Kurdish politician Fuad Masum became Iraq’s new president on Thursday, in a step toward forming a government that visiting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said must be inclusive for the country to survive.
An onslaught last month on Sunni Arab areas north and west of Baghdad led by the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, has brought Iraq to the brink of breakup, with the government struggling to assert any authority beyond its Shiite power base.
The Iraqi parliament elected Masum, who served as the first prime minister of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region more than two decades ago, by an overwhelming majority of 211 votes to 17.
Under an unofficial power-sharing deal, Iraq’s Kurds traditionally get the post of president. The move could pave the way for a deal on the much more powerful post of prime minister.
Ban met Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and stressed the need for a broad-based government to be formed as soon as possible to save the country from collapse.
“Iraq is facing an existential threat, but it can be overcome by the formation of a thoroughly inclusive government,” Ban said at a joint news conference with al-Maliki. “It is critical that all political leaders fulfill their responsibilities to ensure that the government formation process falls within the constitutional timetable.”
Hours later and only a short drive from where Ban was speaking, twin car bombs ripped through a busy restaurant and shopping area of central Baghdad, killing at least 15 people, police and medical sources said.
The Shiite premier has accused mainstream politicians from the Sunni Arab minority of condoning the Islamic State offensive and of “dancing in the blood” of the people killed in the onslaught.
Many retort that it was al-Maliki’s own brand of sectarian politics that brought the country to the brink of collapse, and he now faces intense domestic and foreign pressure to step aside.
He was also criticized over the Iraqi military’s poor performance in the face of the lightning offensive launched by the Islamic State in Mosul on June 9.
Insurgents launched a spectacular predawn assault on Thursday on a convoy transferring inmates convicted of terrorism charges in Taji, only 25km north of Baghdad.
According to police and medical sources, at least 60 people died in the attack, which saw militants ram a security convoy with a suicide car bomb before detonating other bombs and raking it with gunfire.
Nearly all of the 60 prisoners believed to be on the bus died.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese