what can nouri al-maliki do. he didn't do anything in tal usualinga -- fallujah, he can't make a difference now. many fear that baghdad will unleash airpower under the city. with a level of uncertainty the kurdish regional government put forces on high alert, bracing itself for a bigger influx of people in the quay to come -- in the days to come. >> to other news. the u.s. launched two drone strikes in north waziristan's area of pakistan. 16 have been killed in the attack. the first in the country this year. pressure has been mounting on pakistan's deposit to launch a ground defensive against the region. washington resumed the program after two attacks in karachi. let's join the correspondent from the capital. >> the u.s. stopped drone strikes for almost six months. why are they back now. what does this mean for peace talks with the taliban in pakistan. >> well, if you notice, the talks were already deadlocked and after the attack in karachi, any chance of going back to rt negotiating table will definitely not be

the fighting in iraq could keep nouri al-maliki from serving a third term. there's much talk about who may replace him. three figures have come to the fore. the first served in 2005 and 2006, and was replaced by nouri al-maliki. and another is a man who played a role in the decision to remove saddam hussein from power. he initiated a purge of sunnis from government jobs. there is a french educated economist appointed vice president after failing to win support. nouri al-maliki is facing pressure from i say opponents, calling for a parliamentary buoy god. zeina khodr speaks with a roifal from the kiddish north. >> he may be miles away from the battle ground. in his open way, he continues to wam war against his long-time enemy, nouri al-maliki. from a hotel in the kurdish reason, the sunni tribal leader is sending a message, there can be no political consideration in iraq until nouri al-maliki leaves power, and no peace unless a government tags control to carry out reforms. >>> we informed sunni politicians and warned them not to attend a meeting on july 1st, e

he has had problems with prime minister nouri al-maliki in the past. during the elections he was outspoken, saying maybe prime minister nouri al-maliki's time has come. we need to choose an another leadership. now we need to get rid of nouri al-maliki, and need an inclusive government. these words are strong and they will be taken series. he is shia. they are natural allies. this speech chose that there's a huge rift between what nouri al-maliki wants and a lot of people that may be his ally would like to see. >> meanwhile, the british foreign secretary william hague is visiting. what will his message to malarky be -- nouri al-maliki be. >> much the same as americans, they'll be looking for the constitutional process to be formed, to get a government to allow them to go after islamic state of iraq and levant and the sunni rebels. what kind of help they can give. we heard from the u.k. defense secretary saying we are willing to look at any requests that the iraqis might give to us. what we don't want to do is get involved militarily, it looks like the in

in the last few hours nouri al-maliki appearing sunni critics, uncomfortably, awkwardly. is it enough to bring the u.s. into pore of an assertive position militarily, to assist or prop up the government? >> i don't think nouri al-maliki will make the political concessions that are desired. we have it a little mixed up. we want political concessions with him. the fact of the matter is we have to act militarily first, giving us the leverage over nouri al-maliki and the other parts of the government who come to our side. it gives us a leverage and seat at the tablement that's the order we should do this. >> so what extent militarily - air power, intelligence, drones? >> specific things that could be done to provide assistance. in 2011, when we left, all of the intelligence sources that we had were no longer provided to nouri al-maliki. we have to return the architecture. the lights went blank in 2011. we have to turn the lights on. we'll own the systems. he'll are the benefit of the intelligence. he needs people to think through the console kated defense of bag -- consolidate

could count on the support of tribal leaders who lost faith in nouri al-maliki. >> it turned out to be a sectarian-pro-shi'ite leader, marginalizing the kurds, the sunnis, alienating the sunnis and the kurds and pursuing a centralised government in baghdad. >> reporter: nouri al-maliki has been prime minister for eight years, fighting to preserve unity, he says, against the old regime and terrorists, many of whom have a safe haven in syria. nouri al-maliki is coming under criticism, not just at home, but abroad. in london, oil executives gather to discuss the iraqi situation. the mood is sombre. >> reporter: people came to the conference because of profits in iraqi oil. most want a peaceful iraq. many are worried that the country is in danger of breaking up. this man was the united states ambassador. if he could talk to nouri al-maliki what would he say. >> act immediately, reach out to the sunnis, it's not a question of meeting people halfway, he'll have to take the initiatives do it quickly. >> reporter: is iraq salvageable. . >> it is in trouble now. >> reporter: go you think it wil

