ISIL militants seize Iraq largest Christian town, And Pope Francis called on world governments to protect Christians in Iraq.

August 7, 2014 By administrator

Takfiri ISIL militants have taken control of Iraq’s largest Christian town and its surrounding areas, forcing thousands of civilians to leave the region.

On Thursday, the ISIL terrorists seized Bakhdida town, also known as Qaraqosh, in Iraq’s northern province of Nineveh following the retreat of Kurdish troops from the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, who had been protecting the area for the past two months.

The terrorists also took control of Tal Keef, Bartella and Karamlesh, all located near the militant-held city of Mosul.

Christian patriarchs say the ISIL militants removed church crosses and burned manuscripts there.

An estimated 100,000 Christians have been forced to flee from Nineveh Province into the Kurdistan region.

“Most of the displaced are now living in the open and face the threat of death because of scorching heat and lack of water and food,” said Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, adding, “It is a humanitarian disaster.”

Pope Francis has called on world governments to take measures to protect Christians in Iraq.

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting, requested by France, later in the day to discuss the situation in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the ISIL militants seized the country’s largest dam near the city of Mosul after a week of fighting against Kurdish forces. The militants are now in control of huge power and water resources and have access to the river that runs through the capital, Baghdad.

The militant group posted a statement online, confirming the seizure of the dam and promising to continue “the march in all directions.” The ISIL cult also claimed that it would not “give up the great Caliphate project.”

UN also said that some 40,000 Iraqis from the Kurdish minority Yazidi have reportedly taken refuge in nine different locations on Mount Sinjar in northwest Iraq.

Violence erupted in Iraq when ISIL Takfiri militants took control of Mosul on June 10, which was followed by the takeover of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad.

Mosul: Militants Surrounded in Shengal in Intense Peshmerga Offensive

August 5, 2014 By administrator

By RUDAW

Peshmerga forces advancing to liberate Shengal from IS control.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Peshmerga forces locked in an intense offensive against the Islamic State (IS/ISIS) in Shengal had the militants surrounded and driven to the town center early on Monday.

Zeravani special forces, Gulan units and a third force were encircling Shengal on three sides, a Rudaw correspondent in the area said, quoting officials as saying that 90 militants had been killed in two days of fighting.

The reporter added that the militants have taken position inside residential areas and homes, from where they are fighting back.

Meanwhile, a commander of the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) told Rudaw by telephone that his forces have crossed the border and joined the Kurdistan Region Peshmerga in their fight in Shengal and Rabia.

The Peshmerga forces retook the village of Walid near the Rabia border crossing with Syria on Monday morning, the Rudaw correspondent said.

In the early hours of Monday, the Kurdish forces also expelled IS fighters from Wanek township near Tilkef, as the Peshmerga made swift advances to retake Shengal and Zumar, near Mosul.

Wanek, near the Mosul dam, fell to the IS on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Peshmerga Ministry Spokesman Jabar Yawar disclosed some details of the heavy weapons the Kurdish forces have newly received for their war with IS, which has declared an Islamic state straddling Iraq and Syria.

Yawar said the Kurdish forces are now armed with heavy artillery, tanks, high-caliber machineguns and mortar launchers.

“The Peshmerga forces have all the advanced weapons except air power,” Yawar said, adding that the weapons had gone to two Peshmerga units.

Thousands of Peshmarga were dispatched to war areas near the Syrian border on Sunday.

ISIL captures two Iraqi towns, oil field, defeating Kurdish fighters

August 3, 2014 By administrator

BAGHDAD – Reuters

Smoke rises during clashes between Iraqi security forces and militants of the Islamic State, formerly known as ISIL, in the Hamrin mountains in Diyala province, July 29. REUTERS Photo

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants have captured two northern Iraqi towns and an oil field in their first major victory over Kurdish fighters, witnesses said on Aug. 3.

The al-Qaeda offshoot, which swept through northern Iraq in June almost unopposed by Iraq’s U.S.-trained army, poses the biggest challenge to the stability of the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

After thousands of Iraqi soldiers fled the Islamic State offensive, Shiite militias and Kurdish fighters have emerged as a key line of defence against the militants, who have threatened to march on Baghdad.

