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International human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, right, sits with Nadia Murad as she waits to address a Bringing Daesh to Justice event at United Nations headquarters in New York on March 9, 2017

REUTERS

UNITED NATIONS --- Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney urged Iraq and the worlds nations on Thursday not to let the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) get away with genocide.

The wife of actor George Clooney, who represents victims of ISIS rapes and kidnappings, told a U.N. meeting that whats shocking is not just the groups brutality but the passive response by the worlds nations to the campaign to investigate its crimes and bring the perpetrators to justice.

She urged Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send a letter to the U.N. Security Council so it can vote to set up an investigation into crimes by the group in Iraq where ISIS once controlled about 40 percent of the countrys territory but is now being routed by government and coalition forces.

Justice is what the victims want... Clooney said, but justice will be forever out of reach if we allow the evidence to disappear, if mass graves are not protected, if medical evidence is lost, if witnesses can no longer be traced.

Clooney expressed frustration that nothing has happened since she came to the U.N. six months ago seeking accountability for victims of the ISIS, also known by the Arab name Daesh.

Killing ISIS on the battlefield is not enough. We must kill the idea behind ISIS by exposing the brutality and bringing individual criminals to justice, she said.

Clooney represents Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman captured by IS in Iraq in 2014, who has spoken out about since her release about being raped, sold as a sex slave, and praying for death while in captivity.

Murad, now a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking, told the meeting that victims have patiently waited for over a year for the investigation of ISIS to start to be able to at least bury our dead.

Why it is taking so long? I cannot understand why you are letting ISIS get away with it, or what more you need to hear before you will act, Murad said, her voice breaking with emotion. So today, I ask the Iraqi government and the U.N. to establish an investigation and give all the victims of ISIS the justice they deserve.

Clooney addressed prime minister al-Abadi saying it was initially Iraqs idea to involve the U.N. and sending a letter would silence those who doubt your commitment to bring Daesh to justice.

If no letter is forthcoming, she said the Security Council could act without Iraqs consent, or it could refer the extremist group to the International Criminal Court, or the General Assembly could establish an accountability mechanism as it did for crimes in Syria in December. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres could also launch an investigation, she said.

But none of this has happened, Clooney said. Instead, mass graves in Iraq lie unprotected and un-exhumed, witnesses are fleeing and not one ISIS militant has faced trial for international crimes anywhere in the world.

Clooney urged all countries to stand up for justice and demonstrate moral leadership to make sure that ISIS is held accountable.

Britains U.N. Ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, told the meeting he looks forward to finalizing the Security Council resolution with Iraq very, very soon. He said the aim is to assist Iraq with the difficult but crucial challenge of preserving the huge amount of evidence of Daesh crimes committed on Iraqi territory.

Iraqs U.N. Ambassador, Mohamed Alhakim, said the government plans to try cases involving low and mid-level members of Daesh but it will have to work with the international community to bring the top leaders to justice.

He made no mention, however, of U.N. help in preserving evidence or the required letter.

2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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Amal Clooney to Iraq, UN: Don't let ISIS "get away with genocide - CBS News

New York Times

Suicide Bombers Kill Dozens at Wedding Party in Iraq New York Times The wedding party was being held for a family that had been displaced from Anbar Province, which is in western Iraq and is home to a tribe that opposes the Islamic State group. Islamic State militants captured Tikrit during its blitz across Iraq in the ... Iraq: IS suicide bombers kill 26 at Tikrit wedding partyBBC News Suicide Bombers Strike Wedding in Iraq, Kill at Least 26Voice of America Suicide bomb blasts hit wedding near Iraq's TikritAljazeera.com Hindustan Times -Deutsche Welle -Guardian all 69 news articles »

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Suicide Bombers Kill Dozens at Wedding Party in Iraq - New York Times

BEIRUT, LEBANON (11:00 A.M.) The Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad gave the Iraqi government permission to strike the Islamic State (ISIS) within Syrias borders, Syrian Minister of Parliament Sadji Taama told Russias Izvestia newspaper on Thursday.

Our countries are facing a common threat. Both Iraq and Syria are fighting Daesh extremists. We have been coordinating our anti-terrorist efforts foryears. And such statements would not be made if Damascus hadnt approved Iraqi aviation taking part inoperations overSyrian territory. I expect that Syrian planes may also start pursuing the militants inIraq nearthe Syrian border, Sadji Taama told the Izvestia newspaper.

