BAGHDAD: Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki yesterday conceded that political measures were needed alongside military action to repel a Sunni insurgent offensive that is threatening to tear Iraq apart.
He spoke as visiting British Foreign Secretary William Hague urged Iraqi leaders to unite in the face of the onslaught.
“We should proceed in two parallel tracks,” Maliki’s office said he told Hague, on a surprise visit to Iraq.
Along with military operations, the authorities must continue “following up on the political process and holding a meeting of the parliament (on time) and electing a head of parliament and a president and forming the government.”
Under the official schedule, the newly elected parliament will have 30 days from when it first meets on Tuesday to name a president and 15 days after that to name a prime minister.
AFP
