US to blame for ISIL rise in Iraq: Brahimi

News | 24.02.2015 | 08:36

The 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States led to the rise of the ISIL terror group in the Arab country, former UN-Arab league special envoy to Syria says. In a live onstage interview with Al-Hayat newspaper on Monday, Lakhdar Brahimi noted that US invasion of Iraq over a decade ago provided a suitable environment for the growth of militancy in Iraq and helped an extremist group like ISIL flourish. “The US is to be blamed,” Brahimi said, adding, “It created conditions that allowed ISIS (ISIL) to grow.” The veteran Algerian politician also pointed to Iran’s role in finding a political solution to the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, given the “regional power” Tehran has in both Arab countries. The ISIL terrorists, many of whom were initially trained by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, now control large parts of Iraq and Syria. They have been engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control. Iran has repeatedly stressed that it will not interfere militarily in Iraq and Syria, but that it will continue to provide support for both countries against ISIL in the form of defense consultation and humanitarian aid.  Brahimi resigned from his role as UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria in May 2014 after failing to secure a peaceful settlement to crisis there. He was appointed to the post on August 17, 2012, succeeding Kofi Annan, a former secretary general of the UN, who had also resigned from the post. PressTV