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Iraqi forces consolidate their positions after blasting their way to the southern edge of Mosul in an assault Baghdad and its partners hope will spell the doom of the jihadist "caliphate". Iraqi forces backed by jets and gunships have retaken Al-Buseif, a village which IS had used as its main base south of Mosul, says Brigadier General Abbas al-Juburi, of the Rapid Response force. Video provided by AFP Newslook

In this March 30, 2010 file photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, a member of the U.S. military mans the guard post before sunrise at Camp Delta, part of the U.S. Detention Center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.(Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS, AFP/Getty Images)

LONDON An Islamic State suicide bomber who attacked an army base in Iraq this week was a British former Guantanamo Bay detainee who was awarded more than $1 million in compensation, according to media reports Tuesday.

Ronald Fiddler, who became known asJamal al-Harith after converting to Islam in the 1990s, was freed from the detention camp in 2004 after lobbying by the government of then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

He was awarded 1million pounds (now about $1.25 million) in compensation after saying British agents were complicit in his mistreatment, the Telegraph reported.

He was announced as a suicide bomber who targeted coalition forces outside Mosul this week when ISIS released a picture of him smiling in a 4x4 that was seen in video footage speeding down a track. ISIS claimed Harith caused multiple casualties, according tothe Times of London.

Harith, 50, traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL, in 2014, raising fears that the money given to him had been passed on to ISIS. He was known to fellow militants as Abu-Zakariya al-Britani.

Harith, who was accused of having links to Osama bin Laden, was held in Guantanamo Bay without charge for two years after he was discovered in a Taliban prison in Afghanistan in 2001, the Times of London reported.

Iraqi forces push into southern outskirts of Mosul

Iraq launches operation to retake western Mosul from Islamic State

Manchester-born Hariths brother Leon Jameson told the newspaper thathis brother wasted his life.

It is him, I can tell by his smile, he said of the ISIS image. If it is true then Ive lost a brother, so another family (member) gone.

In a statement Blair, the former Labour Party prime minister, denounced the way in which the story was being covered bysome media.

"It is correct that Jamal al-Harith was released from Guantanamo Bay at the request of the British Government in 2004," the statement said. "He was not paid compensation by my Government. The compensation was agreed in 2010 by the Conservative Government."

"The fact is that this was always a very difficult situation where any Government would have to balance proper concern for civil liberties with desire to protect our security, and we were likely to be attacked whatever course we took," he added.

U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched an offensive Sunday to drive the militants from Mosul, Iraqs second-biggest city and their last stronghold in the country.

Government-sanctioned Shiite militiamenlaunched a new push to seize villages west of Mosul from ISIS on Wednesday.The militants captured Mosul in 2014.

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Reports: ISIS suicide bomber in Iraq was ex-Gitmo detainee - USA TODAY

New York Times

Iraq Is a Huge Opportunity for Trump Wall Street Journal (subscription) Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's visit to Iraq on Monday made headlines largely because he reassured the Iraqi people that the U.S. is not in Iraq to seize anybody's oil. Meanwhile, as the battle for Mosul continues, the commander of U.S. forces in ... Jim Mattis to Baghdad: 'We're Not in Iraq to Seize Anybody's Oil'New York Times Defense Chief Contradicts Trump on Iraq and OilNewsweek Defense Secretary Mattis: US will stay in Iraq a whileFayetteville Observer World Socialist Web Site -CNBC all 380 news articles »

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Iraq Is a Huge Opportunity for Trump - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

New York Times

The War in Iraq: Why? New York Times And our country has suffered the death and injury of tens of thousands of our own sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, husbands and wives by waging this war in Iraq. But for what purpose? We know that there were no weapons of mass destruction ...

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The War in Iraq: Why? - New York Times

Iranian authorities said on Monday that Iraq was to blame for a sandstorm that had cut off power and water supply in an oil-rich province and led to street protests against local officials.

According to the AP which quotes state TV, Irans vice-president in charge of environmental affairs, Masoumeh Ebtekar, called upon Iraq to implement an agreement to prevent dust storms by spreading mulch over thousands of square miles of desert.

Earlier this month, a sandstorm led to power outages and temporarily cut off water supply in much of the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan bordering Iraq, reducing oil production by 700,000 bpd.

Following the sandstorm and power supply cuts, residents of the oil-rich Iranian city of Ahvaz with a majority Arab population took to the streets last week to protest against continuous power failures, air pollution, and government mismanagement.

The city of Ahvaz is the capital of the wealthy Khuzestan province, rich in oil and natural gas and located in southwest Iran close to the Iraqi border. Ahvaz has often topped the unfortunate ranking of the worlds most polluted cities.

Referring to the protests, local police have issued a statement that people refrain from illegal gatherings and warned them they would be confronted if they continued those gatherings, according to the New York Times.

Related:This Oil Nation Aims To Colonize Mars

Iran hints that the dust storms originate in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Syria, and has urged their authorities to address the problem.

According to PressTV, the Iranian state broadcasters English-language outlet, Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called upon Iranian officials on Monday to immediately address the problems that the residents of the Khuzestan province are facing. Most recently, the Khuzestan province has been afflicted by torrential rains and the province had already been reeling from sandstorms, which are said to originate in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Press TV said.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Iran Blames Iraq For Dust Storm That Sparked Protests In Oil Province - OilPrice.com

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Feb. 21, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Coalition military forces conducted 17 strikes consisting of 28 engagements in Syria:

-- Near Bab, three strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units, destroyed four ISIS-held buildings and damaged an ISIS-held building.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, four strikes destroyed six oil wellheads.

-- Near Palmyra, three strikes destroyed 26 oil tanker trucks.

-- Near Raqqa, seven strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed three fighting positions, a vehicle bomb, a garage, an improvised explosive device and a weapons facility; and damaged a bridge.

Strikes in Iraq

Coalition military forces conducted nine strikes consisting of 61 engagements in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraqs government:

-- Near Beiji, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and an ISIS staging area and destroyed a weapons cache, a vehicle bomb and a vehicle bomb facility.

-- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit and destroyed two ISIS-held buildings, a vehicle bomb, a vehicle, a tactical vehicle and an unmanned aircraft.

-- Near Mosul, six strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units; destroyed 11 mortar systems, three ISIS headquarters, three ISIS-held buildings, two anti-air artillery systems, two tactical vehicles, two supply caches, a front-end loader, a fighting position, a weapons facility, a vehicle bomb and an improvised explosive device; damaged nine supply routes; and suppressed 14 mortar teams and an ISIS tactical unit.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike destroyed a vehicle bomb facility.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.

The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.

Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.

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Officials Provide Details of Latest Strikes in Syria, Iraq - Department of Defense