USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    Home / World

    Iraq asks for airstrikes as US considers options

    By Associated Press in Baghdad | China Daily | Updated: 2014-06-20 07:22

    Al-Maliki appeals for national unity, with focus on defeating insurgents

    Iraq has asked the United States to launch airstrikes to beat back militants holding vast territories across its north, a decision Washington mulled over on Wednesday as insurgents pressed an assault on the country's largest oil refinery.

    US President Barack Obama briefed leaders of Congress on options for quelling the insurgency by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which launched an offensive across Iraq more than a week ago. While Obama has not fully ruled out the possibility of launching airstrikes, such action is not imminent, officials said, in part because intelligence agencies have been unable to identify clear targets on the ground.

    Instead, the US pushed Iraq to unite against the militants, with Vice-President Joe Biden offering praise to the country's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders as a means to temper the sectarian anger roiling the country.

    It's unclear whether that will work, as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Shiite-led government has faced wide-spread dissatisfaction from its people despite coming out ahead in recent parliamentary elections.

    Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Wednesday that his country had formally asked the US to launch airstrikes against against positions of the Islamic State.

    Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, confirmed the US had received a request for air power to stop the militants, but highlighted the uncertain political situation in Iraq.

    "The entire enterprise is at risk as long as this political situation is in flux," he told a Senate panel on Wednesday. He added that some Iraqi security forces had backed down when confronted by the militants because they had "simply lost faith" in the central government in Baghdad.

    Reconciliation attempt

    Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has rejected charges of sectarian bias and instead said the crisis has led Iraqis to rediscover "national unity".

    He appeared on television late on Tuesday with Sunni and Kurdish leaders. They issued a joint statement about the need to close ranks and stick to "national priorities" in the face of the threat posed by the militants.

    On Wednesday, al-Maliki spoke in a televised address, saying he was optimistic over what he called the rise by all political groups to the challenge of defending the nation against the militant threat.

    "I tell all the brothers there have been negative practices by members of the military, civilians and militiamen, but that is not what we should be discussing," al-Maliki said. "Our effort should not be focused here and leave the larger objective of defeating" the militants.

    Still, al-Maliki has yet to demonstrate concrete action to bridge differences with Sunnis and Kurds, who have been at loggerheads with the prime minister over their right to independently export oil and over territorial claims.

    The discussions over tactics came as Iraq's military said government forces had repelled repeated attacks by the militants on the country's largest oil refinery and retaken parts of the strategic city of Tal Afar, near the Syrian border.

    The chief military spokes-man, Lt. Gen. Qassimal-Moussawi, said Iraqi troops had defended the refinery at Beiji, some 250 km north of Baghdad, and 40 attackers were killed in fighting there over-night and early on Wednesday.

     Iraq asks for airstrikes as US considers options

    Newly-recruited Iraqi volunteers in police uniforms attend a training session at the Ibrahimiya police camp outside the central Iraqi Shiite city of Karbala on Thursday, as thousands of Shiite volunteers join Iraqi security forces in the fight against Jihadist militants who have taken over several northern Iraqi cities this week. Mohammed Sawaf / Agence France-Presse

    (China Daily 06/20/2014 page11)

    Today's Top News

    Editor's picks

    Most Viewed

    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    亚洲国产成人片在线观看无码 | 免费无遮挡无码视频在线观看 | 国产色爽免费无码视频| 久久精品中文字幕大胸| 国产精品无码日韩欧| 最新高清无码专区| 精品久久久无码中文字幕天天| 少妇无码太爽了不卡视频在线看 | 亚洲av日韩av高潮潮喷无码| 久久有码中文字幕| 久久久久成人精品无码中文字幕| 少妇无码太爽了不卡视频在线看 | 最好看的2018中文在线观看| 蜜桃成人无码区免费视频网站| 久久久无码精品亚洲日韩蜜臀浪潮| 中文字幕亚洲精品| 7777久久亚洲中文字幕| 无码专区中文字幕无码| 人妻中文无码久热丝袜| 亚洲av无码专区在线观看下载 | 亚洲美日韩Av中文字幕无码久久久妻妇| 欧洲精品久久久av无码电影 | 国产精品无码AV一区二区三区| 亚洲AV无码久久| 亚洲av永久无码精品漫画| 亚洲国产精品无码久久久蜜芽| 极品粉嫩嫩模大尺度无码视频| 中文成人无码精品久久久不卡 | 亚洲国产一二三精品无码| 内射人妻少妇无码一本一道| 中文字幕乱码人妻综合二区三区 | 亚洲国产精品无码专区| 亚洲AV永久无码精品成人| 色爱无码AV综合区| 国产办公室秘书无码精品99| 办公室丝袜激情无码播放| 精品无码三级在线观看视频| 无码视频在线播放一二三区| 人妻精品久久久久中文字幕一冢本| 日韩中文字幕在线| 自拍中文精品无码|