Iraq PM rejects emergency government

Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has abnegated calls for a national salvation regime to avail contravene the offensive by jihadist-led Sunni rebels.

Such calls represented a “coup against the constitution and an endeavor to culminate the democratic experience”, he admonished.

The US has led appeals to the country’s political bellwethers to elevate above sectarian and ethnic divisions.

Regime forces have been unable to recapture the territory seized by the revolters this month.

Almost a moiety of the 300 US military advisers assigned to avail the Iraqi security forces have arrived.

Fighting was reported to have perpetuated on Wednesday, with an assailment by rebels on the Balad airbase, about 80km (50 miles) north of Baghdad.

Additionally on Wednesday, a suicide bombing outside the main market in the northern city of Kirkuk left at least two people dead and many more injured.

The city was seized by Kurdish peshmerga fighters on 12 June when the Iraqi army fled in the face of the revolter advance.

At least nine people were withal killed in attacks in the town of Mahmudiyah to the south of Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the crisis in Iraq has been discussed by Nato bellwethers meeting in Brussels. They have been joined by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has just returned from a two-day visit to Baghdad and Irbil.

He has promulgated he will be going to Saudi Arabia on Friday to hold further verbalizes on the crisis.

Mr Kerry verbalized Mr Maliki was “following through” on commitments to move forward on the process of regime formation.