Sunnis, Kurds shun Iraq parliament after no Maliki replacement named

Reuters ^ | 7/1/2014 | Raheem Salman and Oliver Holmes

[mojito]

Sunnis and Kurds walked out of the first session of Iraq's new parliament on Tuesday after Shi'ites failed to name a prime minister to replace Nuri al-Maliki, dimming any prospect of an early national unity government to save Iraq from collapse.

The United States, United Nations, Iran and Iraq's own Shi'ite clergy have pushed hard for politicians to come up with an inclusive government to hold the fragmenting country together as Sunni insurgents bear down on Baghdad.

The leader of the al Qaeda offshoot spearheading the insurgency, the Islamic State, has declared a "caliphate" in the lands it has seized in Iraq and Syria. Its leader vowed on Tuesday to avenge what he said were wrongs committed against Muslims worldwide.

Despite the urgency, the Iraqi parliament's first session since its election in April collapsed when Sunnis and Kurds refused to return from a recess to the parliamentary chamber after Shi'ites failed to name a prime minister.

Parliament is not likely to meet again for at least a week, leaving Iraq in political limbo and Maliki clinging to power as a caretaker, rejected by Sunnis and Kurds.

[mojito]

Iraq - stick a fork in it.

Maliki won't budge, because he thinks he can win with his new bestest friends - Russia and Iran - helping him. Not that there's much to salvage at this point.

[Star Traveler]

It’s going to break up into three countries ...

[Fitzy_888]

Is there even a continuous land route from Baghdad to the Kurdish held area? What do the Kurdish reps do to get home? I doubt they want to travel via Iran.

[mojito]

There's a main highway that heads northwest from Baghdad into the Kurdish areas, beginning with Kirkuk, but much of that road is held by ISIS, although supposedly Iraqi forces are trying to take back control of it near Tikrit.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“Is there even a continuous land route from Baghdad to the Kurdish held area? What do the Kurdish reps do to get home? I doubt they want to travel via Iran.”

Or Turkey, or Syria. Landlocked between those three countries. Oh yeah,this will end just peachy.