Iraq Front Line 'Trenches' Like World War One

By Stuart Ramsay, Sky News Chief Correspondent

One can see the front line between the peshmerga and the Islamic State fighters from quite a distance on the outskirts of Kirkuk in northern Iraq.

Their flags flutter in the wind. But they are so close now that from some angles you can't tell which is in front of the other.

This is the most dangerous and close front line in this conflict.

They are metres apart. Peshmerga soldiers gingerly peer over the earth wall that separates the two sides. There are snipers everywhere.

Sky's Stuart Ramsay with peshmerga troops in northern Iraq

Absolutely nobody out here drops their guard for a second. On the wall, that single second lapse in concentration could cost you your life.

These battle lines are reminiscent of World War One. Two armies dug into these huge berms, trenches really, and a watery no man's land, a canal, dividing them.

The peshmerga are determined but lightly armed. The IS fighters are determined and heavily armed. But this is now a static front.

The pesh, as they are known, want to attack but know that across the canal IS aren't just well dug in but have the support, or at least tacit support, of the local population.

So this is about holding the line. The Kurds are hoping that will change.

US jets have been involved in raids on IS in Iraq

In the clear blue skies above there is an occasional glint of light from the fuselage of jets patrolling and looking for IS targets.

We could hear the jet engines change tone as they began their descent into a bombing raid.

From maybe a mile away we heard the explosion of a bomb drop and shortly afterwards the smoke rose into the air.

This has just started in this area but is happening across the north of Iraq. The coalition forces are attacking.

It has brought quiet to the front line. IS can't move when the jets are up. When it goes quiet they try to bring their vehicles forward.

Islamic State fighters are heavily armed and determined

The front lines are so close they hope the jets won't attack for fear of killing the Pesh.

In truth there have been a number of friendly fire incidents already and they are likely to continue if the US-led coalition ramps up the target selection and carries out a lot more bombing.

It's inevitable and the peshmerga understand that.

"We are fighting for the whole world, you have to understand that, we are fighting for everyone against these barbarians," Brigadier Bapir Sheik Wassany told me, looking across into IS territory.

"If you attack from the air and give us better weapons we will smash them. We don't want soldiers, we want weapons and airstrikes."

US Navy F-18E Super Hornets leave after refuelling over northern Iraq

The pesh do have a tendency to get a bit carried away with the rhetoric.

But as a whole the Kurd military, made up of Special Forces and the Counter Terrorism Group, along with the peshmerga and a rather difficult alliance with Shia militia, can be pretty effective if they have the weapons and the all-important "Air" - the coalition's jets.

The reality is, though, that war cannot be won from the air.

In fact this war on IS probably can't be won without the actual support of the Sunni population where IS have made their home in Iraq and Syria.

In a refugee camp in an Arab district of Kirkuk I chatted for an hour or so with Sunni refugees.

Iraqi peshmerga troops load rockets into a launcher in northern Iraq

They have escaped their towns to avoid the bombing and to a degree IS, but mainly to escape the Shia militias; finding sanctuary in Kurdistan.

"We are protected by a military with one goal, to look after its people; answering to a government with one goal, to look after its people," their leader told me.

"If the airstrikes are 100% accurate on IS then we will go home. But if the Shia militia replace IS it will be worse," he said.

These people need a government that represents them and an army that they trust. If that happens then IS are finished here.

But it doesn't look likely for now and IS haven't gone anywhere.

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FBI: Islamic State's Jihadi John Identified

FBI Director James Comey says the bureau has identified the Islamic State (IS) militant known as Jihadi John.

But Mr Comey told reporters at the agency's headquarters in Washington DC he would not reveal the man's name or nationality.

The FBI director would not name the militant known as Jihadi John

He reportedly said: "I believe that we have identified him, I'm not going to tell you who I believe it is."

Asked if he would prioritise capturing the killer, he said: "We will do, and expend the effort that I think the American people would want us to and expect us to."

The Home Office said it did not comment on security operations.

Jihadi John appears to be left-handed and of average height and build

The jihadist group shocked the world when it released videos of a man with a southern English accent apparently killing two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and a British aid worker, David Haines.

In the three clips, the suspect holds a long knife and appears to begin hacking at the captives' necks. He shows only his eyes in all three videos.

The British Ambassador to the US, Sir Peter Westmacott, said last month the UK was close to identifying the suspect.

Sophisticated technology, including voice-recognition software, was being used to track him down, he added.

(L-R) James Foley, Steven Sotloff and David Haines

From the footage, the militant appears to be left-handed and of average height and build.