Taamas comments come just one day after Iraqi Prime Minister Hadi Al-Abadi told journalists during a press conference that Syria gave him permission to attack ISIS inside their country.

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The cross-border pursuit is necessary due tomilitants fleeing Iraqs besieged Mosul and heading towardDeir ez-Zor inSyria, according tothe member ofthe parliament.

ALSO READ Syrian Army liberates more territory in east Aleppo as ISIS scatters southeast towards Raqqa

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Assad gave Iraq green light to strike ISIS in Syria: official - AMN Al-Masdar News (registration)

The Hindu

Suicide bombers kill 26 at Iraq wedding The Hindu Two suicide bombers attacked a celebration being held the night before a wedding north of Baghdad, killing 26 people, a police officer and a doctor said on Thursday. The bombings in the Al-Hajaj area, north of the city of Tikrit, also wounded 25 people ... The Islamic State's Mark on IraqFair Observer Inside The Mad Max-Style Tactics ISIS Is Using In Its Last Stand In IraqBuzzFeed News Iraq aims to drive Islamic State from west Mosul within a monthReuters CBS News -Voice of America -ReliefWeb all 475 news articles »

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Suicide bombers kill 26 at Iraq wedding - The Hindu

The religious minorities of northern Iraq are joining forces to form a province of their own in a region that the Islamic State had nearly decimated.

Assyrian Christians, Yazidis, Turkmen and other religious minorities have jointly made their case to the central government in Baghdad. The group said the only way to regain stability of the region would be to establish a semi-autonomous zone or province.

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For the first time ever, the ethnic and religious minorities of Iraq are banding together to let the world know what they want...

- Robert Nicholson,The Philos Project

For the first time ever, the ethnic and religious minorities of Iraq are banding together to let the world know what they want, Robert Nicholson, executive director of The Philos Project, told Fox News. And what are they saying? We want to stay please help us.

The coalition is calling for the creation of the Al Rafidein region, which would include the three northern provinces of Sinjar, Tal Afar, and the Nineveh Plain. ISIS has lost its foothold in the region, triggering a discussion on how to retake it.

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The coalition is separate from the ongoing call made by the Chaldean community to establish a new semi-autonomous zonein the Nineveh Plain. While both groups are working independently to create stability in Northern Iraq, they've kept friendly relations.

A consensus is emerging, Nicholson says. The minorities of Iraq want to remain in Iraq, but not as victims to be pitied they want to be masters of their own fate.

On March 3, the Al Rafidein made its case to the central government in a letter of intent.

The Turkmen, Assyrians, Yazidi, Shabak and other minorities are considered to be among the original Iraqi societies, the opening of the Al Rafideins declaration read. After all of the genocide, ethnic cleansing, persecution, abuse and injustice that has happened and is happening, we, the organizations, working in the name of the persecuted national societies in Iraq decided to join in a coalition that brings everyone together in order to defend our presence in Iraq.

They coalition aims to obtain national, international and regional support in its efforts to create a region with multiple Iraqi nationalities, religions, and cultures free of racial and sectarian entrenchment. It also said it was acting in accordance with the Iraqi constitution, which allows the formation of new regions and provinces.

The coalition strongly believes that the creation of this new province will allow democracy to finally flourish in Iraq.

This is just the beginning of the course. We have a lot of hard work in the future, Ali Akram Al Bayati, president of the Turkmen Rescue Foundation, which is also a part of the Al Rafidein coalition, told Fox News. We are trying to have open discussions with all political parties in Iraq. In the end, we will need parliamentary support.

Al Bayati, who is Muslim, said he believes that the best way to stabilize Iraq is to set up a government similar to that of the United States.

We believe that the fate of Iraq at the end of the day will be federalization, he said. But the question is on what basis? Sectarian? Ethnic? Geographical?

We need to establish a new democratic face for Iraq. Away from all extremist ideology.

On Tuesday, another coalition, one comprised of the Chaldean, Syriac and Assyrian Christian communities, released a letter also demanding a new province in the region.

Out of a sense of responsibility towards our people, particularly all the dangers they are now faced with, read a line from the letter obtained by Fox News, we ask that you use the constitutional powers vested in your position to recognize the following demands.

Perry Chiaramonte is a reporter for FoxNews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @perrych

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As ISIS loses ground in parts of Iraq, religious minorities join forces - Fox News