BAGHDAD // Iraqi leader-in-waiting Haidar Al Abadi on Friday vowed to fight graft and build an inclusive government to battle the Islamist insurgency, a day after Nouri Al Maliki agreed to step down.
The man who will become the next prime minister said his government would be based on “efficiency and integrity, to salvage the country from security, political and economic problems”.
Mr Al Abadi faces an immense challenge in trying to unite politicians as he cobbles together a cabinet in just over three weeks.
Iraq’s major factions deeply distrust each other.
Sunni politicians are pressing for greater political influence, saying their disenfranchisement under Mr Al Maliki’s Shiite-dominated government fuelled support among the Sunni minority for the insurgency, led by the extremist Islamic State group.
Iraq’s military fell apart as the militants advanced. The group has seized vast areas of territory in the north and west since June, sending hundreds of thousands of Shiites and ethnic minorities fleeing their homes.
The US last week launched aid operations and airstrikes as the militants threatened tens of thousands of civilians from religious minorities and advanced on the Kurdish region.
The US also began arming Kurdish forces, and the European Union on Friday agreed to follow, allowing members to deliver arms and military equipment to the Kurds provided it was done in concert with Iraq’s central government.
France has pledged to ship weapons to the Kurds, while Britain is delivering ammunition and military supplies obtained from eastern European nations and is considering sending more weaponry.
Germany, the Netherlands and others said they would also consider requests to arm the Kurds.
The president of the autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, on Friday said he would support Mr Al Abadi’s call for a government that “involves all Iraqi factions”.
The country’s top Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani also gave his support to the new leader.
In more good news for Mr Al Abadi, more than 25 leading Sunni tribes said they had taken up arms against the Islamic State west of the Iraqi capital on Friday.
The uprising in Anbar province, where the Islamic State holds major areas, was initially fuelled by the former premier Mr Al Maliki’s perceived bias against Sunnis.
Anbar’s police chief, Maj Gen Ahmed Saddak, said security forces were backing the uprising, which began at 6am on Friday.
“The battles are continuing until this moment,” he said, putting the toll at 12 militants killed.
“We will not stop until the liberation of Anbar.”
The Islamic State has estranged Sunnis with its hardline interpretation of Islam, and harsh punishments imposed on those who do not conform to its strict rules or who belong to other faiths.
Yesterday, Islamic State fighters blew up a Shiite prayer hall in the town of Jalawla and publicly executed the muezzin, witnesses and a regional police chief said.
“Then they shot him dead in front of his mosque,” said the police chief for Diyala province, north-east of Baghdad.
The execution came four days after Islamic State militants wrested control of the town from Kurdish peshmerga forces after two days of fighting.
In Sayed Ahmad village, north of Jalawla, Islamic State fighters also executed six policemen, the sources said.
The Islamic State’s Sunni extremist fighters conquered large swaths of Iraq’s Sunni heartland in June.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council was set to adopt a resolution on Friday aimed at weakening Islamist militants in Iraq and Syria with measures to choke off funding and the flow of foreign fighters.
The British-drafted document would also place six Islamist leaders from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other nations on the Al Qaeda sanctions list, which provides for a travel ban and asset freezes.
The final text was agreed to by all 15 members of the council, including Russia, whose backing for Syrian president Bashar Al Assad partly stems from concerns that his downfall could lead to Islamists ruling Damascus.
* With reporting by Associated Press, Bloomerg News and Agence France-Presse
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
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Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
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The specs
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Power: 579hp
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The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
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Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
UAE cricketers abroad
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.
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Major honours
ARSENAL
BARCELONA
- La Liga - 2013
- Copa del Rey - 2012
- Fifa Club World Cup - 2011
CHELSEA
- Premier League - 2015, 2017
- FA Cup - 2018
- League Cup - 2015
SPAIN
- World Cup - 2010
- European Championship - 2008, 2012
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The specs
Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo
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Power: 271 and 409 horsepower
Torque: 385 and 650Nm
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
The specs
Engine: 2.3-litre, turbo four-cylinder
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Power: 300hp
Torque: 420Nm
Price: Dh189,900
On sale: now
Squads
India (for first three ODIs) Kohli (capt), Rohit, Rahul, Pandey, Jadhav, Rahane, Dhoni, Pandya, Axar, Kuldeep, Chahal, Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar, Umesh, Shami.
Australia Smith (capt), Warner, Agar, Cartwright, Coulter-Nile, Cummins, Faulkner, Finch, Head, Maxwell, Richardson, Stoinis, Wade, Zampa.
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.