He was said to lead a small group of British jihadis who became known by hostages as The Beatles.

The FBI director also said around a dozen Americans are believed to be currently fighting with extremist groups in Syria.

He said more than 100 Americans in total had either managed to reach Syria, had been arrested while trying to travel there, or had gone and returned.

In his briefing, Mr Comey said a shadowy al Qaeda cell in Syria known as the Khorasan Group may still be plotting attacks on the West.

He said there was no sign yet that US airstrikes this week, which American officials believe killed Khorasan's leader, had disrupted the group's plans.

It comes as the US continued to carry out airstrikes on targets in Syria - and after officials dismissed reports that IS was planning to attack US and French subway systems.

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Britain Edges Closer To Launching IS Airstrikes

Britain could be days from military involvement in the Middle East after David Cameron warned the fight against Islamic State was one the UK "could not opt out of".

Speaking ahead of a United Nations summit in New York the Prime Minister insisted the group was planning attacks on Britain and an international coalition was needed to destroy "this evil organisation."

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider Abadi is expected to formally ask for Britain's involvement in airstrikes against IS positions in the north of the country when he meets with Mr Cameron tomorrow.

The PM warned of terrorist plots in Britain and the US

Such a request would legally underpin any UK military action in Iraq, something that is less clear in the case of Syria where Britain has stressed it will not co-operate with President Bashar al Assad to defeat IS.

Any offer to Iraq of military help could lead to parliament being recalled on Friday to seek MPs' approval, with Mr Cameron hoping of avoiding the defeat he suffered last year over plans to target the Assad regime.

Iraq has not yet formally asked Britain to join the US and France in air strikes on IS which has made rapid territorial gains in northern Iraq, though the UK responded swiftly to Baghdad's plea for arms and ammunition earlier this month.

Iraq's PM Haider al Abadi is likely to ask for Britain's help to defeat IS

Speaking to US TV channel NBC, Mr Cameron said: "There are other plots they (IS) have been attempting, including in my own country, in order to kill and maim innocent people and the same applies to the United States.

"So this is a fight you cannot opt out of. These people want to kill us. They've got us in their sights and we have to put together this coalition… to make sure that we ultimately destroy this evil organisation."

Mr Cameron will also attempt to secure regional involvement in the fight against IS during talks with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani. It will be the first time a British prime minister has met an Iranian president since 1979.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani will also hold talks with Mr Cameron

But Mr Cameron has made clear he will not soften his stance on Iran's nuclear ambitions, nor its support for other militant groups the West regards as terrorist organisations.

"I will be very clear," Mr Cameron told NBC News. "We think they are wrong to have this nuclear weapon programme. We think they are wrong to support terrorist organisations.

"It'll be a tough conversation. I'm not saying that my enemy's enemy is my friend. I don't believe that.

"But the fact is if we want to have a successful, democratic, pluralistic Iraq and if we want to have a successful, democratic, pluralistic Syria, Iran can play a constructive role in helping to bring that about."

UK hostage Alan Henning is being held by the group, possibly in Raqqa

The first US raids on IS targets in Syria were launched yesterday, supported by Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Among the areas hit was the IS stronghold of Raqqa where it is thought British aid worker Alan Henning is being held hostage by the group.

Mr Henning's wife Barbara urged for his release after she received an audio message from her husband pleading for his life.

Barbara Henning said she had been told a Sharia court had found her husband innocent of being a spy.

"I implore Islamic State to abide by the decisions of their own justice system. "Please release Alan," she said in a statement released through the Foreign Office.

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Families Living In Fear In IS-Controlled Raqqa

By Jason Farrell, Sky Correspondent

Children in Syria are being taken from their families to be trained as Islamic State fighters and used as informants, according to a civilian living in Raqqa.

Former student Abu Abrahim Raqqawi gave Sky News a chilling account of life inside the IS-controlled city where he claimed children are being indoctrinated to become jihadists.

Abu is able to talk because he was smuggled out of Raqqa two weeks ago but remains in regular contact with more than a dozen other underground activists in the city.

Abu Abrahim says there is no education for children in Raqqa

"They (IS) say to the young people, those between 16 and 18, 'Ok, we will give you money if you say who are talking about us or are saying something bad about us'.

"There is a camp for under-16 children. They took a lot of children without their families knowing, and it's very bad. It's just a special camp for young people. They make them like a bomb; a time-bomb."

The US launched airstrikes against IS targets in Syria on Tuesday and Abu Abrahim said IS members in the city were killed after rockets struck their communications hub and a hospital used exclusively by IS fighters.

