Parties agree to meet for new govt

Iraq's politicians agreed to meet next Sunday after delays to the formation of a new government outraged Iraqis tired of political polarisation and fearful of a brutal Sunni militant offensive.
It was unclear what prompted the about-turn after lawmakers initially said they would postpone a crucial parliament session for a month, but the delay was met with widespread criticism both from their constituents and internationally.
The month-old crisis has seen a jihadist-led alliance overrun large swathes of northern and north-central Iraq, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and piling pressure on Nuri al-Maliki as he seeks a third term as prime minister.
With a farcical opening session having ended in disarray last week, and MPs having failed to carry out their constitutional duty to elect a speaker, lawmakers announced they would next meet on August 12, which would have been more than three months after their election.
In a de facto agreement that has emerged following previous elections, the speaker is a Sunni Arab, the premier a Shia Arab and the president a Kurd.
'West's fear exaggerated'
The government and media have blown the Islamist terrorism threat out of proportion, giving extremists publicity that is counter-productive, a former head of Britain's intelligence service has said.
Sir Richard Dearlove, chief of MI6 at the time of the Iraq invasion, said that Britons spreading "blood-curdling" messages on the internet should be ignored. He told an audience in London on Monday there had been a fundamental change in the nature of Islamist extremism since the Arab spring. It had created a major political problem in the Middle East but the west, including Britain, was only "marginally affected". He said the conflict is now "essentially one of Muslim on Muslim".