Sunni Arab and Kurdish lawmakers walked out of a chaotic opening session of the Iraqi parliament Tuesday after Shiite Muslim leaders failed to nominate a replacement for divisive Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, setting back efforts to build a new coalition government to counter a powerful insurgency.
The session adjourned after less than two hours, illustrating the deepening opposition to Maliki’s bid for a third four-year term. But a fractious Shiite bloc has yet to settle on an alternative candidate despite calls from top Iraqi clerics and U.S. officials to present a united front against the brash Sunni group called the Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in lands it has seized in Iraq and Syria.
The group’s leader, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, called on Muslims worldwide to come and build the self-proclaimed caliphate, declaring in a 19-minute audiotape released Tuesday, "Muslims, rush to your state. Yes, it is your state." The group had called itself the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria before shortening its name during the weekend.
The insurgents’ military might, growing ambition and global reach have presented a grave crisis for the Iraqi government and brought the country to the brink of collapse. The president of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdistan region, which has used the crisis to take control of the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, told the BBC in an interview released Tuesday that he would seek a referendum on independence within months.
Bütün xəbərlər Facebook səhifəmizdə
USD
EUR
GBP
RUB