• Awaiting Obama statement on Iraq

• Isis jihadists 'seize Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons facility'

• Britain & US must not meddle in Iraq, says Saudi ambassador'

• Jihadists raise black banners over Iraq's biggest oil refinery

• Obama 'does not need Congress to launch air strikes'

• Tweet your thoughts to @rafsanchez

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21.10 We're going to leave it there for the night. Please check our Iraq page for the latest.

21.00 An online supporter of jihad has a quiet moment:

<noframe>Twitter: Ø£Ù Ø¹Ø¨Ù&Scaron;Ø¯Ø© & Ø£Ù Ø­Ø§Ø±Ø«Ù&Dagger; - Its a strange feeling when u go from hearing planes and bombings all the time where u even confuse them for loud door banging to just quiet</noframe>

20.55 Buzzfeed has a little more on Obama's aides refusing to rule out drone strikes in Syria.

“Clearly we’re focused on Iraq, that’s where our ISR [Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance] resources have surged,” the official told reporters on a conference call following President Obama’s announcement that the United States will send up to 300 military advisers to Iraq, where ISIS has taken over major cities and looks set to wage a campaign for Baghdad. “But the group ISIL operates broadly and we would not restrict our ability to take action that is necessary to protect the United States.”

20.25 The US State Department's Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications is tasked with pushing back against jihadist propaganda online (I wrote more about their efforts here).

They're up with a new English-language video detailing the tensions between al-Qaeda's core leadership in Pakistan and Isis in Iraq and Syria. And how the jihadists are sometimes turning their guns on eachother.

19.56 Obama's aides are still briefing the press and, interestingly, are not ruling out the possiblity that the US could launch drone strikes against Isis in Syria:

<noframe>Twitter: Raf Sanchez - Obama aide doesn't rule out possibility of strikes against ISIS in Syria. "We would not restrict our ability to take action"</noframe>

<noframe>Twitter: Raf Sanchez - Could US drones strikes go after ISIS in Syria? "We don't restrict potential US action to a specific geographic space"</noframe>

19.46 Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, has put out a statement on Iraq:

I support President Obama's decision to deploy U.S. military personnel to advise the Iraqi security forces. These special operators will assess the situation on the ground, help evaluate gaps in Iraqi security forces, and increase their capacity to counter the threat posed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. However, as the president has repeatedly made clear, Iraq's problems cannot be resolved through American action alone, or through military force alone.

-

19.33 Obama's aides are briefing reporters now that the President has finished his statement:

<noframe>Twitter: Raf Sanchez - Obama aide says US is looking at potential Isis targets in Iraq but still deciding whether strikes would be "an effective course of action"</noframe>

<noframe>Twitter: Raf Sanchez - Obama aide argues that Isis is an outgrowth of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the group American forces fought from 2004 onward</noframe>

<noframe>Twitter: Raf Sanchez - Obama aide says US has manned aircraft and drones over Iraq and now has "round-the-clock" air coverage</noframe>

<noframe>Twitter: Raf Sanchez - Aide: US advisors will deploy in roughly 12-man teams and be mainly based at Iraqi brigade HQs. First job to assess state of Iraqi forces</noframe>

19.21 So a quick round up of the news from Obama's statement:

-The US is sending up to 300 military advisors to support the Iraqi military but Obama is adamant that US forces "will not be returning to combat in Iraq".

-American surveillance missions over Iraq have been stepped up but for now there will be no airstrikes

-Obama does not call for Maliki to step down but says "Iraqi leaders must rise above their differences and come together around a political plan for Iraq's future".

-John Kerry is heading to the Middle East and Europe to consult with allies

-Obama feels there is a "constructive role" for Iran to play in stablising its Arab neighbour but there doesn't seem to be any imminent prospect of US and Iran strategic coordination.

19.05 The crisis in Iraq has raised a tantalising question: can the US and Iran work together against the Sunni jihadists? Obama says there is a role for Tehran but only if it tries to support a unified Iraq, rather than tipping the scales in favour of its Shia allies.

Iran can play a constructive role if it's helping to send the same message to the Iraqi government that we are sending, which is that Iraq only holds together if it's inclusive and if the interests of Sunni, Shia and Kurd are all respected... If Iran is coming in simply as an armed force on behalf of the Shia then that probably worsens the situation and the prospect of a government formation that would actually be constructive over the long term.

Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard:

18.59 The President is pointedly refusing to say Maliki needs to go but says time is running out for Iraq's politicians to come together for the good of the country.

<noframe>Twitter: MichaelMathes - More Obama: "The fate of Iraq hangs in the balance."</noframe>

18.52 Obama left the door open to targeted strikes against Isis in the future but it sounds like nothing is happening imminently:

We're developing more information about potential targets associated with ISIL, and going forward, we will be prepared to take targeted and precise military action if and when we determine that the situation on the ground requires it. If we do, I will consult closely with Congress and leaders in Iraq and in the region. I want to emphasize, though, that the best and most effective response to a threat like ISIL will ultimately involve partnerships where local forces like Iraqis take the lead.

-

18.49 Here's the passage on what the US is prepared to do to support the Iraqi military. "Military advisors" is a loaded term in the US - conjuring up memories of the "advisors" who trickled into Vietnman as a harbinger of a larger war" - and Obama promises to be vigilant against "mission creep".

We're prepared to create joint operation centers in Baghdad and northern Iraq, to share intelligence and coordinate planning to confront the terrorist threat of ISIL. And through our new Counterterrorism Partnership Fund, we're prepared to work with Congress to provide additional equipment. We have had advisors in Iraq through our embassy, and we're prepared to send a small number of additional American military advisers -- up to 300 -- to assess how we can best train, advise and support Iraqi security forces going forward.

18.41 As well as the military advisors, Obama says he is dispatching John Kerry to Europe and the Middle East to coordinate with allies and is increasing US surveillance over Iraq: "This will give us a better understanding of what ISIL is doing".

He also had a coded message for Iran: what happens in Iraq is your problem too. As he put it, other countries in the region "have a vital interest in ensuring that Iraq doesn't descend into civil war".

18.39 Obama isn't explicit that Maliki needs to step down to make way for a unity government but he makes clear that the US has little confidence in him:

It's not the place for the US to choose Iraq's leaders but it's clear that only leaders who can govern with an inclusive agenda will truly bring the Iraqi people together.

18.36 Obama says he is sending up to 300 military advisors to support the Iraqi military as they battle against the waves of jihadists but, for now, there will be no airstrikes.

18.30 After his statement on Friday, Obama took a couple of questions from the press. Not clear if he will do the same today:

18.16 A reminder that while the world's focus is on Iraq, the situation in Syria remains extremely grim:

A car bomb in Homs in central Syria on Thursday killed three people and wounded nine in a majority Alawite neighbourhood of the city, state television said.

"Three people were killed and nine wounded, including women and children, in a terrorist car bomb attack in the Akrameh district of Homs," the broadcaster said.

The attack is the second of its kind in a week, and comes just over a month after rebels lost their bastion in the heart of Homs city to regime control.

18.15 Obama is now running behind on his already-rescheduled statement.

18.12 Today's debate about Iraq has many in Washington re-opening old wounds about the run-up to the war in 2002/03. Dick Cheney has made a re-appearance to attack Obama and defend the Bush administration's record. Here he is writing in the Wall Street Journal.

Rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many. Too many times to count, Mr. Obama has told us he is "ending" the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan—as though wishing made it so. His rhetoric has now come crashing into reality. Watching the black-clad ISIS jihadists take territory once secured by American blood is final proof, if any were needed, that America's enemies are not "decimated." They are emboldened and on the march.

His comments have riled many, who blame him for many of Iraq's current problems.

Here he is being confronted on his record by Fox News.

17.56 So who is Obama meeting with? The White House has released a list of 15 participants, some attending by video conference. They include figures from the military, intelligence and diplomatic branches of the US government:

-Joe Biden, the vice president

-John Kerry, the secretary of state, and Chuck Hagel, the secretary of defence

-John Brennan, the head of the CIA, and James Clapper, the director of national intelligence

-Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations

-General Martin Dempsey, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff

-Assorted national security and legal aides

The meeting is taking place in the White House situation room. Here's a 2010 picture:

17.46 Obama's statement is now coming at 18.15 UK time.

<noframe>Twitter: Zeke Miller - Obama statement moved to 1:15</noframe>

17.40 Obama's meeting with his national security team is running over and so we're still waiting for his statement on Iraq from the White House.

