An al-Qaeda breakaway group seized more territory on Iraq’s borders with Jordan and Syria as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad to try to get political leaders to set aside sectarian divisions and confront the growing threat.
Kerry, who flew into Iraq this morning on a C17 military plane, will spend the day meeting with Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki, as well as cabinet ministers and party leaders.
Fighters from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, known as Isil, captured all the border crossings with Jordan and Syria, said Hameed Ahmed Hashim, a member of Iraq’s Anbar provincial council.
President Barack Obama told CBS that the fighting could spread to “allies like Jordan.” The militants “are engaged in wars in Syria where – in that vacuum that’s been created – they could amass more arms, more resources,” the president said, according to a transcript.
Militants took Rutba, about 145km (90 miles) east of the Jordanian border, Faleh al-Issawi, the deputy chief of the council, said by phone. The Jordanian army did not immediately respond to a request for information about the situation on the border.
Iraq’s crisis flared when Isil fighters this month captured Mosul, the country’s biggest northern city, and advanced to towns just north of Baghdad as Iraqi forces struggled to halt their military gains.
Oil futures have gained on the latest violence. Brent for August settlement gained as much as 47 cents, or 0.4%, to $115.28 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange.
Crude oil shipments from southern Iraq have been mostly unaffected by the fighting. Kurds are defending the Kirkuk oilfield in the north, where exports have been halted since March by attacks on the pipeline.
Iraq pumped 3.3million barrels a day last month.
OPEC members will “collectively decide” how to cover any shortfall from a possible interruption of Iraqi supplies, UAE Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei told reporters in Abu Dhabi on Sunday..
Obama declined on June 19 to say that he continues to have confidence in Maliki, whose government the administration blames for inflaming sectarian tensions in OPEC’s second-largest oil producer.
“It’s not the place for the United States to choose Iraq’s leaders,” Obama said.
“It is clear, though, that only leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able to truly bring the Iraqi people together and help them through this crisis.”