No hint at exiting in al-Maliki's war cry

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's prime minister vowed Friday to fight until the Islamic militants who have overrun much of the country are defeated, suggesting he won't step down despite pressure for him to do so.

Framing the debate over his future in democratic terms, Nouri al-Maliki said voters handed his State of Law bloc the most seats in the parliament in April elections and he must "stand by them during this crisis that Iraq is passing through."

His bloc failed to gain a majority, though, meaning he needs allies in order to form a government.

The Sunni insurgent blitz that began early last month and swept across much of northern and western Iraq has been fueled in part by grievances among the country's Sunni Muslim minority with al-Maliki and his Shiite-led government.

Al-Maliki, who has held the post since 2006, is being pressed to step aside, with even some of his former allies blaming his failure to promote reconciliation for fueling Sunni support for the insurgency.

Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has even pressed lawmakers to quickly form a new government that can confront the militant threat and unite the country. Lawmakers failed in their first session of the parliament Tuesday to make any progress.

On Friday, al-Sistani lamented the inability of political leaders to quickly agree on a new prime minister, describing it as "a regrettable failure" and urging them to redouble their efforts to form a new government that can lift the country out of its crisis, a cleric who represents him told worshippers in a Friday sermon in the holy city of Karbala.

But al-Maliki vowed Friday to remain until the insurgents are defeated.

"Pulling out of the battlefield while facing terrorist organizations that are against Islam and humanity would show weakness instead of carrying out my legitimate, national and moral responsibility," al-Maliki said. "I have vowed to God that I will continue to fight by the side of our armed forces and volunteers until we defeat the enemies of Iraq and its people."

Also Friday, more than 40 Indian nurses who were trapped in territory captured by Islamic militants crossed Friday into Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdish region, where they were under the protection of local security forces until flying home later in the day, authorities said.

The nurses had been stranded for more than a week at a hospital in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, which Sunni militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant captured last month. Officials said the nurses were moved this week to the militant-held city of Mosul farther north.

According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, 39 Indian construction workers were abducted two weeks ago near Mosul and were being held by the militants but were safe and unharmed. About 10,000 Indians work and live in Iraq.

Also Friday, Iraqi government troops captured the village of Awja -- the birthplace of former dictator Saddam Hussein -- south of Tikrit, military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said.

The push through Awja is part of an ongoing military offensive that ultimately aims to retake Tikrit.

North of the city, government airstrikes targeted Islamic militants trying to capture the country's largest oil refinery, reportedly killing as many as 30 insurgents, authorities said.

Fighters from the Islamic State group have been trying for weeks to capture the Beiji facility, 155 miles north of Baghdad. The group appeared on the verge of taking the refinery last month, but military troops managed to hold on and have since received reinforcements to help bolster their defenses.

A government plane targeted about eight vehicles attacking government forces at the facility early Friday, said Sabah al-Nuaman, the spokesman for Iraq's counterterrorism services. He said up to 30 militants were killed.

Al-Nuaman also said a helicopter gunship hit a house in the town of Qaim near the Syrian border where a gathering of the Islamic State group's local leaders was taking place. He said there were several casualties, but did not have a concrete figure.

The militants took control of Qaim, which controls a border crossing with Syria, last month during their drive across Iraq, and now control a vast stretch of territory straddling the two countries.

Meanwhile, an al-Qaida linked Jordanian militant leader warned Friday that the kingdom was "not immune" to the chaos befalling neighboring countries, although he acknowledged that the militants' recent declaration of an Islamic state spanning Syria and Iraq was threatening to divide the jihadist movement.

Mohammed al-Shalabi, a senior leader of ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis in Jordan, said the fighting between rival militant factions in Syria already has undermined the battle against President Bashar Assad.

Al-Shalabi, who spent 11 years in Jordanian jails on charges including plotting to attack a U.S. military base in the kingdom, said Jordanian Salafis have stopped sending their supporters to join the rebel ranks in Syria, fearing they will end up fighting other Muslims. More than 1,600 Jordanian have fought in Syria and 250 have been killed, al-Shalabi said.

Information for this article was contributed by Muneeza Naqvi and Mohammed Daraghmeh of The Associated Press.

A Section on 07/05/2014

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