The expectation is that he's going to announce 100 US commandos are heading to Baghdad to train and advise the Iraqi military but is not going to order airstrikes.

President Barack Obama is also expected to announce Thursday that he is deploying about 100 Green Berets to Iraq to help train and advise Iraqi forces, according to a U.S. official. However, Obama does not plan to announce immediate U.S. airstrikes on Iraq, which have increasingly become less of a focus of deliberations in recent days.

The real question is how much public pressure will he apply to Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's divisive Shia prime minister, to step down and make way for a unity government?

17.25 David Cameron is being asked about the Iraq crisis, and British Isis fighters in his press conference with the Nato Secretary-General in London:

What matters is the approach taken by Iraq's leaders whoever they are, and that they govern for the whole of the country. They must govern in a non-sectarian way...

There is no doubt the government of Iraq has not given enough attention to healing sectarian divides. A combination of poor governance, ungoverned space, encouragement of extremism...

I don't pick Iraq's leaders... what matters is that whoever they are now or in the future runs it in a non-sectarian way...

We are taking this [British Isis fighters] extremely seriously - there have already been 65 Syria-related arrests. Fourteen people had their passports taken away.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato Secretary-General, adds:

What we need in Iraq is a mmuch more inclusive government... which includes both Sunni and Shia

17.18 Ahead of Obama's statement on Iraq, due in just over 10 minutes, catch up with today's events on the ground with our latest Iraq crisis map. Click on the map to enlarge.

You can catch up on previous days' maps and plot how the conflict has shifted by visiting our map archive:

Iraq crisis map: how the Isis front line has shifted

17.15 In separate Iraq news, John Kerry has said the Obama administration continues to rely on diplomacy to halt hostilities in Iraw because "enough American troops have already fought and died there".

“The test is in really these next few days and weeks, and we are going to do everything in our power to follow through and try to get the job done through diplomacy, if we can, in order to honor their sacrifice,” he said in an interview with NBC's Today programme.

John Kerry, US Secretary of State (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

17.09 Chemical weapons produced at the Al Muthanna facility, which Isis today seized, are believed to have included mustard gas, Sarin, Tabun, and VX.

Here is the CIA's file on the complex.

Stockpiles of chemical munitions are still stored there. The most dangerous ones have been declared to the UN and are sealed in bunkers.

Although declared, the bunkers contents have yet to be confirmed.

These areas of the compound pose a hazard to civilians and potential blackmarketers.

Numerous bunkers, including eleven cruciform shaped bunkers were exploited. Some of the bunkers were empty. Some of the bunkers contained large quantitiesof unfilled chemical munitions, conventional munitions, one-ton shipping containers, old disabled production equipment (presumed disabled under UNSCOM supervision), and other hazardous industrial chemicals.

17.05 The Chemical Weapons Convention, which Iraq joined in 2009, requires it to dispose of the material at Al Muthanna, even though it was declared unusable and "does not pose a significant security risk"

However, the UK goverment has acknowledgeded that the nature of the material contained in the two bunkers would make the destruction process difficult and technically challenging.

Under an agreement signed in Baghdad in July 2012, experts from the MOD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) were due to provide training to Iraqi personnel in order to help them to dispose of the chemical munitions and agents.

The Al Mutannah chemical weapons complex (CIA)

16.52 The remaining chemical weapons from Saddam Hussein's regime are stored in two sealed bunkers, both located at the Al Muthanna Chemicals Weapons Complex, a large site in the western desert some 80km north west of Baghdad.

This was the principal manufacturing plant for both chemical agents and munitions during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Thousands of tonnes of chemical weapons were produced, stored and deployed by the Saddam Hussein regime. Iraq used these weapons during the Iran - Iraq War (1980 to 1988) and against the Kurds in Halabja in 1988.

16.32 Isis jihadists have seized a chemical weapons facility built by Saddam Hussein which contains a stockpile of old weapons, State Department officials have told the Wall Street Journal:

U.S. officials don't believe the Sunni militants will be able to create a functional chemical weapon from the material. The weapons stockpiled at the Al Muthanna complex are old, contaminated and hard to move, officials said.

Nonetheless, the capture of the chemical-weapon stockpile by the forces of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, known as ISIS or ISIL, the militant group that is seizing territory in the country, has grabbed the attention of the U.S.

