Iraq's Maliki: I won't quit as condition of US

strikes against Isis militants

As senators say Iraqi PM's sectarian leadership must end, Maliki calls upon west
to give urgent air and intelligence support
Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki speaks on television on Wednesday !he "# $epu%lican &ohn Mc'ain called (or the use o( American air power
%ut urged )%ama to 'make clear to Maliki that his time is up' Photograph* A+P,-etty
Martin Chulov in .aghdad, Spencer Ackerman-!hursday /0 &une 12/3
A spokesman (or the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has said he will not stand down as a
condition o( "# air strikes against #unni militants who have made a lightning advance across
the country
Iraq's (oreign minister, 4oshyar 5e%ari, on Wednesday made a pu%lic call on al-Ara%iya
television (or the "# to launch strikes, %ut .arack )%amahas come under pressure (rom senior
"# politicians to persuade Maliki, a #hia Muslim who has pursued sectarian policies, to step
down over what they see as (ailed leadership in the (ace o( an insurgency
6ianne +einstein, the chair o( the #enate intelligence committee, told a hearing on Wednesday
that Maliki's government 7has got to go i( you want any reconciliation7, and $epu%lican &ohn
Mc'ain called (or the use o( "# air power %ut also urged )%ama to 7make very clear to Maliki
that his time is up7
!he White 4ouse has not called (or Maliki to go %ut its spokesman &ay 'arney said that
whether Iraq was led %y Maliki or a successor, 7we will aggressively attempt to impress upon
that leader the a%solute necessity o( re8ecting sectarian governance7 !he "# secretary o( state,
&ohn 9erry, said Washington was (ocused on the Iraqi people, not Maliki
Maliki's spokesman, 5uhair al-Nahar, said on !hursday that the west should immediately
support the Iraqi government's military operation against Islamic #tate in Iraq and the :evant
;Isis< rather than demand a change o( government 4e insisted that Maliki had 7never used
sectarian tactics7
7)ur (ocus needs to %e on urgent action = air support, logistic support, counter-intelligence
support to de(eat these terrorists who are posing a real danger to the sta%ility o( Iraq, to the
whole region,7 he told the ..' $adio 3 !oday programme
)%ama is said to %e still weighing military options, and "# o((icials (or days have quietly
signalled that a decision is not imminent
-eneral Martin 6empsey, chairman o( the 8oint chie(s o( sta((, con(irmed that the "# had
received the request (or air strikes %ut said that the (luid state o( the Iraqi %attle(ield had le(t the
"# with incomplete intelligence, a (actor that made an air campaign more di((icult 7It's not as
easy as looking at an iPhone video o( a convoy and then striking it,7 he told senators
+ighting continued in Iraq on !hursday as Isis militants raised their %lack %anners at Iraq's
largest oil re(inery A witness told $euters that militants were manning checkpoints around the
.ai8i (acility and that a huge (ire in one o( its tankers was raging A security o((icial in .aghdad
said government (orces were still inside the comple>
Witnesses at the .ai8i re(inery = %etween the cities o( Mosul and !ikrit, %oth sei?ed %y Isis last
week = said insurgents had %roken through the perimeter o( the site early on Wednesday and
were within sight o( administration %uildings
!heir advance comes despite (ierce resistance (rom Iraqi troops stationed at the re(inery !here
were reports that (oreign security contractors had %een sent to .ai8i to protect what is one o(
Iraq's most important strategic assets Many plant workers have %een evacuated to .aghdad
:osing control o( .ai8i would %e a critical %low to Iraqi (orces still reeling (rom the capitulation
o( close to @2,222 troops last week, many o( whom have since %een replaced %y militias raised
(rom the country's ma8ority #hia population
Maliki announced on !hursday that volunteers who (ought in 7hot areas7 with the country's
security (orces would %e given A@2,222 6inars ;BC33< a month Non-(ighting volunteers will %e
paid @22,222 6inars ;B3@2< and all volunteers will %e given an e>tra /1@,222 6inar ;B/2A< (ood
allowance per month, a statement said
In an interview with the -uardian, the Iraqi am%assador to the "#, :ukman +aily, said the