nouri al-maliki supported them in the last few years. if you need a genuine inclusive government, you need to sideline or basically nudge nouri al-maliki out. iran can do it. >> so washington says to iran... >> absolutely. >>..tehran says to baghdad "you got to go." >> basically. we are talking about tactical accord nation. iran has a pivot ol roll to play to convince the shi'ite coalition, that maliki is part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution. >> part of the problem has been the funding from golf moniccees and saudi arabia. the saudis deny funding any rebels. is that likely? >> basically it's suicidal for saudi arabia or any country to basically fund i.s.i.s. we do not know the major sources of funding. i believe they have multiple sources. you have criminality. social seizing assets. >> it's supposed to be worth $2 billion. >> oil fields and what have you. the big question for review is i.s.i.s. not only present a threat against the united states but the sunni arab community. i.s.i.s. is not a friend of the sunni communi

the sunnis may be unhab with nouri al-maliki -- unhappy with nouri al-maliki's form of government. they are right. but it's not allowable for them to make i.s.i.s. the answer. >> let's talk about iran, the deputy foreign minister for arab and african affairs reacted to a plan showing that the u.s. is terrorism. there was a quote: >>> do they have a point. we saw vladimir putin coming out in support of the nouri al-maliki government on friday. he's on the shiite side in iran and syria. iranians. >> if we are going to persuade nouri al-maliki to compromise and to follow our advice, we need iran's backing because iran has a lot more influence in iraq than we do at the moment, and nouri al-maliki has no reason to listen to us if we are not going to give him military support, no force on the ground to compel him to listen to us. we need the iranians to back him. i think the iranians would like to use iraq to change american policy in syria. but pointing out that i.s.i.s. was carrying terrorism and if you fight them in iraq, you should change the policy in syria. they are trying to push

nouri al-maliki said that he was going to try and bring in the military. what signs of any military intervention? >> well, what we are hearing is the first thing that will happen is prime minister nouri al-maliki was to arm the tribal militias to come m and defend the places that the army can't get to. the tribal militia, governments in mosul said we need to get the tribal militias in and fighting. that's the first phase. the second is getting the army in. the third is the emergency session of parliament that is meeting on the thursday, where nouri al-maliki wants a state of emergency that will give him sweeping powers, full control of the military and the state institutions, which will allow him to fight back. most people here are worried that the fight back has come. too late. it should have been a political solution. you heard one of the guests saying that nouri al-maliki hasn't been inclusive. that is something that we continue to hear, and those voices are getting louderment people are openly critical. of course, imran, the p m says he wants to ipp vo

prime minister nouri al-maliki, and muqtada al-sadr have been at log are heads with each other and muqtada al-sadr openly criticised prime minister nouri al-maliki. this was a show of force designed to convince the people of iraq and the shia community that they are able to defend themselves. the key thing is you have to understand that they wanted to defend the shrines and the towns. one of them, when hit by al qaeda in 2006, it sparked a sectarian war in the country, lasting almost three years. that is why the shia militias are showing the force and that's why we see them on the streets. >>> let's look at what the volunteers will be fighting for. sunni fighters seized the border post on the frontier with syria. the rebels are said to be in control of the largest oil refinery. it accounts for a third of the capacity. the two sides are fighting for control of the airport on the road to the syrian border. the deposit said it has retain the town. fighting goes on for towns north of bacuba, 60km of baghdad. the army controls 70% of the province. mosul and tikrit are in rebel hands, falling tw

in his own way, he continues to wage war against a long-time n my, prime minister nouri al-maliki. from a hotel in the kurdish region, the sunni tribal leader is sending a clear message - there can be no political consideration in iraq until nouri al-maliki leaves power, and no peace until an interim government takes control to carry out reforms. >> translation: we informed sunni politicians, and warned them not to attend else they'll be considered traitors. if they do, they have been given legitimacy to nouri al-maliki and the militias. >> reporter: a unity coalition has been dismissed by nouri al-maliki. a more inclusive government has been a demand of the united states, and wants it in place before assisting the iraqi government face what it calls the militant threat. >> washington is in a difficult position. the islamic state in iraq and levant may be leading the fight, but other soupy groups are taking part. the u.s. cannot be seen as taking sides in what is described as a sunni shia war. it may be too late. this man once cooperated with the u.s. to fight aliyer. years later he

the government of the evgeni malkin -- government of nouri al-maliki, it is a problem. there's no way to work with them until nouri al-maliki steps down. we may need greater military help as lefage and a bargaining chip. >>> what about the u.s. role. president obama made extensive comments on the deteriorating military situation, saying iraq needs help and he is considering options, but no troops on the ground. what are the options. what can the u.s. do, what should to do? >> to say all options are on the table but no troops considered is an oxy moran. we have to be a little careful. there may be a need for special forces, for example. perhaps americans can help with commando raids. perhaps we can help with intelligence, signals intelligence to figure out where the i.s.i. s fighters are and tart them. doesn't mean americans have to take a lead role, but to rule out the possibility of putting american boots on the ground may be a mistake under the circumstances, because the threat is serious, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. i would say, however, before we would