The US has launched airstrikes against IS targets in Syria

But there are mixed feelings about the Western military intervention.

Abu Abrahim said: "There is anger because the city is being destroyed but some accept they have to do a deal with the devil to get rid of IS.

"But others feel if the US cared about the people here, Obama would have acted when President Assad crossed the red line."

Here he is referring to the Syrian leader's alleged use of chemical weapons last year.

Several Syrian cities and IS strongholds were targetted in the attack

"There are a lot of executions, secret executions and public executions, especially after the Friday sermons - crucifying, beheading and things like that." He provided images to back this up; some showed children watching the gruesome events.

"There are no hospitals inside the city of Raqqa now. When there is an airstrike (previously from President Assad's forces) wounded people are taken to small hospitals in houses without any equipment.

"They're dying in the street. ISIS have their own hospitals that do not allow citizens to go in."

Abu Abrahim says there is no education in the city and some families are struggling to find food. He claims IS fighters have also seized people's homes to house foreign fighters, but the biggest problem is access to medicine and hospital treatment.

The group have made rapid advances across swathes of Iraq and Syria

His friends have been filming and taking photographs - posting images on a Facebook page called "Raqqa Is Being Silently Slaughtered".

One of the group was killed by IS when his activities were discovered. Despite being tortured, he didn't release the names of the others.

IS has ousted the Free Syrian Army from Raqqa - the original resistance movement to the Syrian leader Bashar al Assad is much diminished by the terrorist group across Syria.

Abu Abrahim said: "I think if the West wants to do something to kick ISIS out from Syria, they must bomb the Assad regime. If the Assad regime gets bombed and down, then easily the ISIS regime will get out of Syria because the FSA and all the fighters will just fight ISIS and not both ISIS and Assad."

IS fighters proclaim Raqqa is a paradise, but Abu says normal civilians are struggling for survival - that life in a terrorist controlled city is one of fear, and lives are being risked to tell the real story of the city.

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Cameron Ready To Work With Iran To Defeat IS

By Dominic Waghorn, US Correspondent

David Cameron is to become the first British prime minister to meet an Iranian President since 1979 in a historic encounter in New York

Downing Street says the meeting with Hassan Rouhani is part of efforts to mobilise support against the Islamic State and drop Iran's support for the Assad regime in Syria.

The Prime Minister will be attending the United Nations general assembly and is hoping to secure UN approval for a comprehensive strategy to deal with the brutal militant group.

The PM will dicuss the threat posed by Islamic State with Iran's president

It marks Mr Cameron's determination to enlist the active support of regional powers in the Middle East in taking on IS, which has seized control of swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria.

The group has also carried out a string of atrocities against local people and foreigners as it seeks to impose its own brand of extremist Sunni Islam.

Mr Cameron will also join US President Barack Obama and other members of the UN Security Council to discuss the threat posed by foreign fighters - thought to include hundreds of Britons - engaged in the conflict.

Officials say he will set out in his speech that the threat from extremism is faced by everyone and international action is required to defeat it.

World leaders meet annually for the event in New York which is often criticised for being long on talk and short on action.

Ahead of the encounter, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has issued damning criticism of the UK and the US calling them warmongers for their planned actions in Iraq.

Also on the agenda with be Iran's nuclear-enrichment programme

Britain has yet to commit support for air strikes and there has been US speculation it may step up its military intervention now the Scottish independence referendum is out of the way.

Britain and the US also hope to see a new UN Security Council resolution preventing the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria.

Tehran will also call for flexibility on its uranium-enrichment programme which has led to sanctions because of Western concerns any nuclear capability could be used for militarily.

Downing Street said Mr Cameron had "no illusion" about the threat posed by Iran's nuclear operations, but was ready to work with Tehran if it was willing to join the effort to defeat IS.

There is a sense of urgency this year given the threat posed by IS, but also the catastrophic dangers posed by global warming. 

Ahead of the meeting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned time is running out to unite against the global threat of climate change. 

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US Launches First Attacks Against IS In Syria

America has begun airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State targets, says the Pentagon.

The strikes were launched with Arab partner forces using a mix of fighters, bombers, drones and Tomahawk missiles, according to Pentagon press spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.

"I can confirm that US military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against ISIL terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk land attack missiles," Mr Kirby said in a statement.

Islamic State have made rapid gains in Iraq and Syria

"Given that these operations are ongoing, we are not in a position to provide additional details at this time.

"The decision to conduct theses strikes was made earlier today by the US Central Command commander under authorisation granted him by the commander in chief. We will provide more details later as operationally appropriate." 