"We remain concerned about the seizure of any military site by the ISIL," Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman, said in a written statement. "We do not believe that the complex contains CW materials of military value and it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to safely move the materials."

Saddam Hussein (EPA)

16.21 Amid speculation Obama may be preparing to apply more pressure on Iraqi PM Maliki to either step down or form a unity government, Colin Freeman reports from the streets of Baghdad, where anti-Maliki sentiment is tangible across the city:

The calls for Mr Maliki to go are echoed on the streets of the capital, Baghdad, where the period of relative stability that he was credited with between 2008 and 2010 is now just a distant memory. While Iraqis habitually lay the blame for their woes at the political class in general, Mr Maliki in particular has been accused of sliding the country back towards sectarianism.

Omar Ali, 32, a shopkeeper in the Sunni neighbourhood of al Adel, said: "Maliki should have gone a long time ago, before he took us into this mess with Isis - it is his fault that the Sunni have turned to Isis."

But there were also calls for him to go from politicians in other Shia blocs in his governing State of Law coalition.

Ameer al-Kenani, deputy head of the legal committee of the Ahrar (Freedom) bloc, formed by the Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, told The Telegraph: "We expected such an incident as this one with Isis, as a result of the ongoing political crisis that Iraq has suffered over the last three years.

"We don't think Mr Maliki should continue in office, as we believe he is part of the crisis, not the solution."

16.09 A US official says Obama is expected to announce the deployment of about 100 special operations forces to Iraq to help train and advise the Iraqi forces.

The official insisted on anonymity because this person was not authorized to publicly discuss the plan ahead of Obama's announcement.

Al-Qaeda inspired militants stand with captured Iraqi Army Humvee at a checkpoint belonging to Iraqi Army outside Beiji refinery (AP)

15.55 President Obama is due to make a statement on Iraq at 5.30pm UK time.

The usual daily White House briefing has been cancelled.

15.50 More strong words from the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the UK, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud, writing exclusively in tomorrow's Telegraph:

The call by the Iraqi Foreign Minister, to President Obama and the US government to launch airstrikes against the ISIS rebels in Iraq is beyond our comprehension.

An air strike will not just eliminate extremists – who we do not support – but will effectively sign the death warrant of many innocent Iraqi citizens, innocent families trapped and terrified by this crisis.

This request to President Obama is a madness, it reveals a government who no longer sees clearly and no longer cares about the people it has been appointed to care for.

The people of Iraq, of all and any faith and denomination, like all people in all countries of the world, look to their government to provide them with the peace and security they need and deserve.

The current Iraqi government is dramatically failing in meeting that objective.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces drive thorough the town of Sinjar, Iraq, near the border with Syria (SAM TARLING)

15.30 The United States is flying F-18 attack aircraft launched from the carrier USS George H.W. Bush on missions over Iraq to conduct surveillance of insurgents who have seized part of the country, a U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the F-18s were being flown from the carrier, which was ordered into the Gulf several days ago, because it is sovereign U.S. territory and can deploy tanker refueling planes if needed.

General Martin Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers on Wednesday the United States has been carrying out manned and unmanned intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions over Iraq and was devoting a number of planes and Navy ships to the effort.

15.15 Isis has widely been reported as the world's richest terrorist organisation following its seizure of money and gold from Mosul banks.

The jihadists are now reported to have stolen $429m from banks in Mosul.

14.53 Iran's Supreme Leader warns on Twitter that Isis is serving the interests of US in the Middle East, writes Damien McElroy.

Iran's Supreme Leader has signalled his intense distrust of any proposed cooperation with US to resolve the Iraq situation by accusing Washington of sowing the seeds of division between the country's sects.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei used a Twitter account associated with his office to accuse Isis and other Sunni extremists of wanting to bring about a war in the Muslim world.

The divisions created by Isis were serving the purposes of the "arrogant powers" - Iranian language that refers to the US.

14.49 Isis appears to have a new weapon in its armoury - taxi drivers. Colin Freeman reports:

According to a Baghdad military spokesman who has just popped up on Iraqi television, the Isis militants are using taxi drivers to spread false rumours about the success of their campaign.

Having spent a fair amount of time in the company of Iraqi taxi drivers, I can testify that that they share their British counterparts' status as being the fount of all knowledge, so there might bo some substance to this story. After all, Isis's Twitter account has been suspended, so perhaps this is them reverting to much older forms of communication.

