19 June 2014

Baghdad accuses Saudi Arabia of promoting ‘genocide’ in Iraq

In a statement issued on 17 June, the Shi’ite-led government of Iraq accused Saudi Arabia of promoting ‘genocide’ in Iraq by assisting Sunni militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The statement said that ‘we hold them responsible for supporting these groups financially and morally, and for the outcome of that – which includes crimes that may qualify as genocide: the spilling of Iraqi blood, the destruction of Iraqi state institutions and historic and religious sites’.

Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia finances and supplies Sunni rebels in Syria, but that it denies assisting ISIL.

Source: Reuters | Baghdad blames Saudi Arabia for promoting 'genocide' in Iraq