IRAQ: Baghdadis hold a small rally in support of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as the US urges him not to stoke political tension further

Record ID: 214728

  • Title: IRAQ: Baghdadis hold a small rally in support of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki as the US urges him not to stoke political tension further
  • Date: 11th August 2014
  • Summary: SHOWS; BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AUGUST 11, 2014) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS CHANTING IN SUPPORT OF THIRD TERM FOR IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NURI AL-MALIKI DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING PORTRAIT OF PRIME MINISTER NURI AL-MALIKI AND BANNER "MALIKI IS OUR CHOICE" CHANTING PEOPLE HOLDING PORTRAIT OF MALIKI CHEERING DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING FOR MALIKI CHEERING DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING "We will not drop a bid
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflict,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAATMTQYC1WIRSD3ZFWTPPS9IBM
  • Story Text: Hours after forces loyal to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki deployed in key areas of the capital Baghdad, his supporters held a small rally on Monday (August 11).
    Maliki is battling to keep his job as some parliamentary allies seek to replace him.
    The United States on Sunday (August 10) warned him not to obstruct efforts to form a new government.
    Maliki, a Shi'ite Muslim, is widely accused of a partisan obstinacy that has fuelled the communal violence tearing Iraq apart.
    He went on television late on Sunday to denounce the ethnic Kurdish President, Fouad Masoum, for delaying the constitutional process of naming a prime minister following a parliamentary election in late April.

    "We call on all the members of the parliament and we call on the president of the Republic, speaker of the parliament and chief judge of the federal court to abide by the constitution that stipulates that the State of Law is the biggest bloc in parliament who won the majority of Iraqi votes. Three million and a half people have voted for the Prime Minister, so why do they deny him a third term," said Aqeel al-Samawi, one of Maliki's supporters in Baghdad
    "It is our right and we want it. We have elected him for a third term. He won most of the seats of parliament and this rally is a declaration of our support for a third term for him," said Ihssan, another supporter However, Masoum has won a rapid endorsement from Washington who warned Maliki there would be little international support for any move seen to deviate from the legitimate constitutional process.
    With Sunni fighters from the Islamic State making new gains over Kurdish forces north of Baghdad, the United States renewed its call for Iraqis to form a consensus government to try and end bloodshed that has prompted the first U.S. air strikes since the U.S. occupation ended in 2011 Complicating efforts to propose a replacement from among fellow Shi'ites, who appear to have some support from both the country's leading cleric and from the Shi'ite establishment of neighbouring Iran, the country's highest court ruled that Maliki's State of Law bloc is the biggest in the new parliament.
    That, a senior Iraqi official said, was "very problematic" for attempts to have President Masoud offer the premiership to an alternative candidate to Maliki - an alternative that one senior member of his party said had been close to being chosen.
    And the deputy speaker of parliament, Haider al-Abadi from Maliki's own Dawa party, tweeted that the broader State of Law bloc was close to nominating a new premier. Abadi has himself been cited as a possible alternative.
    Serving in a caretaker capacity since the inconclusive election on April 30, Maliki has defied calls by Sunnis, Kurds, some fellow Shi'ites, regional power broker Iran and Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric to step aside for a less polarising figure.
    Critics accuse Maliki of pursuing a sectarian agenda that has sidelined minority Sunni Muslims and prompted some of them to support Islamic State militants, whose latest sweep through northern Iraq has alarmed the Baghdad government and its Western allies, prompting U.S. air strikes in recent days.
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