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 Haider al-Abadi still faces a threat closer to home, where his
Shi'ite party colleague Nuri al-Maliki has refused to step aside
after eight years as premier that have alienated Iraq's once
dominant Sunni minority and irked Washington and Tehran.
However, a senior government official said commanders of military
forces that Maliki deployed around Baghdad on Monday had pledged
loyalty to President Fouad Masoum and to respect the head of state's
decision to ask Abadi to form a new government.
As Western powers and international aid agencies considered further
help for tens of thousands of people driven from their homes and
under threat from the Sunni militants of the Islamic State near the
Syrian border, Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States
would consider requests for military and other assistance once Abadi
forms a government to unite the country.
Underscoring the convergence of interest in Iraq that marks the
normally hostile relationship between Washington and Iran, the head
of Tehran's National Security Council congratulated Abadi on his
nomination. Like Western powers, Iran has been alarmed by the rise
of Sunni militants across Syria and Iraq.
Abadi himself, long exiled in Britain, is seen as far less
polarizing, sectarian figure than Maliki, who is also from the
Shi'ite Islamic Dawa party. Abadi appears to have the blessing of
Iraq's powerful Shi'ite clergy.
Iraqi state television said Abadi "called on all political powers
who believe in the constitution and democracy to unite efforts and
close ranks to respond to Iraq’s great challenges".
One politician close to Abadi told Reuters that the prime
minister-designate had begun contacting leaders of major groups to
sound them out on forming a new cabinet. The president said on
Monday he hoped he would succeed within the next month.
Maliki angrily dismissed Abadi's nomination on Monday as illegal.
But there was no further sign of opposition on Tuesday.
U.S. OFFER
While U.S. officials have been at pains not to appear to be imposing
a new leadership on Iraq, three years after U.S. troops left the
country, President Barack Obama was quick to welcome the
appointment. Wrangling over a new government since Iraqis elected a
new parliament in April has been exploited by the Islamic State to
seize much of the north and west.
Obama has sent hundreds of U.S. military advisers and last week
launched air strikes on the militants after they made dramatic gains
against the Peshmerga forces of Iraq's autonomous ethnic Kurdish
region, an ally of the Baghdad authorities.
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U.S. officials have said the Kurds are also receiving direct
military aid and U.S. and British aircraft have dropped food and
other supplies to terrified civilians, including from the Yazidi
religious minority, who have taken refuge in remote mountains.
Kerry, who on Monday had warned Maliki not to resort to force to
hold on to power, said on Tuesday that Abadi could win more U.S.
military and economic assistance.
"We are prepared to consider additional political, economic and
security options as Iraq's government starts to build a new
government," he told a news conference in Australia, where he also
reaffirmed that Washington would not send combat troops.
"The best thing for stability in Iraq is for an inclusive government
to bring the disaffected parties to the table and work with them in
order to make sure there is the kind of sharing of power and
decision-making that people feel confident the government represents
all of their interests," Kerry added.
It remains unclear how much support Maliki, who remains acting
premier, has to obstruct the formation of a new administration. One
senior government official told Reuters that his fears of a military
standoff in the capital had eased:
"Yesterday Baghdad was very tense," he said. "But key military
commanders have since contacted the president and said they would
support him and not Maliki."
(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton in Sydney; Writing by
Alastair Macdonald; editing by David Stamp)
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