Iraq’s Nouri al-Maliki vows to fight until militants defeated
Al-Maliki is being pressed to step aside, with some blaming his failure to promote reconciliation for fuelling Sunni support for insurgency.
BAGHDAD—Iraq’s
embattled prime minister vowed Friday to fight until the Islamic
militants who have overrun much of the country are defeated, suggesting
he won’t step down despite pressure for him to do so.
Framing the debate
over his future in democratic terms, Nouri al-Maliki sought to remind
Iraqis — including his political rivals — that voters handed his State
of Law bloc the most seats in parliament in April elections,
and that he must “stand by them during this crisis that Iraq is passing
through.” His bloc won the most seats but failed to gain a majority,
meaning he needs allies in order to form a government.
The Sunni insurgent
blitz that began early last month and swept across much of northern and
western Iraq has been fuelled in part by grievances among the country’s
Sunni Muslim minority with al-Maliki and his Shiite-led government.
Al-Maliki, who has held the post since 2006, is being pressed to step
aside, with even some of his former allies blaming his failure to
promote reconciliation for fuelling Sunni support for the insurgency.
Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani,
has even pressed lawmakers to quickly form a new government that can
confront the militant threat and unite the country. Lawmakers failed in
their first session of parliament on Tuesday to make any progress.
On Friday, al-Sistani
lamented the inability of political leaders to quickly agree on a new
prime minister, describing it as “a regrettable failure” and urging them
to redouble their efforts to form a new government that can lift the
country out of its crisis, a cleric who represents him told worshippers
in a Friday sermon in the holy city of Karbala.
But al-Maliki’s
statement issued Friday suggested that he intended to fight any attempt
to find a replacement for him, and he vowed to remain until the
insurgents are defeated.
“Pulling out of the
battlefield while facing terrorist organizations that are against Islam
and humanity would show weakness instead of carrying out my legitimate,
national and moral responsibility,” al-Maliki said. “I have vowed to God
that I will continue to fight by the side of our armed forces and
volunteers until we defeat the enemies of Iraq and its people.”
Also Friday, more than
40 Indian nurses who were trapped in territory captured by Islamic
militants crossed into Iraq’s largely autonomous Kurdish region Friday
and will be under the protection of local security forces until flying
home later in the day, authorities said.
The nurses had been
stranded for more than a week at a hospital in the Iraqi city of Tikrit,
which Sunni militants, including fighters from the Islamic State
extremist group, captured last month.
It
remained unclear whether the nurses had been held by the extremist group
or were just stranded in their territory. Neither Indian nor Iraqi
officials have offered details.
On
Thursday, the Islamic State group released 32 Turkish who were captured
in Mosul. The group still holds nearly 50 people who were seized at the
Turkish consulate in the city last month.
Also Friday, Iraqi
government troops captured the village of Awja — the birthplace of
former dictator Saddam Hussein — south of Tikrit, military spokesman Lt.
Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said.
The push through Awja is part of an ongoing military offensive that ultimately aims to retake Tikrit.
North of the city,
government airstrikes targeted Islamic militants trying to capture the
country’s largest oil refinery, reportedly killing as many as 30
insurgents, authorities said.
Fighters from the Islamic State group have been trying for weeks to capture the Beiji facility,
located some 250 kilometres north of Baghdad. The group appeared on the
verge of taking the refinery last month, but military troops managed to
hold on and have since received reinforcements to help bolster their
defences.
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http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/04/iraqs_nouri_almaliki_vows_to_fight_until_militants_defeated.html
end quote from:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/07/04/iraqs_nouri_almaliki_vows_to_fight_until_militants_defeated.html
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