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Maliki's political allies say Abadi has no legitimacy
Reading a statement on state television, Khalaf Abdul-Samad, a member of Maliki's Dawa Party, said Abadi "only represents himself.”
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden has hailed the nomination of a new Iraqi prime minister as a "key milestone."
The full readout of Biden’s call with Masum:
“Vice President Biden called Iraqi President Fuad Masum this morning to discuss the ongoing government formation process in Baghdad and to express the United States’ full support for his role as guarantor of the Iraqi Constitution. President Masum discussed with the Vice President the nomination of Hayder al-Abadi to be the next prime minister. The Vice President commended Masum for meeting this key milestone and reiterated President Obama’s repeated calls for the timely creation of a new, more inclusive government that will be able to address the legitimate concerns of all Iraqis. Vice President Biden also emphasized President Obama’s desire to boost coordination with a new Iraqi government and Iraqi Security Forces to roll back gains by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. President Masum thanked the Vice President for his continued support.”
UN urges Iraqi security forces not to interfere
The top UN envoy in Iraq Nickolay Mladenov has urged Iraqi security forces not to get in the way of the political transition.
"The Iraqi security forces should refrain from actions that may be seen as interference in matters related to the democratic transfer of political authority."
Maliki has deployed special forces, police, and army around strategic locations in Baghdad.
Mladenov also said the Iraqi president’s choice of Abadi – and not Mailiki – to form the new government as the prime minister was constitutional.
Who is Abadi?
The Washington Post provides a summary:
Born in Baghdad in 1952, Abadi was educated at the University of Baghdad and later received a doctorate from the University of Manchester in Britain. He lived in Britain for many years after his family was targeted by Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime. Trained as an electrical engineer, he entered politics after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. He became minister of communications in the Iraqi Governing Council in September 2003, then was a key adviser to Prime Minister Maliki in Iraq's first post-invasion elected government. Just weeks ago, he was elected deputy speaker of parliament, and he has been considered a contender for prime minister in the last two elections.
Plight Of Yazidis
Yazidi community leader Jahwar Ali Bek told Reuters today about the plight of the marginalized group:
"Currently, 400,000 Yazidis are displaced. They are from Sinjar, from Shekhan, from Basheqa and al-Qush. There are currently 80,000 people besieged on Sinjar Mountain and their situation is critical. They have no food, no water and their situation is difficult and all of them are besieged on the mountain."
Map of U.S. airstrikes in Iraq
Member of Maliki bloc rejects new Iraqi prime minister
Hussein al-Maliki, Maliki's son-in-law and a member of his political bloc, told Reuters that "we will not stay silent" over the president's decision to task Abadi with forming a new government.
"The nomination is illegal and a breach of the constitution. We will go to the federal court to object to the nomination."