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The Guardian
American officials have denied participating in a plot to oust Iraq prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, despite a series of phone calls made by Barack Obama and Joe Biden to support the appointment of his successor.Obama welcomed the selection of a new prime minister by Iraq’s president Faud Massoum on Monday, describing it as a “promising step forward” toward a more inclusive government.
“Under the Iraqi constitution this is an important step toward forming a new government that can unite Iraq’s different communities,” said the US president in a statement from his vacation home on the island of Martha’s Vineyard.
The Obama administration had become increasingly strident in its criticism of Maliki in recent weeks, accusing him of the current Islamic uprising by failing to govern in the interest of all Iraqis.
But officials rejected allegations on Monday that it was encouraging “regime change”, insisting instead that the US was merely supporting a constitutional process rather than favouring individual politicians in Baghdad.
Al Jazeera
Iraq's president has asked Haider al-Abadi, Iraq's main Shia coalition nominee for prime minister, to form a government.Fouad Massoum tasked Abadi, first deputy speaker of parliament, with the role during a brief ceremony broadcast live on television on Monday.
"The country is now in your hands," Massoum told Abadi, who moments earlier was selected as nominee for prime minister instead of incumbent Nouri al-Maliki by the Shia National Alliance parliamentary bloc.
Maliki remains caretaker prime minister until Abadi can form a new government, which he has 30 days to do.
The official Facebook page for Maliki's State of Law coalition said Abadi's nomination had "no value," and a senior leader in the Dawa party, to which both Abadi and Maliki belong, said Abadi's nomination did not represent the group.
"Haider al-Abadi was not nominated by the Dawa party, and he only represents himself," said Khodair al-Hozaei, who served as vice-president, under former President, Jalal Talabani.
Spiegel Online
The Islamic State is conquering cities in Syria and Iraq with disturbing frequency and tens of thousands of Christians and Yazidis are fleeing. The US has begun air strikes, but the Islamists are benefiting from instability in both countries.With the exception of a few birds defying the sweltering midday heat, all is quiet on the front, with Kurdish fighters cower in the shade of the cliffs. Suddenly, sentence fragments from Friday prayers can be heard on the banks of the Euphrates River. "Gather together ... smash the traitors of the faith!" The words from the preacher, distorted by the amplifiers so loved by the jihadists, sound almost spooky.Down along the river, the jihadists with the Islamic State (IS) gather together for the next attack. A few hundred meters above on the sparse, sun-drenched hills, the Kurds are sitting, feeling like they've somehow ended up on the set of a horror film.
The Guardian
The Obama administration has announced it will arm the militia forces of Iraqi Kurdistan, to prevent the fall of the final bastion of pro-US territory in Iraq.The weaponry is said to be light arms and ammunition, brokered not through the department of defense – which supplies Baghdad and its security forces with heavy weaponry – but the Central Intelligence Agency, which is better positioned to supply the Kurdish peshmerga with Russian-made guns like AK-47s that the US military does not use. The news was first reported by the Associated Press.
US officials say they are not currently considering providing Kurdish forces, which are not under the control of the Iraqi government in Baghdad, with missiles, armored vehicles or helicopters. The move to arm them raises questions about how the US-provided rifles will affect the military balance against the Islamic State (Isis), which has captured US-supplied armored Humvees and other heavy weapons from the Iraqi military.
The CIA declined to comment.
Reuters
Iraq's president named a new prime minister to end Nuri al-Maliki's eight year rule on Monday, but the veteran leader refused to go after deploying militias and special forces on the streets, creating a dangerous political showdown in Baghdad.Washington, which helped install Maliki following its 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, congratulated Haidar al-Abadi, a former Maliki lieutenant who was named by President Fouad Masoum to replace him.
But Maliki's Dawa Party declared his replacement illegal, and Maliki's son-in-law said he would overturn it in court. Washington delivered a stern warning to Maliki not to "stir the waters" by using force to cling to power.