US media is reporting that the strikes include US Air Force and Naval forces and that Tomahawk missiles have been fired from the USS Arleigh Burke destroyer in the Red Sea and will also be fired from the cruiser USS Philippine Sea in the Persian Gulf.

US officials say around 20 targets inside Syria are expected to be hit, including command and control centres, training camps and weapons depots, and that F-18 fighters are flying missions off the USS George HW Bush in the Persian Gulf. according to reports.

The group is still holding British hostage Alan Henning

The strikes follow a summit of world leaders in Paris where agreement was reached to form a broad coalition to counter the threat by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and to provide military aid to Iraq to fight the extremist network.

International efforts to combat the group, who have grabbed large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq, have taken on an added urgency after the beheading of two US journalists and British aid worker David Haines, and the threat to kill UK hostage Alan Henning.

Sky's US correspondent Dominic Waghorn said: "In the sovereign airspace and territory of another nation, it is particular surprising.

"The information we have from officials speaking on condition of anonymity, is that there will be US missiles and fighter jets working with air forces in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan and other Gulf states.

An IS splinter group has threated to kill French tourist Herve Gourdel

"This military coalition is very important for American who do not want to be seen as going ahead on their own."

The US action comes four days after France destroyed an Islamic State logistics depot in its first airstrikes against the militant group in Iraq.

President Francois Hollande said Rafale fighter jets, accompanied by support planes, "entirely destroyed" the depot in the north of the country.

Earlier a kidnapped Frenchman appeared in a video posted online, saying he is being held by an Algeria-based Islamic State splinter group.

In the footage, a spokesman for the group - which calls itself Jund al-Khilafah, or Caliphate Soldiers - threatens to kill the man unless France ends its military operation against Islamic State in Iraq.

More follows...

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Balls To Freeze Child Benefit To Balance Books

Real-terms cuts in child benefit will form part of Labour's plan to balance the country's books, shadow chancellor Ed Balls will say at the party's conference.

Mr Balls will present a 1% cap on rises for the first two years of a Labour government as one of the "tough decisions" necessary to deal with the deficit if the party takes power next year.

In a speech in Manchester today, Mr Balls will pledge to "change the way our economy works" and to "not flinch from the tough decisions we must make".

He will say: "Three years of lost growth at the start of this parliament means we will have to deal with a deficit of £75bn  - not the balanced budget George Osborne promised by 2015. And that will make the task of governing hugely difficult.

"People know we are the party of jobs, living standards and fairness for working people. But they also need to know that we will balance the books and make the sums add up and that we won't duck the difficult decisions we will face if they return us to government.

"Working people have had to balance their own books. And they are clear that the Government needs to balance its books too."

Mr Balls will say a cap in child benefit rises will save £400m

Under austerity measures introduced by the coalition, child benefit was frozen from 2010 to this year.

It rose by 1% in April and is due to rise by the same amount in 2015/16, but Mr Balls will commit to extending below-inflation hikes for at least one more year.

He will tell delegates: "We will not spend money we cannot afford. So for the first two years of the next parliament we will cap the rise in child benefit at 1%.

"It will save £400m in the next parliament. And all the savings will go towards reducing the deficit."

Other elements of the Labour party's plans for the economy include cutting pay for ministers by 5%, reintroducing the 50p top rate of income tax for those earning more than £150,000, and ending the winter fuel allowance for the richest 5% of pensioners.

A 5% cut in ministerial salaries is also on the cards

The party also has plans to raise the minimum wage to £8 an hour, and introduce a jobs guarantee for young people and the long-term unemployed funded by a tax on bank bonuses and limiting pensions tax relief for the highest earners. 

Treasury Exchequer Secretary Priti Patel poured scorn on Mr Balls' plan for the economy, claiming Labour would put the deficit up, not down.

"These savings on ministerial pay only cut a miniscule fraction of the deficit - less than 1% of 1&. And it comes just days after the Institute for Fiscal Studies said Labour's economic policy means £28bn extra borrowing," he said.

"For all his bluster, Ed Balls still refuses to admit that Labour spent too much and he's opposed every decision we've taken to cut the deficit. All a Labour government would offer is more inefficient spending, more taxes and more debt than our children could ever hope to repay.'

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Alan Henning Colleague Appeals For Release

A friend and colleague of British hostage Alan Henning has appealed for Islamic State militants to release the former taxi driver.

Dr Shaleema Islam-Zulfiqar travelled to Syria with Mr Henning in December last year as part of a convoy delivering aid to Syrian citizens.