14.37 The breakdown of order in northern Iraq has given US Congress cause for concern over the planned withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"There's no guarantee [Afghanistan would not deteriorate]," Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told a Senate panel on Wednesday.

"It is up to the people of Afghanistan to make these decisions, their military, their new leadership that will be coming in as a result of their new government."

This comes despite Afghan president

Hamid Karzai dismissing idea of Iraq-style al-Qaeda comeback in Afghanistan

Hamid Karzai (REX)

14.20 The European Union on has pledged an extra five million euros to help the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis displaced by a jihadist offensive.

"This fresh wave of violence has terrible consequences for vulnerable children, women and men", said the EU's Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva, announcing funding that will bring total EU humanitarian assistance for 2014 to 12 million euros.

13.55 A British extremist fighting in Iraq has urged Muslims in the UK to avenge the brutal murder of a Saudi Arabian student in Essex, reports Oliver Duggan.

Nahid Almanea, 31, was stabbed to death on Tuesday in a "frenzied" attack that is being considered as a "targeted" assault on her religious identity.

A British member of Isis, the fanatical Islamic force leading an insurgency in Iraq, has subsequently said Muslims in the UK should "take up a knife and kill as they did in Colchester".

Abu Rashash Britani, who has previously said he would bring Isis' brand of bloody attacks to Britian, tweeted: "These kuffar [non-Muslims] getting out of hand, dare they touch a #Muslimah.

"I call upon any brother to take up a knife and kill as they did #colchester."

He added: "#colchester attack is cowardly act. At least when our noble brothers, killers of #leerigby did so they killed a soldier not a civilian.

"I pray a revenge attack takes place in #uk against those enemies of #Islam n #Muslims."

13.35 Qassim Atta, a spokesman for Iraqi military, says 70 'terrorists' have been killed in the government forces' operation to reclaim Beiji oil refinery.

Earlier today there were witness reports that black al-Qaeda-style banners had been unfurled over the refinery, but fighting has been ongoing in a sporadic manner since Tuesday, with both sides claiming victory at different times.

13.20 Iraqi prime minister Maliki has said that 59 officers will now face court martial for failing to defend northern Iraq against Isis.

This follows the arrest yesterday of four top generals over the fall of Mosul last week.

13.05 The full Saudi Arabia ambassador's piece warning Britain and the US not to meddle in Iraq is now live here:

Saudi Arabia: 'This is Iraq’s problem and they must sort it out themselves'

Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud also said his country has been "alarmed" by suggestions made by Iraqi PM Malaki and some Western commentators that in some ways we in Saudi Arabia support the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham (Isis):

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia wishes to see the defeat and destruction of all al-Qaeda networks and of the Islamic State of Iraq and Al Sham operating in Iraq. Saudi Arabia does not provide either moral or financial support to Isis or any terrorist networks. Any suggestion to the contrary, is a malicious falsehood.

We do not and we will not support violence or extremism in any form, anywhere by anyone. At all times we seek and strive for a peaceful coexistence between all people both within our country and with our region and in the wider world community.

12.50 Two interesting developments in Iraq reported by my colleague in Baghdad Colin Freeman, who has reports of a truce at the Baiji oil refinery and growing sectarian unrest over weapons seizures in the Sunni areas of the capital:

Iraq's al-Sharqiya TV is reporting that ceasefire has been organised between Isis forces and government troops fighting around the oil refinery at Beiji, so that some 250 foreign workers can leave. The truce was organised by local tribal chiefs.

The government has been accused of taking weapons away from residents of Sunni neighbourhoods in Baghdad.

Ever since the fall of Saddam, Iraq has been awash with weapons, and to this day, every Iraqi household is permitted to keep one Kalashnikov at home for self-defence. However, a Sunni friend of mine claims that secturity forces have been confiscating them during raids or operations in Sunni neighbourhoods. As a result, he says, his neighbourhood is now defenceless against both Isis and the government.

12.25 Saudi Arabia is increasingly concerned that a US intervention against Isis will end up boosting Iran's influence in Iraq, according to Jonathan Eyal, the director of the Royal United Services Institute.

The worst scenario for Saudi Arabia in Iraq is that the West undertakes airstrikes against Isis and ends up making common cause with Iran in Iraq.

