Iraq moved closer to ending Nuri al-Maliki´s increasingly isolated rule yesterday when his own political bloc spurned him for another prime minister called to save the country from further chaos and a possible breakup.
The much-awaited political breakthrough in Baghdad came “The country is in your hands,” President Fuad Masum told Haidar al-Abadi after accepting his nomination by parliament´s Shiite bloc, in a move immediately welcomed by the United States. Abadi, long considered a close Maliki ally, has 30 days to form a government, amid hopes that a broad-based cabinet could serve as a foundation for healing Iraq´s deep sectarian divides.
US President Barack Obama welcomed Abadi´s nomination even as Kurdish troops backed by US warplanes battled to turn the tide on two months of a terrorist ‘blitzkrieg’ in the north.
Maliki, however, appeared absolutely determined to resist replacement. Surrounded by 30 loyalists from his political bloc, he gave a speech denouncing Abadi´s nomination as a violation of the constitution.
