Maliki sidelined as fresh chaos reigns Iraq
Iraq's premier designate was gaining widespread support from countries hoping political reconciliation will undercut jihadists, as Iran yesterday further dashed Nuri al-Maliki's hopes of clinging to power.
Washington urged Maliki's successor, Haidar al-Abadi, to rapidly form a broad-based government able to unite Iraqis in the fight against jihadist-led militants who have overrun swathes of the country.
The United States, and other countries, said they were working to deliver much-needed arms to the Kurds, who are fighting the Islamic State (IS) on several fronts.
Abadi came from behind in a protracted and acrimonious race to become Iraq's new premier when President Fuad Masum Monday accepted his nomination and tasked him with forming a government.
He has 30 days to build a team which will face the daunting task of defusing sectarian tensions and, in the words of US President Barack Obama, convincing the Sunni Arab minority that IS "is not the only game in town".
"We are urging him to form a new cabinet as swiftly as possible and the US stands ready to support a new and inclusive Iraqi government and particularly its fight against ISIL (IS)," US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Sydney yesterday.
He also reiterated Washington's stance that US air strikes launched last week were not a prelude to the reintroduction of American combat forces.
In a further blow for Maliki, Iran yesterday ended its long-time support for him and swung its allegiance behind Abadi in a congratulatory message.
"We congratulate Haidar al-Abadi on his nomination as prime minister, for him personally and for religious dignitaries, the Iraqi population and its political groups," Ali Shamkhani, secretary and representative of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said in Tehran.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal also welcomed the nomination of Haidar al-Abadi as the new prime minister of Iraq to replace divisive incumbent Nuri al-Maliki as "good news".
The political transition comes at a time of crisis for Iraq.
After seizing the main northern city of Mosul in early June and sweeping through much of the Sunni heartland, jihadist militants bristling with US-made military equipment they captured from retreating Iraqi troops launched another onslaught this month.
They attacked Christian, Yazidi, Turkmen and Shabak minorities west, north and east of Mosul, sparking a mass exodus that took the number of people displaced in Iraq this year soaring past the million mark.
A week of devastating gains saw the jihadists take the country's largest dam and advance to within striking distance of the autonomous Kurdish region.
They also attacked the large town of Sinjar, forcing thousands of mainly Yazidi civilians to run up a mountain and hide there with little food and water.
US strikes and cross-border Kurdish cooperation yielded early results on several fronts, with thousands of Yazidis managing to escape their mountain death trap and Kurdish troops beginning to claw back lost ground.
It is unknown how many remain on the mountain however and UN monitors called for urgent action to save the community.
The United States has been leading an increasingly international effort to deliver humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands who have poured into Kurdistan over the past week alone.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said it was the Iraqi government that had requested US assistance in providing the peshmerga with more arms.
"We are ... helping get that equipment to Arbil," he said.
Obama had made it clear he thought no effective and coordinated anti-jihadist counter-offensive could take place while Maliki was still in charge.
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