Speaking to Sky News, she made a direct plead for the 47-year-old's release: "Please let him go and release him back to us - to his family and his friends."

Mr Henning had volunteered to drive an ambulance full of medical supplies as part of the charity trip, which was organised by the Bolton and the UK Arab Society.

The group planned to transport life-saving medical equipment to a hospital in Idlib, in northwestern Syria.

It is believed Mr Henning was abducted in al Dana, a town 24 miles from Aleppo, by IS shortly after arriving in the country.

Dr Shaleema Islam-Zulfiqar has appealed for Mr Henning's release

Dr Shaleema Islam-Zulfiqar she feels UK authorities "haven't been there to support" members of the charity group affected by the kidnapping.

"It's noted that the Government really haven't been there to support us," she said.

"There was nothing from the UK authorities to support the fact that we had a team member that had been taken (and) detained.

"We didn't know where he was and we didn't know what had happened to him.

"Now, I appreciate that there are sensitivities around the issue and the government has to be seen to be doing something behind the scenes.

"But we had nothing, no idea what had happened to Alan until that video aired last Saturday evening."

Mr Henning was part of a convoy taking aid supplies to Syria

Her comments followed a renewed plea from Mr Henning's wife Barbara.

In a statement released through the Foreign Office she described her husband as a "peaceful, selfless" man.

"Alan is a peaceful, selfless man who left his family and his job as a taxi driver in the UK to drive in a convoy all the way to Syria with his Muslim colleagues and friends to help those most in need," she said.

"When he was taken he was driving an ambulance full of food and water to be handed out to anyone in need.

"His purpose for being there was no more and no less. This was an act of sheer compassion.

"I cannot see how it could assist any state's cause to allow the world to see a man like Alan dying.

"I have been trying to communicate with the Islamic State and the people holding Alan. I have sent some really important messages but they have not been responded to.

"I pray that the people holding Alan respond to my messages and contact me before it is too late.

"When they hear this message I implore the people of Islamic State to see it in their hearts to release my husband Alan Henning."

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Wife Of Alan Henning Issues Plea To Captors

The wife of British aid convoy volunteer Alan Henning has issued a statement to the Islamic State (IS) calling on his captors to release him.

Mr Henning, 47, a former taxi driver from Manchester, was captured last December near the town of al Dana in Syria by IS militants.

He was shown at the end of a video last week following the murder of fellow British captive David Haines.

The statement, issued through the Foreign Office, said: "I am Barbara Henning the wife of Alan Henning. Alan was taken prisoner last December and is being held by the Islamic State.

"Alan is a peaceful, selfless man who left his family and his job as a taxi driver in the UK to drive in a convoy all the way to Syria with his Muslim colleagues and friends to help those most in need.

Mr Henning had driven an ambulance full of food and water to Syria

"When he was taken he was driving an ambulance full of food and water to be handed out to anyone in need.

"His purpose for being there was no more and no less. This was an act of sheer compassion.

"I cannot see how it could assist any state's cause to allow the world to see a man like Alan dying.

"I have been trying to communicate with the Islamic State and the people holding Alan. I have sent some really important messages but they have not been responded to.

"I pray that the people holding Alan respond to my messages and contact me before it is too late.

"When they hear this message I implore the people of Islamic State to see it in their hearts to release my husband Alan Henning."

It is the first public statement by Mr Henning's family since he appeared in the IS video.

It follows an appeal by Muslim scholars in the UK calling for the release of the Briton, who was captured in December near the town of al Dana.

IS has previously released footage showing the murders of US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

A separate video last week showed British photojournalist John Cantlie, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, saying he wanted to "convey some facts" about IS and saying he would speak about the group in future videos. There was no threat to kill Mr Cantlie in the video.

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Briton's Body Found After Mexico Hurricane

The body of a British woman who went missing while travelling on a yacht off the coast of Mexico has been found.

The Foreign Office confirmed one Briton had died after a search operation was launched earlier this week for couple Paul Whitehouse and Simone Wood in the aftermath of Hurricane Odile.

The pair, from London and Wolverhampton, are thought to have been living on their yacht for a year.

Paul Whitehouse is still missing

Mr Whitehouse is still missing, according to reports.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: "We can confirm the death of a British national, reported missing along with another British national earlier this week off the coast of Mexico.

"The Embassy is working with the local authorities and consular staff are providing assistance to both families at this very difficult time."

The hurricane affected power and water supplies

Hurricane Odile left a trail of destruction when it hit the Baja California Peninsula last Sunday.

Three other people have been confirmed dead following the storm - two Korean citizens and a German man who reportedly died from a heart attack.

More follows...

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