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Iraqis hold posters of outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in support of him in Baghdad.
Iraqis hold posters of outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in support of him in Baghdad.

Live Blog: Iraq In Turmoil

Final Summary

-- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says EU foreign ministers gave their support for arms deliveries to Kurdish authorities during emergency talks in Brussels.

-- Iraq's leading Shi'ite religious figure, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, delivered a sermon in which he backed Prime Minister-designate Abadi. He said the transition was a rare chance to improve security and unity in Iraq.

-- U.S. President Barack Obama said the situation for Yazidis on Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq has greatly improved since last week when he ordered air strikes to relieve pressure on the refugees from militants of the Islamic State.

-- The U.S. has praised Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for deciding not to stay in his post, calling it a "major step forward" in uniting Iraq. Maliki announced early today in a national television address that he was "withdrawing" his candidacy for the post of prime minister in favor of Abadi.

*NOTE: Times are stated according to local time in Iraq

07:01 14.8.2014

Welcome back to our live coverage of all the day's developments in Iraq.

15:11 13.8.2014

That concludes our live-blogging for today, Wednesday August 13. We will be back at 9:00 a.m. (Prague time) tomorrow. In the meantime, you can follow all our Iraq coverage here.

15:05 13.8.2014

14:40 13.8.2014

British help

British Prime Minister David Cameron speaking about Britain's role in supporting the Kurdish forces against the Islamic State:

"I think the first thing is to deal with this desperate humanitarian situation with people who are exposed, starving, dying of thirst on this mountainside, getting them to a place of safety. Yes, of course we do support the Kurds and we should continue to support the Kurds, and in terms of the ammunition that they are getting Britain is going to be playing a role in helping to get that to them."

13:54 13.8.2014

Iran 'most powerful external player' in Iraq

Hayder al-Khoei, an Iraq analyst at Chatham House, told Al Jazeera that the struggle for power in Iraq is far from over:

"Don't rule out Maliki yet. Politically he is finished, but he still controls elite security forces and a vast network inside the security and intelligence apparatus. If he wants to cause trouble, he can.”

Khoei also mentioned Iran’s significant role:

"Furthermore, even though the Americans, the [European Union] and the [United Nations] have come out with statements supporting Ibadi, Iran is the key actor because it is the most powerful external player in Iraq. They’ve been very quiet. They made crystal clear that the unity of the Shia bloc was a red line for them. Today it was crossed, and it remains to be seen how they will respond."

You can read the full story here.

13:43 13.8.2014

13:28 13.8.2014

13:13 13.8.2014

12:54 13.8.2014

12:34 13.8.2014

Yazidi Supporters To Rally In Armenia, Georgia

RFE/RL's Georgian and Armenian services have a story about Yazidis organizing demonstrations in their respective countries.

Members and supporters of the Yazidi communities in Armenia and Georgia are due to rally in their respective capitals on August 13.

The demonstrators will express support for the thousands of Yazidis in Iraq, who were given an ultimatum by advancing Islamic State (IS) militants to convert to Islam, leave, or be killed.

Earlier, a Yazidi delegation met with Armenia's Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgian, who reiterated Yerevan's financial support for thousands of Yazidis stranded on Iraq's Sinjar Mountain.

Armenia has allocated $50,000 for humanitarian aid to be sent to the Yazidis, who fled IS attacks.

The delegation asked Yerevan to recognize IS attacks on the Iraqi Yazidi community as genocide and to grant visas to those Yazidis willing to seek asylum in Armenia.

Armenia is home to some 40,000 Yazidis, while neighboring Georgia has a nearly 20,000-strong Yazidi community.

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