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                 Iraqi PM Rejects Forming Emergency Government

   by VOA News

   Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has rejected forming an emergency
   government to help the country counter a surge by Sunni Islamist
   militants.

   Maliki said Wednesday during a televised address that such a move would
   go against the constitution and the results of Iraq's April 30
   parliamentary elections.

   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that Iraqi leaders
   assured him they would meet a July 1 deadline for beginning to form the
   post-election government.

   Both Kerry and President Barack Obama have been urging Iraq to install
   a government that is inclusive of Iraq's Sunni and Kurdish minorities.

   Maliki's Shi'ite-led government has faced criticism of sidelining the
   minorities and breeding sectarian tensions.  He called for unity in his
   address Wednesday.

   The militants from the al-Qaida breakaway group the Islamic State of
   Iraq and the Levant have seized areas across northern and western Iraq.

   US forces arrive
   The United States is sending up to 300 military advisors to help Iraq
   counter the militants.  The first group of advisers began their mission
   Tuesday and more are scheduled to arrive in the next few days.

   The United States also is conducting air surveillance over Iraq, with
   30 to 35 flights a day to help gain better insight about the security
   situation on the ground as Iraqi troops battle the fast-moving
   insurgency.

   The United Nations said Tuesday that more than 1,000 people have been
   killed in Iraq in June, most of them civilians.  Iraq is seeing its
   worst violence since 2008, with U.N. figures showing 4,500 deaths
   through the end of May.
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   vernment/1944406.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/iraqi-pm-rejects-forming-emergency-government/1944406.html