Kurdish forces poured in reinforcements, including special forces, to the town of Zumar this weekend to battle Islamic State fighters who had arrived from three directions on pickup trucks mounted with weapons, residents said.

The militants later hoisted their black flag over buildings in Zumar, a ritual that has in the past been followed by the mass execution of captured opponents and the violent imposition of an ideology that even al-Qaeda finds excessive.

The Islamic State later also seized the town of Sinjar, where witnesses said residents had fled after Kurdish fighters put up little resistance against the militants.

Islamic State has stalled in its drive to reach Baghdad, halting just north of the town of Samarra, 100 km north of the capital.

The ISIL changed its name earlier this year and declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria. The group has already seized four oil fields, which help fund its operations.

The group has been trying to consolidate its gains, setting its sights on strategic towns near oil fields, as well as border crossings with Syria so that it can move easily back and forth and transport supplies.

It has capitalised on sectarian tensions and disenchantment with Iraq’s Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Critics describe Maliki as an authoritarian leader who has put allies from the Shi’ite majority in key military and government positions at the expense of Sunnis, driving a growing number of the religious minority in Iraq to support the Islamic State and other insurgents.

More than 1,000 Turks fighting for the Islamic Caliphate (surprise Surprise)

August 1, 2014 By administrator

Serkan Demirtaş

This undated file image posted on a militant website on Tuesday, Jan 14 which has been verified and is consistent with other AP reporting, shows fighters from the al-Qaida linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) marching in Raqqa. AP Photo

Hurriyet daily news: The number of Turkish citizens fighting under the umbrella of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is slightly more than 1,000, according to Turkish officials, who admit that they are unable to learn the exact number. The estimated number of armed ISIL fighters is around 12,000 to 15,000, which shows that Turks make up just less than 10 percent of the jihadist group.

Turkey has long been accused of not efficiently controlling its borders to prevent those foreigners joining the jihadist extremist groups and stop the flow of weapons into Syria. In response to these criticisms, Turkish officials have noted the difficulty of controlling a nearly 900-kilometer-long border while blaming Western countries for not sharing intelligence on potential recruits for the jihadist groups.

However, when it comes to Turkish citizens’ participation in one of the world’s deadliest groups, these explanations are unconvincing. Who organized the recruitment of these people for ISIL? What organizations sponsored these recruitments? Which routes have been used? Assuming the security forces and the intelligence are closely following the jihadist movements in Turkey, how did they fail to realize that more than 1,000 Turks have joined ISIL? Could it be because security forces and intelligence skipped their main duties and responsibilities as they are chasing what the government calls the “parallel state”?

Whatever the answers to these questions are, there is one absolute reality: Turkey is facing the danger of the jihadist structure, both inside and outside. In Iraq, 49 Turkish citizens have been in ISIL captivity since early June. Due to the sensitivity of the issue, mainstream media does not frequently write on the issue, but one thing is certain: Somebody will have to answer some very disturbing questions once our citizens, including Turkey’s consul general in Mosul, return home safe.

Inside Turkey, there is enough evidence to get concerned about increasing extremism. First, we have seen some Sunni groups attacking a mosque belonging to the Caferis, a branch of Shiite Islam. With ISIL making new advances, their sympathizers have become more visible in a bid to display their contentment with the developments. It was on July 31 when the Hürriyet Daily News reported about an Istanbul-based Islamic charity organization that had to suspend its activities after it was criticized for using an insignia adopted by the ISIL.

There were also allegations that the charity was recruiting militants for the fight in Syria and Iraq.
In separate news, Turkish media broadcast a few days ago pictures of hundreds of men with long beards in Taliban-style dress gathering for Eid al-Fitr somewhere in Istanbul. The group was allegedly linked with ISIL, and they dedicated their Eid al-Fitr prayers to ISIL fighters in Iraq and Syria.

Another development that has boosted the public showcase of these jihadist groups is the Israeli attack on the Palestinians. Israeli brutality deserves all sorts of reactions, but demonstrations staged by groups, especially in Ankara and Istanbul soon became violent. These are obviously the best moments for such groups to gain more supporters in society and reach out to different segments of the society. The government has the full responsibility to keep these demonstrations in check without causing any unwanted, irreparable incident.