and iran that gave nouri al-maliki his second term. they overturned - now the third term which nouri al-maliki wants will be a little bit more difficult. given the fact that the americans, president barack obama has said that we will not choose iraqi leaders, they'll show they are willing to share power. this is the criticism aimed at nouri al-maliki. since then u.s. forces withdrew from the country in 2011. there were worrying signs that prime minister nouri al-maliki was marginalizing sunnis, and attacking the political opponents whether they were sunnis, kurds or in the wider shiite coalition. he was making the signs early on. >> we'll have to hope someone creates a national unity government, because there's no history of it. saddam hussein marginalised the shiites, and nouri al-maliki is marginalizing the sunnis. good to have you with us. thank you. >>> for a closer look at the american role. i'm joined by douglas ol vi vant, he served two tours in iraq as an army lieutenant colonel and one as head of a planning team that coordinate

>> well, it's a clear show of support and backing for prime minister nouri al-maliki. the iranians have traditionally been close to the nouri al-maliki government and have supported him in the past. it has to be said this last yeent election they were -- recent election they were not as vocal in the support as in 2010. it's a definite statement of support. baghdad has to ask for help. what we are hearing is that there are members of the elite revolutionary guard, coutts force, fighting in iraq. they may be - this is unconfirmed - they may be in dearticlea province, and they are stopping the advance of sunni rebels, who have taken two towns in the deala province, and they may stop them getting where they want to go. there's no official confirmation. that is what we are told by three different sources. >> if you look at the north of the country. depending on your perspective, how you look at the situation. peshmerga forces alongside iraqi police may not be a support for prime minister nouri al-maliki. >> you can cop this in several different ways. what we see is cooperati

my view is that nouri al-maliki is part of the problem, not the solution. he is going on about wnting to have further executive power. that, or a lack there of is not the problem. nouri al-maliki has plenty of power and has shown a penchant for seizing it. the problem is he has alienated the sunni community and made a base of support for the extremists. they don't want them and in the future they will not want to live under them. they've been driven into the arms of extremists. they don't see a place for themselves. >>> ukraine is accusing russia of helping separatists by moving tanks into eastern ukraine. violence is jeff callating in the -- escalating in the region. from donetsk kim vinnell sent this report. >> reporter: this video can't be independently verified but claims to show a tank in the ukranian si. this tank crossed over from russia. all up, three russians tanks are on ukranian territory, two are under attack by ukranian troops. separatists say they seized the tanks from a warehouse and haven't received help from moscow. kiev has not accused the

we heart people in beirut talking about a sunni revolution against the alliance of iraq and nouri al-maliki alliance. they are already perceiving this as a rift, and in no way rejoicing at the fact that the sunni groups are threatening baghdad and overthrowing the government of nouri al-maliki. any statement like this from the iranian officials would help and enforce the versions, two different versions of perspective of how people follow the developments in iraq. >> we have seen a huge number of refugees. internally displaced moving out of the province, looking for sanctuary. perhaps moving into your direction. lebanon is strained really. even just coming from syria. more from iraq is a real twb. >> yes, but we don't expect iraqis to read lebanon. they have to travel through tushulent syria. most go through kurdistan. these scenes vibrate in lebanon and people can identify. they were refugees, when they fled their own civil war. they see this as another sign that this region could go in flames at any moment. iraq was not dramatic. people here are gearing up for a good summer. they expect t

me make it clear that the rally that we are seeing isn't in support of nour rsh, it's for -- nouri al-malikiit's for moouk tarreda. this is about them being able to protect the shrinse and baghdad. how much support does nouri al-maliki have. he won the popular vote. but that is not enough to make him prime minister again. he needs the support of the key politicians here. the other political groups, to form a coalition. increasingly they came out in criticism. they had sunni politicians already criticise him. the grand ia tolla ali cyst tarny saying there needs to be a unified government that is more inclusive. it's seen as a criticism. and the americans chiming in saying prime minister nouri al-maliki is not doing enough to reach out to the kurds and the sunni politicians. he has the popular vote, winning 92 seats. to form a government he needs the backing of the political party to form a two-thirds majority. he doesn't have that. >>> imran khan in baghdad. >>> ukraine's army started a 7-day ceasefire. petro porashenko told forces to stop military action taken against separatists. fighters t

