Maliki digs in as U.S. pushes for new Iraq government
Reuters
By Michael Georgy
Mon Aug 11, 2014
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was battling to keep his job on Monday, deploying forces across Baghdad as some parliamentary allies sought a replacement and the United States warned him not to obstruct efforts to form a new government.
Widely accused of a partisan obstinacy that has fuelled the communal violence tearing Iraq apart, the Shi'ite Muslim premier went on television late on Sunday to denounce the ethnic Kurdish president for delaying the constitutional process of naming a prime minister following a parliamentary election in late April.
However, President Fouad Masoum won a rapid endorsement from Washington. With Sunni fighters from the Islamic State making new gains over Kurdish forces north of Baghdad, the United States renewed its call for Iraqis to form a consensus government to try and end bloodshed that has prompted the first U.S. air strikes since the U.S. occupation ended in 2011.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/11/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0G808J20140811