Turkey: allocation of camps to ISIL in Istanbul spark debate

July 30, 2014 By administrator

ANKARA

The related video was released through a Turkish website administered by a group apparently close to ISIL.

The release of a video allegedly showing a group of jihadists gathered for prayer in the rural part of Istanbul has sparked concerns in Turkey.

The video has prompted deputy Sezin Tanrıkulu of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to question whether the gathering took place upon consent from both the police department and the Gendarmerie Command.

“Is the claim that the group alleged to have been the Turkey-branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant [ISIL] has been allocated a campground or other places in Istanbul? Who is this group? Of whom does it consist?” asked Tanrıkulu in a motion filed to the parliamentary speaker’s office on July 30 in order to be answered by Interior Minister Efkan Ala.

Tanrıkulu asked for the locations of the camps if the claim was true and added: “Where is the field where the group, alleged to be the Turkey-extension of ISIL, used for holiday celebration that it organized in Istanbul on July 28, to which hundreds of people attended, as openly seen in the photographs?”

The related video was released through a Turkish website administered by a group apparently close to ISIL. According to the website, the group gathered in the rural part of Istanbul for prayer and celebrations on the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, July 28.

Tanrıkulu also asked whether it is true that the group “declared jihad in Turkey on July 28,” and whether the field in the footage was being used by the group for military training.

“Did the organization ask for permission, arranged in the name of holiday celebrations? Which authorities granted the group official permission? Why weren’t these people directed to mosques for Eid prayer, but were let to organize a holiday celebration in a field? What were the Istanbul Provincial Police Department and Provincial Gendarmerie Command doing during the hours when the group, which is the extension of the ISIL terrorist organization, was calling for jihad in Istanbul? Is it true that Istanbul Provincial Police Department and Gendarmerie Command were ordered not to interfere when the group, the extension of a terrorist organization, was calling for jihad in Istanbul? Who gave these orders?” Tanrıkulu asked.

ISIL recently renamed itself simply as the Islamic State (IS). The IS stormed the Turkish Consulate-General on June 10 and has since been holding all 49 there hostage, including Turkey’s Consul General Özturk Yılmaz.

July/30/2014

video shows ISIL shooting teens in head, dumping bodies

July 29, 2014 By administrator

Presstv report

The ISIL Takfiri militants has released a video showing the terrorist forces shooting a number of Iraqi teenagers in the head and dumping their bodies in the river.

The ISIL released the 30-minute footage on its website on the occasion of the Eid al-Fitr.

The video shows masked ISIL terrorists taking the teens to a river. Then, they shoot them in the head on the river bank and throw their bodies in the water.

It is not clear whether the victims are Iraqi forces or civilians but the footage mentions that they are Shia.

The footage also warns the Iraqi forces of facing the same fate if they resist against the ISIL Takfiris.

Iraq’s Ministry of Human Rights says ISIL Takfiri extremists are using Iraqi children as human shields.

The Human Rights Watch has also confirmed the report that the ISIL Takfiri extremists are using children as human shields to carry out their acts of violence. The organization also said the extremists recruit children to help them in their fight against Iraqi government forces.

The crisis in Iraq escalated after the ISIL terrorists took control of Mosul in a lightning advance on June 10, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad.

The Iraqi army, backed by tribal forces and volunteers, has been engaged in heavy fighting with the militants on different fronts and has so far been able to push back militants in several areas, including in Tikrit.

ISIL destroys Mosque of Biblical Jonah, Prophet Yunus

July 24, 2014 By administrator

by Abdelhak Mamoun

Mosul (IraqiNews.com) Today the Mosque of Prophet Yunus, Biblical Jonah, was completely destroyed by terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after they had already destroyed and looted the graves of prophet Yunus (Jonah) and prophet Shayth (Biblical Seth) on July 4th, as first reported by IraqiNews.com.

ISIL terrorists ordered everyone out of the Mosque of the Prophet Yunus before detonating and demolishing it, declaring that “the mosque had become a place for apostasy, not prayer.” The explosions damaged nearby homes.

