said the troops levels would be "several thousand ... similar to what we have now, maybe a little more."

Currently, the Pentagon has close to 7,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, many not publicly acknowledged because they are on temporary duty or under specific personnel rules. The forces include troops training Iraqi forces, coordinating airstrikes and ground operations, and special forces operating on the front lines.

The news comes as Iraqi forces are struggling to push IS fighters out of a cluster of neighborhoods in western Mosul that mark the last patch of significant urban terrain the group holds in Iraq, nearly three years after the militants overran nearly a third of the country.

Such an agreement would underscore how the fight against IS has drawn the U.S. into a deepening role in Iraq.

At the height of the surge of U.S. forces in 2007 to combat sectarian violence that nearly tore Iraq apart, there were about 170,000 American troops in the country. The numbers were wound down eventually to 40,000 before the complete withdrawal in 2011.

The U.S. intervention against the Islamic State group, launched in 2014, was originally cast as an operation that would largely be fought from the skies with a minimal footprint on Iraqi soil. Nevertheless, that footprint has since grown given Iraqi forces' need for support.

During a visit to Iraq in February, Mattis and Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, described an enduring partnership between the U.S. and Iraq.

"I imagine we'll be in this fight for a while and we'll stand by each other," Mattis said.

Townsend, who was standing by Mattis, declined to say how long the United States will stay in Iraq. But, he said, "I don't anticipate that we'll be asked to leave by the government of Iraq immediately after Mosul." He added, "I think that the government of Iraq realizes their very complex fight, and they're going to need the assistance of the coalition even beyond Mosul."

The talks over a longer-term U.S. presence has greatly concerned Iran, which in turn is increasing support to some of Iraq's Shiite militia forces, said Jafar al-Husseini, a representative from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shiite militia group with close ties to Iran.

"Iraq's security forces and the Popular Mobilization Forces (mostly Shiite militia groups) have the ability to protect (Iraq's) internal roads and borders, so why is al-Abadi using American security partners?" al-Hussein asked.

Al-Abadi has long struggled to balance Iraq's dependence on both the U.S. and Iran. Both countries are key security and economic partners for Iraq, yet are often at odds with each other when it comes to regional politics and security in the greater Middle East.

Over the nearly three-year-long fight against IS, Iraqi forces closely backed by the U.S.-led coalition have retaken some 65 percent of the territory the extremists once held in the country, according to the U.S.-led coalition. But Iraq's military is still in the process of rebuilding and reorganizing after it was largely gutted by widespread corruption under former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Klapper reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.

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Iraq, US in talks to keep American troop presence after IS - ABC News