Iraq

Iraqi security forces must stay out of politics: Al-Maliki

375054_Nouri al-MalikiIraq’s incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has ordered security forces to stay out of the ongoing political crisis in the country.

On Tuesday, the Iraqi premier also ordered the security forces to fulfil their duties in defending the country against the Takfiri ISIL operations.

Iraq is in a political turmoil over who will form the next government.

On Monday, President Fouad Masoum asked deputy parliament speaker Haider al-Abadi to form a new government. Al-Abadi was picked by Iraq’s bloc of Shia parties, the National Alliance.

However, Maliki’s Dawa Party has rejected the nomination. Maliki’s party also says it has the right to challenge al-Abadi’s nomination in court.

Al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition won most seats in April’s parliamentary elections but failed to get a majority. He has not been able to form a coalition government yet.

Under a de facto agreement among communities in Iraq, the prime minister is a Shia Arab, the president a Kurd, and the parliament speaker a Sunni Arab.

Al-Maliki has also rejected calls by the United States and its allies to form an emergency administration or a so-called national salvation government. The Iraqi premier has said that a salvation government would amount to a coup against the country’s constitution and would undermine the results of parliamentary elections held on April 30.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has recently called on Iraqi politicians to choose a prime minister who can end the ongoing crisis created by the ISIL Takfiri militants.

Iraqi leaders have vowed that the country’s security forces would confront the Takfiri terrorists. They have repeatedly said that the US and its regional allies – especially Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey — are supporting the militancy in Iraq.

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