One of the pictures show heavily plumes of smoke from the scene, while another picture shows the shrine which was blown up entirely amid people gathered around it.

Turkey: MİT truck documents prove aid to al-Qaeda and ISIL, says CHP’s Tezcan

July 21, 2014 By administrator

TODAY’S ZAMAN / ISTANBUL
Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Bülent Tezcan shared police records on Monday concerning the search of a National Intelligence Organization (MİT) truck in Adana as part of an investigation several months ago, asserting that the records prove that the Turkish government has supported radical groups in Syria and Iraq.

He said the records leave no room for doubt that the government has sent weapons and ammunition to the terrorist organizations al-Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria. Tezcan held a press conference on Monday on the grounds of Parliament and shared documents about arms-laden trucks, which later proved to belong to MİT, that were stopped in Adana by security forces in January of this year. He said between 25 and 30 rockets were found in each truck. He also showed that the documents that were attached to the weaponry found on the trucks were written in Cyrillic.

He claimed that the weapons were loaded onto the trucks at Ankara Esenboğa Airport, citing official testimony from a driver of one of the trucks. Tezcan said the documents clearly show that MİT transfers weapons to armed groups in the region.

The CHP deputy chairman said anybody encouraging and provoking armed organizations will eventually find those same weapons being used on themselves. He reiterated his allegations that Turkish intelligence provides the armed organizations with ammunition and weapons. He also said the weapons that were given to ISIS have now turned against Turkish citizens and asked whether the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government could have struck a deal with ISIS.

Tezcan also recalled a leaked recording that was broadcast on YouTube in which top security officials at the Foreign Ministry could be heard making plans to send operatives to Syria. These operative would then fire missiles at the Turkish side of the border, thus giving Turkey an excuse to attack Syria. “So have you [the government] carried the missiles you will throw at Turkey with these trucks in advance? Was it these trucks that carried the weapons used in the Reyhanlı attacks?” he asked, referring to a deadly terrorist attack in Reyhanlı, a border town in Hatay province, which caused the deaths of 53 people on May 11, 2013 and is believed to have been staged by al-Qaeda.

“Is it not a crime in international law to arm the militants of ISIL and al-Qaeda like this in the Middle East?” Tezcan asked during the press conference. “We know the answers to all of these questions and the government also knows the answers and they will one day give their answers in front of the Supreme State Council in Turkey, the name the Constitutional Court assumes while trying the current or former members of a government, and before international courts.”

He said when the search in Adana started none of the security officials carrying out the search had any idea that the trucks were owned by MİT. “The prosecutor’s office on that day called the MİT regional administration, which initially said that it had no idea that such trucks would be passing through the region. Even the Adana office of MİT did not know about them, which clearly shows that this transfer operation was illegal.”

Tezcan said his disclosure marked the first time the documents had been shared with the public. He also said that there are currently several investigations regarding the trucks. “A preliminary investigation numbered 2014/P2 being conducted by the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office lists MİT officials as suspects, and the investigation is looking into the claims of ‘providing arms to illegal armed terrorist organizations’.”

He said the same MİT officials are the subject of another investigation, numbered 2014/30800, again being carried out by the Adana Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. He said the investigation is also based on claims of providing arms to illegal armed terrorist organizations. “They are trying to cover up these investigations,” he said, adding: “But it is as clear as day that there were weapons on the trucks being investigated. MİT has acted as a middleman in transferring the weapons, and the government has supported the operation. This crime was committed jointly [by MİT and the government] and is probably still being committed.”

The CHP deputy chairman also said footage showing the search of the truck was available.

Source: Today Zaman

Iraq Catholic leader says Islamic State worse than Genghis Khan

July 20, 2014 By administrator

By Dominic Evans and Raheem Salman Baghdad,

An Iraqi Christian boy fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Mosul, stands inside the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Chaldean Church in Telkaif near Mosul, in the province of Nineveh, July 20, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Stringer

(Reuters) – The head of Iraq’s largest church said on Sunday that Islamic State militants who drove Christians out of Mosul were worse than Mongol leader Genghis Khan and his grandson Hulagu who ransacked medieval Baghdad.

Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako led a wave of condemnation for the Sunni Islamists who demanded Christians either convert, submit to their radical rule and pay a religious levy or face death by the sword.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis decried what he said was the persecution of Christians in the birthplace of their faith, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the Islamic State’s actions could constitute a crime against humanity.

Hundreds of Christian families left Mosul ahead of Saturday’s ultimatum, many of them stripped of their possessions as they fled for safety. They formed the remnants of a community which once numbered in the tens of thousands and traced its presence in Mosul to the earliest years of Christianity.

People of other faiths in the once diverse city, including Shi’ites, Yazidis and Shabaks, have also fled from the ultra-conservative militants, who have blown up mosques and shrines and seized property of fleeing minorities.

“The heinous crime of the Islamic State was carried out not just against Christians, but against humanity,” Sako told a special church service in east Baghdad where around 200 Muslims joined Christians in solidarity.

“How in the 21st century could people be forced from their houses just because they are Christian, or Shi’ite or Sunni or Yazidi?” he asked. “Christian families have been expelled from their houses and their valuables were stolen and …their houses and property expropriated in the name of the Islamic State.”

“This has never happened in Christian or Islamic history. Even Genghis Khan or Hulagu didn’t do this,” he said. Hulagu Khan led a Mongol army which sacked Baghdad in 1258, killing tens of thousand of people, destroying a caliphate which lasted nearly 600 years and leaving the city in ruins for centuries.

“WORLD MUST ACT”

Muslims at the service held up leaflets declaring “I am Iraqi, I am Christian”, some writing it on their shirts.

Others marked themselves with an “N”, the first letter of the Arabic word for Christian, “Nasrani” or Nazarene. The Islamic State has been putting an “N” on Christian property marked out for seizure.

One of Zako’s deputies, Bishop Shlemon Wardooni, called for an international response. “The world must act, speak out, consider human rights,” he said, adding that the Iraqi state was weak and divided and Muslim leaders had remained silent.

“We haven’t heard from clerics from all sects or from the government,” he told Reuters on Sunday. “The Christians are sacrificed for Iraq.”

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki condemned the treatment of the Christians and what he described as attacks on churches in Mosul, saying it showed “the extreme criminality and terrorist nature of this group”.

He said he instructed a government committee set up to support displaced people across Iraq to help the Christians who had been made homeless, but did not say when the army might try to win back control of Mosul.

Iraq’s security forces, which wilted under the weight of last month’s Islamic State-led offensive, have been reinforced by Shi’ite militia fighters and are trying to push back the Sunni militants further south. So far they have failed to take back significant territory from the insurgents.

Pope Francis said he was troubled by the Islamic State ultimatum in his weekly public prayers on Sunday. The Chaldeans are Eastern Rite Catholics in communion with Rome.

“I learned with great concern the news that came from the Christian communities in Mosul and other parts of the Middle East, where they have lived since the birth of Christianity and where they have made significant contributions to the good of their societies,” he said.

“Today they are persecuted. Our brothers are persecuted. They’ve been driven away. They must leave their homes without being able to take anything with them.”

REFUGEES ROBBED

U.N. Secretary General Ban condemned “in the strongest terms the systematic persecution of minority populations in Iraq by Islamic State (IS) and associated armed groups,” a statement by his spokesman said.

Any systematic attack on a civilian population because of their ethnic background, religious beliefs or faith may constitute a crime against humanity, for which those responsible must be held accountable, he said.

More than 2 million people have already been displaced in Iraq and the local U.N. mission said another 400 uprooted families arrived on Sunday morning in two cities in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish enclave.

Another 700 families were expected in Arbil, barely 50 miles (80 km) from Mosul, it said.

One Christian who left Mosul last week described how he fled with his family when he learned of the Islamic State deadline.

“We gathered all our belongings and headed for the only exit. There was a checkpoint on the road and they were stopping cars there,” 35-year-old Salwan Noel Miskouni said.

When the militants saw they were Christians, they demanded gold and money. The family initially said they had none, one of the fighters took their four-year-old son by the hand and threatened to abduct him.

“My sister emptied her entire handbag with our money and gold and her ID. They let the car pass and the child go,” Miskouni said.

A few Christian families had stayed on, he said, hiding with Muslim neighbors who gave them shelter. But for now, he saw no possibility of returning with his family.

