Tanks on Baghdad’s streets, but Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki finally ousted
The Telegraph
Hopes rise for a more inclusive Iraqi government as parliament’s deputy speaker wins backing from powerful Shia factions
Iraqi army armoured vehicles patrol a st…Iraqi army armoured vehicles patrol a street in Baghdad’s commercial district of Karrada Photo: Getty
By Ruth Sherlock, Istanbul
8:57PM BST 11 Aug 2014
Iraq’s president named a leading Shia politician as the country’s new prime minister on Monday, driving Nouri al-Maliki from office after eight years of rule despite his sudden dispatch of tanks on to Baghad’s streets.
The nomination of Haider al-Abadi, currently Iraq’s deputy parliament speaker, came just hours after a defiant Mr Maliki ordered armour and special forces to take up position strategic points around Baghdad, in an action that smacked of an attempted coup.
As tanks surrounded the Green Zone, where Baghdad’s government offices are based, and troops locked down the presidential palace, Mr Maliki gave a surprise late night television address denouncing President Fouad Massoum, and threatening legal action for not choosing him as the nominee.
Mr Maliki had ignored repeated calls both from domestic opponents – including some members of his own State of Law party – and from the US to step down, after the onslaught by jihadists from Islamic State.
Critics of the Iraqi prime minister accuse Mr Maliki of aggravating the crisis by practising sectarian politics, arguing that the first step to regaining support from Iraq’s disaffected Sunni minority – some of whom have supported Islamic State’s takeover of swathes of Iraq – is for him to step down.
Washington heralded the nomination of Mr Abadi and warned that efforts by Mr Maliki to stay in power risked destabilising Iraq further, and would also jeopardise international support for the Baghdad government.
Iraqis chant slogans and display placards bearing a picture of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq (AP)
“The government formation process is critical in terms of sustaining stability and calm in Iraq,” John Kerry, the US secretary of state said in a pointed remark. “Our hope is that Mr Maliki will not stir those waters.”
As police and elite armed units, many equipped and trained by America, locked down the capital’s streets, Mr Kerry added: “There should be no use of force, no introduction of troops or militias in this moment of democracy for Iraq.”
The United Nations envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, warned Iraqi security forces to refrain from actions that “may be seen as interference” in the democratic transfer of power.
Britain, the EU and neighbouring Turkey all sent messages of support after Mr Abadi’s nomination. President Barack Obama had warned that military assistance beyond limited air strikes against Islamic State would depend on the formation of an inclusive government in Baghdad.
Mr Abadi, who as an opponent of Saddam Hussein spent years living in exile in Britain, is himself a member of Mr Maliki’s party, but was nominated after a coalition of Shia political factions turned its back on the former prime minister. He has 30 days to form a new government and present it to parliament and won crucial backing from Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraq’s most influential cleric.
But Mr Maliki said he was lodging a complaint with the federal court in an attempt to block the process.
He argued that the announcement was illegitimate because it was made several days after the expiry of the constitutional time limit for the president to nominate a prime ministerial candidate.
A newly-selected president has 15 days in which to ask the largest parliamentary bloc in parliament to form a government. President Massoum twice extended that deadline, as politicians had failed to agree on a prime ministerial nominee.
Mr Maliki’s party has since issued a televised statement rejecting the new nominee, saying he did not have the support of the party and that Mr Abadi represented “only himself”.
However, with Iraq’s powerful Shia clerics, including Muqtada al-Sadr, whose movement controls dozens of seats in parliament, against him, it seemed on Monday that Mr Maliki was waging a losing battle.
“I think that this nomination will be an important start in order to end the crisis that the people are undergoing such as security and service problems,” Mr Sadr said in a statement.
The Telegraph
Hopes rise for a more inclusive Iraqi government as parliament’s deputy speaker wins backing from powerful Shia factions
Tank Patrols In Baghdad
Iraqi army armoured vehicles patrol a st…Iraqi army armoured vehicles patrol a street in Baghdad’s commercial district of Karrada Photo: Getty
By Ruth Sherlock, Istanbul
8:57PM BST 11 Aug 2014
Iraq’s president named a leading Shia politician as the country’s new prime minister on Monday, driving Nouri al-Maliki from office after eight years of rule despite his sudden dispatch of tanks on to Baghad’s streets.
The nomination of Haider al-Abadi, currently Iraq’s deputy parliament speaker, came just hours after a defiant Mr Maliki ordered armour and special forces to take up position strategic points around Baghdad, in an action that smacked of an attempted coup.
As tanks surrounded the Green Zone, where Baghdad’s government offices are based, and troops locked down the presidential palace, Mr Maliki gave a surprise late night television address denouncing President Fouad Massoum, and threatening legal action for not choosing him as the nominee.
Mr Maliki had ignored repeated calls both from domestic opponents – including some members of his own State of Law party – and from the US to step down, after the onslaught by jihadists from Islamic State.
Critics of the Iraqi prime minister accuse Mr Maliki of aggravating the crisis by practising sectarian politics, arguing that the first step to regaining support from Iraq’s disaffected Sunni minority – some of whom have supported Islamic State’s takeover of swathes of Iraq – is for him to step down.
Washington heralded the nomination of Mr Abadi and warned that efforts by Mr Maliki to stay in power risked destabilising Iraq further, and would also jeopardise international support for the Baghdad government.
Baghdad Demonstration
Iraqis chant slogans and display placards bearing a picture of embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki during a demonstration in Baghdad, Iraq (AP)
“The government formation process is critical in terms of sustaining stability and calm in Iraq,” John Kerry, the US secretary of state said in a pointed remark. “Our hope is that Mr Maliki will not stir those waters.”
As police and elite armed units, many equipped and trained by America, locked down the capital’s streets, Mr Kerry added: “There should be no use of force, no introduction of troops or militias in this moment of democracy for Iraq.”
The United Nations envoy to Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, warned Iraqi security forces to refrain from actions that “may be seen as interference” in the democratic transfer of power.
Britain, the EU and neighbouring Turkey all sent messages of support after Mr Abadi’s nomination. President Barack Obama had warned that military assistance beyond limited air strikes against Islamic State would depend on the formation of an inclusive government in Baghdad.
Mr Abadi, who as an opponent of Saddam Hussein spent years living in exile in Britain, is himself a member of Mr Maliki’s party, but was nominated after a coalition of Shia political factions turned its back on the former prime minister. He has 30 days to form a new government and present it to parliament and won crucial backing from Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraq’s most influential cleric.
But Mr Maliki said he was lodging a complaint with the federal court in an attempt to block the process.
He argued that the announcement was illegitimate because it was made several days after the expiry of the constitutional time limit for the president to nominate a prime ministerial candidate.
A newly-selected president has 15 days in which to ask the largest parliamentary bloc in parliament to form a government. President Massoum twice extended that deadline, as politicians had failed to agree on a prime ministerial nominee.
Mr Maliki’s party has since issued a televised statement rejecting the new nominee, saying he did not have the support of the party and that Mr Abadi represented “only himself”.
However, with Iraq’s powerful Shia clerics, including Muqtada al-Sadr, whose movement controls dozens of seats in parliament, against him, it seemed on Monday that Mr Maliki was waging a losing battle.
“I think that this nomination will be an important start in order to end the crisis that the people are undergoing such as security and service problems,” Mr Sadr said in a statement.
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