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 The failure highlights the difficulties of Baghdad's struggle to
recapture territory from the insurgents who seized Mosul, Tikrit and
other cities last month in a rapid offensive which threatens to
fragment Iraq on ethnic and sectarian lines.
The setback came as Iraqi politicians named a moderate Sunni
Islamist as speaker of parliament on Tuesday. That was a
long-delayed first step towards a power-sharing government urgently
needed to confront the militants, who are led by the al Qaeda
offshoot Islamic State.
It is unclear if the election of Salim al-Jabouri as speaker will
break the broader deadlock over Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's bid
to serve a third term. He has ruled since the April election as a
caretaker.
Government troops and allied Shi'ite volunteer fighters retreated
from Tikrit before sunset on Tuesday to a base four km (2.5 miles)
south after coming under heavy mortar and sniper fire, a soldier who
fought in the battle said.
 Residents said there was no fighting on Wednesday morning in Tikrit,
which lies 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad. It is a stronghold
of ex-army officers and loyalists of executed former dictator Saddam
Hussein's Baath Party who allied themselves with the Islamic
State-led offensive last month.
Tuesday's military attack was launched from Awja, Saddam's
birthplace some 8 km (5 miles) south of the city, but ran into heavy
opposition in the southern part of the city.
Pictures published on Twitter by supporters of the Islamic State
showed a fighter holding a black Islamist flag next to a black
armored car it said had been abandoned by a military SWAT team, as
well as vehicles painted in desert camouflage - one of them burnt
out - which it said retreating troops left behind.
MALIKI'S FUTURE UNCLEAR
The stunning advance in the north and west by the militants over the
past month has put Iraq's very survival in jeopardy, as its
politicians remain divided over forming a government to confront the
insurgency. A shared resentment at Maliki's style of rule, which his
critics say has marginalized Iraq's Sunnis and Kurds, may have
bolstered the Islamic State's offensive last month.
 The Shi'ite leader has defied demands from Sunnis and Kurds that he
step aside for a less polarizing figure. He also faces challenges
from within the National Alliance, a Shi'ite umbrella group that
includes Maliki's State of Law bloc and rivals.
After quickly picking Salim al-Jabouri as speaker on Tuesday
afternoon, lawmakers argued bitterly for hours over his Shi'ite
deputy, suggesting they are still far from a deal to complete the
formation of a new government or a decision on the fate of Maliki.
Now that parliament has picked a speaker, it has 30 days to elect a
president, who will then have 15 days to nominate a prime minister.
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Since Iraq's post-Saddam constitution was adopted in 2005, the prime
minister has always been a member of the Shi'ite majority, the
speaker a Sunni and the largely ceremonial president a Kurd. Each of
the three is meant to have two deputies, drawn from the other two
groups.
An official from Maliki's State of Law bloc said the group
understood that it would not be able to push through Maliki's
nomination for a third term and there was a need for "transition",
but did not say how that might come about.
Maliki has given no indication he is willing to step aside.
"Prime Minister Maliki can't and shouldn't be pushed out," the
official told Reuters, adding there had been no formal discussion
yet on possible nominees for prime minister.
In the town of Dhuluiya southeast of Tikrit, where Sunni tribesmen
and local police have been fighting militants for days, government
forces sent from the city of Samarra pushed the militants out on
Tuesday night, eyewitnesses said.
Islamic State gunmen had overrun government offices on Sunday
morning and tried to take the main police station, local police and
eyewitnesses said. The town is 70 km (45 miles) north of Baghdad.
Residents escaped the fighting by boat on the River Tigris after
militants bombed the bridge and blocked off roads leading out of the
town. The destruction of the bridge also blocked the sending of
reinforcements from the military base near the Shi'ite town of
Balad, across the river.
Control of Dhuluiya has passed several times from local fighters and
police into the hands of militants and back again.
(Additional reporting by a reporter in Salahuddin province, Ned
Parker and Dominic Evans; Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Dominic
Evans and Andrew Roche)
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