Where Skis Replace Bullets

When 37-year-old Igor Urizar first happened upon the isolated mountain village of Penjwin, 300 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, he had a vision of this border-town -- nestled in the pristine, snow-capped mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan -- transformed into a haven for skiers.

Oil Flows Beneath the Battlefield

At seven o’clock in the morning on Mar. 1, Kurdish militias took over the only operational oil refinery in Syria, located about 800 kilometres northwest of Damascus.

As Iraq Becomes Iran-Like

Armoured vehicles and thousands of soldiers masked in black balaclavas guard the entrance to the city of Mosul, 350 kilometres northwest of Baghdad. Arriving here gives one the unmistakable feeling of entering a territory that is still under occupation – only this time, the Iraqi Federal soldiers, not the U.S. military, play the role of the occupying army, locals tell IPS.

Guerillas and Civilians Converge for Peace

It was only seven in the morning when Mohamed Abdi spread out a rug a few metres away from an artillery crater, up in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq. This Iraqi Kurd from Suleimaniyah, 260 kilometres northeast of Baghdad, was ready to celebrate the Newroz – the Kurdish and Persian New Year – along with his family.

Iraq Once More on the Brink of War

Driving into the city of Kirkuk, one is greeted by the view of a huge sea of grey concrete houses from which laundry has been hung out to dry in the wind and be blackened by smoke rising from the surrounding oil wells.

Iraqi Women Seek a New Liberation

From full literacy declared in the seventies, Iraq is down to 40 percent literacy for women. From the first woman prime minister and the first woman judge in the Middle East in 1959, Iraq has slipped to a place where an abnormal number of widows struggle, and where child marriages are on the rise. Hanaa Edwar is putting up a fight to win Iraqi women their freedoms again.

Q&A: ‘Baloch Groups to Unite Against Pakistan’

Fighters in the Balochistan province of Pakistan will soon set up a common front to take on the Pakistani military in their fight for Baloch independence, a senior commander of the Balochistan Liberation Front tells IPS in an interview.

Drawing an Uncertain Kurdish Map

Over a yellowish map, Qehreman Meri draws an oblong surface along the Turkish-Syrian border. "We want an autonomous region with clearly defined boundaries," says this spokesman from Yeketi (Unity), one of 15 Kurdish political parties in Syria.

Syrian Kurds Find the Language of Freedom

"I want to learn how to read and write in my own language," says Manal, a young Kurd from Syria. Neither she nor any of Manal’s 30 classmates have ever been so close to achieving their goal.

Long Wait to Defect From Assad’s Forces

"Of course I want to defect but I cannot give up my salary. How could I possibly feed my 11 children?" The war is putting every Syrian on the brink, including this policeman on the side of President Bashar Al Assad.

Syrian Crisis Brings a Blessing for Kurds

The smuggler wants 200 dollars but Jewan negotiates him down to 100. That’s still a lot for this 26-year-old Syrian Kurd, but he can hardly wait to cross the border to Syria from Iraq. It’s been three years since he last saw his family.

Colonised by the Arabs, Abandoned by the World

Untamed stone villages line up over imposing green valleys. In winter they are white with snow. The luckiest have a view to the deep blue sea. "It’s gorgeous, isn’t it," says Amzi from his yellow cab. "Nobody would say we’re living in an open-air prison."

Conflict Heats Up in the Sahara

"We’ve been building a lot of new walls lately," says Polisario Front commander Ahmed Salem as he drives his 4 X 4 across Tindouf in Western Algeria. But the newly introduced security measures may not be enough to ensure the survival of the Western Sahrawis.

This Football Is a Game of Dispossession

The football teams are back in their refugee camps in Algeria, and no, FIFA has taken no note of this tournament. And the television cameras are all at the Euro cup.

In Limbo in the Saharan ‘Free Zone’

The road vanishes under the sand just after the border crossing at Tindouf, western Algeria. Another 20 kilometres into the desert, a billboard welcomes us into the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Those Laboratory Mice Were Children

At Fallujah hospital they cannot offer any statistics on children born with birth defects – there are just too many. Parents don’t want to talk. "Families bury their newborn babies after they die without telling anyone," says hospital spokesman Nadim al-Hadidi. "It’s all too shameful for them."

Exit Americans, Enter Sectarian Strife

Barely three months after the pullout by U.S. troops, sectarian clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims have begun to take a heavy toll across Iraq.

Those Bodies in Baghdad Are of Gay Men

Dozens of bodies bludgeoned to death pop up in Baghdad’s dusty streets like the remains of a wreckage on a beach. They are the corpses of homosexuals and followers of the ‘emo’ fashion who dare to break with the strict canons of the Shia orthodoxy in power.

‘Sons of Iraq’ Orphaned

"We have not been paid since the Americans left Iraq last December. If nothing changes, I will abandon this checkpoint," Saif Ahmed tells IPS. He is one of the militiamen who claim to have defeated Al Qaeda in Iraq.

The Ancient Wither in New Iraq

"I’d say there are around 5,000 of us in the country, but if you ask me next week we may well be under 3,000. After twenty centuries of history in Mesopotamia, we Mandaeans, are about to vanish." Anxiety about the future of his people is more than evident in the figures given by Saad Atiah Majid, chairman of Basra’s Mandaean Council.

LIBYA: Old Ways Under a New Flag

"They would call you a Gaddafist if you drove one of those 4 X 4 cars," says Bashar, emerging from one of those traffic jams in Tripoli. "Today almost every rebel commander has one."