if anyone, we blame president nouri al-maliki for that. s inability to form, you know, a bipartisan or tripartisan government. >>> did we think there was a way to control nouri al-maliki when you were there? >> it wasn't really my expertise. as an infantryman, i did what my commanders told me to do. go out and find the bad guys. we conducted patrols, trained the army. we followed orders and made iraq a more secure place, in the hopes that, you know, the newly formed government would follow suit behind us. >>> you lost friends, i assume, and others were injured. did you think of those people at this time? >> i think of those people every day. regardless of whether i'm thinking about iraq or not. that was a time in our lives that changed us forever. i think a lot of my fellow veterans wouldn't trade that experience for anything. at the same time, you know, it's unfortunate that that happened to our brothers and sisters. >>> we talked about team ruby con before in the programme. can you tell us about team ruby con and what people like you are

at that time it was understood by nouri al-maliki, and accepted by prime minister nouri al-maliki, that this was the first sofa not the last. we spent many months successfully accommodating a first sofa and we hoped for a second. the diplomatic shortfalls led us to where in some ways contributed to where we are today. >> thank you both joining us tonight. thank you. >>> now an update on the al jazeera colleagues held in prison in cairo. egypt's prosecutor ordered the release of our longest hold reporter abdullah al-shami. citing health reasons. abdullah al-shami-on a hunger strike for 145 days to protest detention, without charge. he had lost a third of ris body weight. he had been held since mid august, arrested whilst covering a protest. a judge in egypt's capital said peter greste, mohamed fadel fahmy and baher mohamed will hear their fate this monday. the judge said the court will rule on their case june 23rd, they are held on accusations of spreading false news and aiding the muslim brotherhood. the prosecution's expert witnesses contradicted their own written accusations in court

being you know america's nouri al maliki i mean he's also iran's nouri al maliki so there is that in the sense in the sense there and iran will be will be looking over seeing credibly closely at the situation and it's. is it is becoming ever more apparent that actually nouri al maliki is one of the biggest factors in in this problem and is sectarian as ation of state institutions as iraq and iran will be looking at this very closely indeed nouri al maliki does not command all the support from all all of the shia community inside iraq and i think we saw that in terms of the parades in baghdad of others militia and that is another another sign and of course these will be taking orders from iran that's interesting to put. the militia in in the context of how iran sees that but again that is further proof not just i mean the advance with isis in terms of engaging various sunni communities who are obviously exasperated and disillusioned with the maliki regime but also within side this year community as well who see who see maliki is a lame duck and also a dictator and unable to pr

that said, there is a lot of frustration with nouri al-maliki. e is a widespread belief here in washington especially, that the way that maliki led iraq in his previous two terms did not bode well for the ideal of national unity that sunnis were cut out from major policy decisions, weren't given appropriate government portfolios and there was a similar sentiment among iraqi kurds in the north. so there is this sense that someone who can be more of a uniter, to use the word, is probably most required. but as we saw in imran kahn's piece, nouri al-maliki says he won the most votes in the last elections in april, and that unless someone can come forward with the same kind of electoral qualities that he brought, then he would be happy to step aside. >> "ookay, roslyn, thanks for that. >>> a couple of other developments in the iraqi situation. the government saying that it now has control of the country's largest oil refinery. earlier sunni fighters led by the islamic state of iraq and the levant said that they had seized refinery. the government is no

not with the cause of nouri al maliki. nouri al maliki hardly has any friends.nifer griffin is back with us from the pentagon i believe. jennifer, i wonder what the level of concern is that -- that the sunnis from iran are going to see this as an opportunity. after all, this has happened in a matter of days, not a month's long build-up that we knew about. >> well, there's a great deal of fear that the shias from iran or that iran itself will try to fill the vacuum. that is what is always the problem in the middle east when you leave vacuums. the other thing to remember, shep, is this is also about oil. iraq has large oil fields that will be very lucrative to -- to those different groups. and they will be fighting over those fields in short order because that will be what will fund this insurgency or fund the government. it's also another point that touched on that's very important is that maliki -- when the americans were pulling out and as they were leaving, remember it was the sunni awakening in anbar province that helped the surge troops that the u.s. sent in

tele-maliki -- tell nouri al-maliki's government to take responsibility for itself. there have been reports that nouri al-maliki has been encouraged to leave by the iraqi parties, by ayatollah sistany. i think that even if nouri al-maliki leaves, the question is who replaces him, another sectarian shi'a. the politics of iraq are poisonous, it's not a matter of one person, nouri al-maliki, if another replaces him, it's not clear whether that will heal the wounds created over the years. >> is it time for a different administration in iraq. >> the problems run deeper than nouri al-maliki. nevertheless he has not played a constructive role. there's a possibility for someone else to play a role. who that may be, and the time line in which that occurs is something that will have to be determined by internal dynamics, he's failing at this point and it's time for a change. >> a lot of people are talking about troop withdrawal. looking at the instability, do you agree was troop withdrawal too soon in the area? >> well, the iraqis didn't want the united states to stay. so it wa

