Iraq Prime Minister facing calls to resign

Baghdad: With the country in turmoil, rivals of Iraq’s Shia Prime Minister are mounting a campaign to force him out of office, with some angling for support from Western backers and regional heavyweights.

Their effort received a massive boost from President Barack Obama who stopped short of calling for Nouri al-Maliki to resign, saying “it’s not our job to choose Iraq’s leaders.” But, his carefully worded comments did all but that.

“Only leaders that can govern with an inclusive agenda are going to be able to truly bring the Iraqi people together and help them through this crisis,” Mr Obama said at the White House.

Iraq’s Prime Minister also faced mounting criticism on Friday for his government’s failure to do more to woo the Sunni Arab minority as the battle for the strategic northern town of Tal Afar entered its sixth day.

Top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, revered among Iraq’s majority community, warned that time was running out to expel the jihadists, who have spearheaded the offensive that has seen Sunni Arab militants seize a vast swathe of northern and north-central Iraq.

Mr Obama, who based his political career on ending US involvement in Iraq, insisted the United States was not slipping back into the morass, and warned Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his Shiite ally Iran that promoting sectarianism would spell disaster.

Tehran hit back, saying that Mr Obama lacked a “serious will” to fight terrorism after he left unheeded a request from Baghdad for US air strikes against the militants.
The assault, led by the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group but also involving loyalists of executed Sunni Arab dictator Saddam Hussein, has further threatened Washington’s already-damaged legacy in Iraq.

France also called for the formation of a unity government in Iraq “with or without PM Nuri al-Maliki” to fight Sunni jihadists. Foreign minister Laurent Fabius said the offensive by the ISIL posed an unprecedented threat.