12.10 Britain and the US must not meddle in Iraq, Saudi Arabia has warned.

Writing exclusively in the Telegraph, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf al-Saud - Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK - said the crisis in Saudi Arabia's northern neighbour should be sorted out between Iraqis alone as it was a product of the sectarian divisions in Iraq.

We oppose all foreign intervention and interference. There must be no meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs, not by us or by the US, the UK or by any other government. This is Iraq’s problem and they must sort it out themselves

Any government that meddles in Iraq’s affairs runs the risk of escalating the situation, creating greater mistrust between the people of Iraq – both Sunni and Shia.

12.00 As both side continue to claim victory in the battle for Baiji's enormous oil refinery, one fact that is clear is that the fighting has done serious damage to the facility.

This satellite photograph shows part of the refinery on fire, with black smoke billowing out:

Satellite image of Baiji oil refinery after Isis attack (LANDSAT/NASA/ORBITAL HORIZON)

11.29 Photographs have emerged on social media which appear to show Isis jihadists burning a huge pile of cigarettes, which are fordbidden under the strict Sharia law being imposed by militants on captured territory:

Isis fighter burning cigarettes, forbidden by Sharia law

11.03 Kurdish intelligence chief Lahor Talabani has added his voice to growing fears that British Isis fighters will attack the UK on their return:

10.53 Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has warned that US air strikes on militants in Iraq could cause a high number of civilian deaths.

He said today that Washington did not view such a strategy favourably

However, Iraqi government spokesman Zuhair al-Nahar said:

Targeted airstrikes against centres of these terrorists is very effective. Targeted airstrikes against their convoys, their supply lines, are absolutely vital.

There is always collateral damage in war, but that can be minimised by specific targeting.

This will allow the Iraqi army and the Iraqi volunteers and the tribes to take the initiative to defeat these terrorists, rather than [allowing them to get] a permanent grip on Iraq which will be used as a base for this cancerous growth of terrorism to spread throughout the whole area.

American helicopter on aircraft carrier in Arabian Gulf (US NAVY/AFP/GETTY)

10.40 The Iraqi government has likened Isis's rule over vast swathes of the north of Iraq to the Nazi occupation of Europe.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Iraqi PM spokesman Zuhair al-Nahar said:

This is a catastrophe of unprecedented scale.

We are having a similar situation to Rwanda, where there are going to be genocide and we are having mass killings already. This is similar to the Nazi occupation of Europe.

We'd just had an election where Mr Maliki had three times more votes than his nearest rival - that [whether Maliki should stand down] is something for the Iraqi people and the Iraqi politicians to decide

Our focus needs to be on urgent action, air support, logistic support, counter-intelligence support, to defeat these terrorists who are posing a real danger to the stability of Iraq and to the whole region.

As the prime minister of the UK said yesterday that is something that will affect the UK

<noframe>Twitter: BBC Radio 4 Today - &ldquo;Every day makes a difference&rdquo;. Targeted air strikes will allow Iraqi forces to take initiative, says Zuhair al-Nahar <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23r4today" target="_blank">#r4today</a></noframe>

<noframe>Twitter: BBC Radio 4 Today - Iraqi leaders &ldquo;feel abandoned&rdquo; and want the US, UK and EU to help stabilise military situation - Zuhair al-Nahar <a href="https://twitter.com/search?src=hash&q=%23r4today" target="_blank">#r4today</a></noframe>

10.25 As the security situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, global risk consultancy Drum Cussac is exploring options for evacuating staff on behalf of its clients from Kurdistan.

"We have the option of evacuating people across the border to Turkey," said Chris Job MBE, Drum Cussac's Vice President of Operations.

"If a road movement is not possible then we could land a chartered jet at one of the airports in Kurdistan. We are looking at all the options available to us to safeguard our clients in this rapidly-evolving situation."

According to its website, Drum Cussac has a number of clients working in Northern Iraq with multiple staff in various locations close to the worst of the fighting between government forces and the Islamist ISIS rebels.

09.50 Militants have hung their black banners at Iraq's largest oil refinery, according to witness reports.

However, security officials are claiming that the government still holds it.

The Iraqi witness who drove past the Beiji refinery, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, said militants also manned checkpoints around it. He said a huge fire in one of its tankers was raging at the time.

The witness spoke to AP on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisals.

