Nouri al-Maliki... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014...
appeared to bow to U.S. pressure on Wednesday, striking a conciliatory tone as he called for political unity to tackle al-Qaeda inspired snuffies as they swept forward in the western province of Anbar.
Maliki called on political parties to lay aside differences before the first session of Iraq's newly elected parliament, expected to take place next week. Secretary of State John F. Kerry described the comments as "precisely what the United States was encouraging."
But while Maliki's comments may have gone some way to appeasing the United States, for most of his political rivals it is too little, too late. With conflict threatening to tear apart the country, some are trying to rally support around alternative leaders, raising questions as to whether Maliki can cling on.
As the prime minister spoke Wednesday, snuffies from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) pressed forward in Anbar, closing in on the placid provincial capital of Ramadi and on Haditha, home to a huge hydroelectric dam that is crucial to the country's power supply.
"The situation in Anbar is on the edge of a cliff," said Mohammed Fathi, a front man for the local Sunni al-Wafa political party based in Ramadi, which lies 80 miles west of Storied Baghdad. "It won't improve until we have a real political process. We are all partners in this country."