situation was critical, and warned o( (urther %loodshed i( Isis was not repelled 7Wherever they
have the possi%ility, they will cleanse minorities, ethnic cleansing,7 he said 7:ook at Mosul
!hey went into prisons, they e>ecuted the #hia prisoners !hey went into Mosul and they
e>ecuted the #unni imams who were reluctant a%out handing over their mosques to them #o
what does that tell youD It tells you that they cannot coe>ist with others7
In Iraq, the spectre o( (ull-%lown sectarian war hangs heavily over those trying to decide how to
deal with the crisis, with nationalistic aims o(ten su%sumed %y sect loyalties Many #hia
volunteers heading to %attle ?ones including !al A(ar say they see the insurgents more as a
threat to their sect than to Iraq itsel(
7Who do you think is running the warD7 asked a senior Iraqi o((icial on !uesday 7!hose three
senior generals who ran awayD Eassem #uleimani Fa leading Iranian generalG is in charge And
reporting directly to him are the militias, led %y Asa'i% ahl al-4aq7
$esidents o( !al A(ar, a city north-west o( Mosul with a large #hia population, said
rein(orcements, most o( them #hia irregulars, had %een (lown in to try to regain control (rom
Isis 8ihadists who took the city on Monday
!he (amily o( one (ighter said he and most o( his colleagues had %een (lown %y government
helicopter (rom the 6ora re(inery in .aghdad, where they worked as a protection (orce, to !al
A(ar, (lying straight over the %esieged .ai8i re(inery .ai8i mainly supplies (uel to northern Iraq
7It is providing H2I o( oil resources to the country,7 said Eahtan al-An%aki, an oil consultant
Most o( it goes to Mosul and the north It won't a((ect .aghdad or the south so much !he north
is already seriously a((ected )il is three times the price it was a week ago in Mosul7
!he grave threat to .ai8i underlines how di((icult it will %e (or the government to retake large
swaths o( land in the north and centre that were sei?ed last week Jven with vastly in(erior
num%ers, Isis has since consolidated its control o( the areas using masses o( equipment looted
(rom military %ases a%andoned %y (leeing troops
!he group's sphere o( in(luence crosses well into #yria, where it controls eastern oil(ields, and
it uses their revenues to (und the (ast-growing insurgency
.attle lines (or the de(ence o( .aghdad have %een drawn 32 miles to the north o( the capital,
near the city o( .aqu%a, which remained a scene o( intense clashes on Wednesday as 8ihadists
again tried to enter the city centre !heir e((orts to sei?e .aqu%a's prison have so (ar %een
re%u((ed, with irregular militias rushed (rom .aghdad proving pivotal in the (ighting
!housands o( Iranians have volunteered to de(end Iraq's #hia shrines Iran is 02I #hia, a group
considered to %e apostates %y Isis and other #unni e>tremists Iran's president, 4assan $ouhani,
said the de(ence o( #hia sacred sites in Na8a(, 9er%ala, .aghdad and #amarra was vital to his
regime
!he 4e?%ollah leader, 4assan Nasrallah, said that %ecause o( the signi(icance o( the Iraqi
shrines, the :e%anese group was 7willing to sacri(ice (ive times as much as we sacri(iced in
#yria7, where his mem%ers, along with Iran, have led the (ight%ack against re%el groups who
have tried (or more than three years to oust .ashar al-Assad
!he #yrian war has greatly ampli(ied the threat (rom Isis in Iraq 4owever, the plains o(
.aqu%a and An%ar province in the country's (ar west were the original %reeding ground o( the
group, which (irst rose to prominence in 1223 during a #unni insurgency against "# (orces
Maliki, who is trying to assem%le a political coalition to win a third term as prime minister, has
tried to assure the country that the momentum o( the %attle is with him While .aghdad (eels
more assured than it was last week, some o( the city's #unni neigh%ourhoods remain paralysed
And on the #hia side o( the !igris river, militias have primacy over interior ministry or military
(orces
Maliki pledged that !al A(ar would %e retaken %y !hursday, and (ighting late on Wednesday
appeared to %e tipping the %attle in (avour o( Iraqi (orces 4owever, the (ear remains that
nothing decisive can %e achieved without international intervention
7I( we got "# drones to hit .ai8i, and 8ets to %om% Isis elsewhere, we could slow them down,7
said a senior Iraqi MP 7Without them we can do nothing Without them we can't win7