“If (the Islamic State) leaves we will probably go back but if they stay it’s impossible – because they will slaughter us.”

(Additional reporting by Isabel Coles in Arbil and Steve Scherer in Rome; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Jihadists claim Baghdad blasts as Iraq rallies behind Christians

July 20, 2014 By administrator

BAGHDAD – Agence France Presse

In this Saturday, July 19, 2014 photo, displaced Christians who fled the violence in Mosul, pray at Mar Aframa church in the town of Qaraqoush on the outskirts of Mosul, Iraq. AP Photo

The Islamic State on Sunday claimed responsibility for deadly Baghdad bombings, as the Christians they drove out of Mosul grieved for their lost homes and uncertain future in Iraq.

The flight of the centuries-old Christian community from Iraq’s jihadist-held second city drew messages of solidarity and pledges of aid, both from former Sunni neighbours and Shiite leaders.

In a statement posted on jihadist websites, the Islamic State (IS) praised two of its fighters — a German and a Syrian — for two of a spate of blasts that killed 24 people in Baghdad on Saturday.

“Two knights of the knights of Islam and heroes of the caliphate were launched, Abu Qaqa al-Almani and Abu Abdulrahman al-Shami, to destroy checkpoints” manned by soldiers, police and allied Shiite militiamen, it said.

The near-simultaneous blasts were among the deadliest attacks in Baghdad since IS conquered large swathes of territory last month, exacerbating sectarian tension and pushing Iraq to the brink of breakup.

The Christian’s eviction from Mosul was just the latest mass displacement in years of violence that have redrawn Iraq’s ethno-sectarian map.

“We don’t know what we’re going to do or what will happen to us. Will we ever to return to our homes? Will the government rid the city of terrorists?” asked Umm Ziyad, 35.

She fled Mosul on Friday with her four children and now shares a house still under construction with several other displaced families in the Christian town of Qaraqosh, 32 kilometres (20 miles) east of Mosul.

According to clergy leaders, several thousand Christians fled Mosul on Friday and Saturday following an ultimatum by the city’s new rulers to convert, pay a special tax, leave or face execution.

Chaldean patriarch Louis Sako said there were still around 35,000 Christians in the city before the IS launched a sweeping offensive on June 9, proclaimed a caliphate and made Mosul their main Iraqi hub.

He said all had left the city by the time the noon ultimatum expired on Saturday. A rare Christian who decided to stay was fatalistic: “I already feel dead,” he told AFP.

Many residents of Mosul are afraid to speak and press access is almost impossible, but Sunnis in the city have voiced sympathy for their former Christian neighbours.

“We consider it unfair and against the principles of Islam,” a Mosul resident told AFP by phone.

“Christians have lived in Mosul for more than 1,000 years and most of them were top people: doctors, engineers and artists. Their departure is a huge loss for Mosul.”

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in a statement condemned the eviction of Mosul’s Christians and urged the world to stand united against the Sunni jihadists that his army and allied militias are struggling to contain.

IS threats against religious minorities in the area “reveal without any possible doubt the criminal, terrorist nature of this group, and the danger it represents to humanity and centuries-old heritage,” he said.

Political leaders in the Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, both already crumbling under the burden of Shiite refugees forced from their homes over the past six weeks of fighting, said their doors were also open to displaced Christians.

Ahmed Chalabi, another prominent Shiite politician seen as one of Maliki’s main challengers for the job of prime minister, argued that the government was to blame for the country’s worst crisis in years.

“Iraqi Christians are an integral part of the Iraqi people and have been present in this land for more than 1,600 years,” he said in a statement.

“The current government of Iraq has failed in its duty to protect Iraqi citizens,” he said, urging parliament to swiftly elect a new president and form a government capable of saving Iraq’s integrity.

A day after President Jalal Talabani returned from 18 months of medical treatment in Germany to serve out the last few days of his tenure, the names of those who will compete to replace him were due to be announced.

An unofficial power-sharing deal means the job is usually reserved for a Kurd.

While no consensus has emerged, veteran former Kurdish premier Fuad Masum increasingly appeared the most likely to be acceptable to all sides.