Contrarily, a security official in Baghdad said the government force protecting the refinery was still inside on Thursday and that they were in regular contact with officials in Baghdad.

He said helicopter gunships were flying over the facility to stop any advance by the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant inside the refinery.

09.28 In further - albeit slightly more veiled - criticism of Iraq's PM Nouri al-Maliki, top-ranking military officer General Martin Dempsey said:

There is very little that could have been done to overcome the degree to which the government of Iraq had failed its people

An F-18 fighter jet launches off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush in the Arabian Gulf

09.20 The Wall Street Journal has spoken to several top US officials who believe Iraq's embattled prime minister Nouri al-Maliki should be compelled to step down by the Obama administration in return for air strikes on Isis.

Here are a few of the statements the newspaper has reported:

Sen. John McCain

: My concern is whether we're going to do anything besides send a few extra Marines, which won't do anything... [the US should send emissaries to Baghdad to] work with Maliki and tell him he's got to step down and have a coalition government."

Senate Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein: The Maliki government, candidly, has got to go if you want any reconciliation

White House spokesman Jay Carney: Whether it's the current prime minister or another leader, we will aggressively attempt to impress upon that leader the absolute necessity of rejecting sectarian governance.

09.05 On the ground in Iraq, the battle for control of the country's biggest refinery rages on between Iraqi government forces and Sunni jihadists.

The sprawling Baiji refinery, 200 km (130 miles) north of the capital near Tikrit, was a battlefield as troops loyal to the Shia-led government held off Isis insurgents who stormed the perimeter yesterday, threatening national energy supplies.

250-300 remaining staff were evacuated early this morning after military helicopters attacked militant positions overnight, one worker told Reuters.

09.00 US vice president Joe Biden last night called on Iraq’s leaders to govern in an inclusive manner, promote stability and unity among Iraq’s population as they seek to combat Isis militants.

The call specifically urged Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to seek national unity, coming amid reported calls from the US Right for Maliki's resignation to be a stipulation for the US launching air strikes on Isis.

The police and the security services are fully aware of the threat. Indeed, dozens of Syria-related arrests have been made, passports confiscated, citizenship rights removed and legislation is now being prepared to make the planning of terrorist attacks overseas illegal here in the UK.

This needs to be put on to the Statute Book as speedily as possible.

There is also an important role for the Muslim community in Britain to play. The police have already sought the co-operation of Muslim women, to try to dissuade or inform on men who intend to fight. But religious leaders also need to be involved, by urging would-be jihadis to stay at home and counter the call to arms they may hear on the internet.

As Mr Cameron told MPs, we cannot be indifferent to what is happening in Syria and Iraq, imagining it to be a self-contained, faraway war between Muslims. Without the utmost vigilance, it has the potential to harm us as well.

08.00 Colin Freeman is in Baghdad for the Telegraph and has this update on the US air strike request:

The Iraqi government formally asked America on Wednesday to conduct airstrikes against ISIS. But even if America agrees - which isn't a given - there's no certainty as to how effective they will be.

For a start, they require a detailed intelligence picture to be built up first, which could take some time. As General Martin Dempsey, the chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the US Senate on Wednesday: “It’s not as easy as looking at an iPhone video of a convoy (of Isis fighters) and then immediately striking”.

As he points out, Isis will not always be obligingly driving down some empty desert highway in a huge convoy waving their flags. Instead, they will be blending in among Iraq's civilian population, which makes the risks of innocent casualties in any airstrike much higher.

Remember, also, that the US had all manner of warplanes and drones at its disposal when it was actually occupying Iraq, not to mention more than 100,000 troops, and it still didn't stop the insurgents holding ground.

Read more:

Iraq calls publicly for America to bomb Isis 'terrorists'

Peshmerga fighters 500m from the Isis fighters at the Tal Afar frontline (CAROL MALOUF)

07.30 Good morning and welcome to today's coverage of the crisis in Iraq.

Interesting developments overnight in the United States, where Obama has met with top officials from both parties in the Oval Office to discuss options for responding to Iraq's request for air strikes.

Among those was Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who told reporters Obama has "indicated he didn't feel he had any need for authority from us for steps that he might take".

The prospect of Obama launching attacks on Isis without going through Congress - which he insisted on doing prior to aborted action on Syria - could lead to clashes in Washington.