Baghdad:
Iraq's parliament on Sunday adjourned until August 19 with lawmakers unable to agree on a nominee for the post of prime minister despite ever-growing international pressure, several MPs said.
"There can be no explanation for this delay," said Ammar Toma, a Shiite MP from the Fadhilah party. "There are important matters on the table: the fate of the displaced, the security situation."
US President Barack Obama, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius have, over the past two days alone, stressed that Iraq needed a new and united government to lead the fight against jihadists who control large parts of the country.
Many blame the crisis on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose policies critics say marginalised Sunni Arabs, pushing them into the arms of jihadists.
Despite winning April polls comfortably, the deadly two-month-old conflict has made his position untenable.
Maliki has lost the support of many former allies, including Washington, Tehran, Iraq's influential Shiite religious leadership and a significant part of his own Dawa party.
But the 64-year-old has dug his heels in and Iraq's fractious parliament has so far been unable to agree on an alternative.
"There can be no explanation for this delay," said Ammar Toma, a Shiite MP from the Fadhilah party. "There are important matters on the table: the fate of the displaced, the security situation."
US President Barack Obama, UN chief Ban Ki-moon and visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius have, over the past two days alone, stressed that Iraq needed a new and united government to lead the fight against jihadists who control large parts of the country.
Many blame the crisis on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, whose policies critics say marginalised Sunni Arabs, pushing them into the arms of jihadists.
Despite winning April polls comfortably, the deadly two-month-old conflict has made his position untenable.
Maliki has lost the support of many former allies, including Washington, Tehran, Iraq's influential Shiite religious leadership and a significant part of his own Dawa party.
But the 64-year-old has dug his heels in and Iraq's fractious parliament has so far been unable to agree on an alternative.
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