even if there is a will from the nouri al-maliki government to move in a positive direction, the question is can he pull it off or has the well been poisoned so much that nothing nouri al-maliki does is going to be sufficient. that's where i think it is important for the u.s. to be very explicit about the conditions here, to not give in at the last moment and say "you don't have the unity government, but we want you to survive so we'll give you the arms and assistance. the u.s. has to be clear about the red lines, making sure it's tape seriously on those. as we know, when the u.s. talks about red lines, there's a lot of doubt in the region. that's the problem - can you council on the u.s. in this -- count on the u.s. in this crisis. >> president obama alluded do you need the rite leader. it seems the sunnis don't lock at the nouri al-maliki government as a government they can trust. would it take another leader to unify the country if they are to end the conflict. >> na is what -- that is what many sunnis think, that nouri al-maliki is hopeless and has shown his colours and made sectarian

urging nouri al-maliki to make his country more inclusive. john terrett is in washington, d.c. >> we learned a lot more now than we knew this morning when we realized that secretary kerry met with nouri al-maliki. he has had separate meetings with meetings one with shiite, and the other is sunni. next up, the city to the northwest of baghdad. there he's going to meet up with the current president and the united states is offering air power to the kurds in the western desert around their various homelands using assets the u.s. deployed in the gulf providing there is a broad based political agreement in baghdad that had offer some protection to the iraqi people to the shi shias, sunnies and kurds, and that can be sorted out reasonbly quickly i'll next be talking with allies. >> according to the state department he's not himself asking for nouri al-maliki to go although of course there are calls from around the world for him to step down. according to secretary kerry who has been speaking with wire service reporters, he said no country including

e rocky, nouri al-maliki is under international pressure to a more inclusive government. -- the iraqi prime minister, nouri al-maliki is under him 10 international pressure to create a more inclusive government. today withsaid respect to the things we talked about was entirely in line with the conversations that i had with him when i was there. the constitutional process that we have urged all iraqis to commit to at this time, we believe it is critical. for the ability to form a government. now, iraqis will decide that. >> john kerry speaking there. guardian'sth the newspapers martin jude law. he explained that today's violence in the capital is actually nothing new. >> over the past couple of years, we have been looking away. has been veryere very significant. there has been daily suicide bombings for many many weeks. the last 10 days or so, violence has dropped a little. this insurgent group was wreaking so much havoc across the country and they are preoccupied elsewhere. the suicide bombing is a change things. a series of spectacular bombings in the capital may do so. changing here

if they do, they'll be giving legitimacy to nouri al-maliki. >> reporter: a national salvation government has been dismissed by nouri al-maliki. he called for the elected parliament to meet op july 1st, to start the process of forming a government. a more inclusive government has been a key demand of the united states, and it wants it in place before assisting the government faus what it calls the -- face what it calls the militants. some sunni group are taking part as well as i.s.i.l. they cannot be seep as taking sides. >> it may be too late. he once cooperated with the use to beat al qaeda, but he is refusing to face islamic state of iraq and levant, in the the u.s. reviews its policies. >> it needs to review support to the government. some of the statement are upacceptible, like when they say they'll support the iraqi army. what army. there's no army in iraq. they are nouri al-maliki's iranian backed militias. >> this conflict has been in the making for years. forming a government may not be enough to end the rebellion. after all, it's not the politicians, but those that hold the arms

government. >> the americans would like to extract concessions from the iraqi prime minister nouri al-malikire putting a great deal of pressure nouri al-maliki in order to establish what they, the key word is an inclusive government. >> reporter: there are those, however, who believe that air strikes would change little on the ground. they could result in i haveville vinnie casual i and this could strengthen the isil. >> i think using anymore air strikes as more recruitment fuel. using it galvanize more resystems and power. even the the people that don't support isil or maliki will be seen it an attack on the population. >> reporter: this will be fought by nonstate actors and regional players, iraq's longest neighbor and long-time crit immaterial saudi a raper blaming [inaudible] for the problem. >> we reject any international intervention in the countries of the region, we also support the rightful demands of the people in those countries. >> reporter: this crisis was years in the making. it is hard to see what options the u.s. has left when turkey has dismissed the idea of air strikes. and

authorisation for moves in iraq and discussed ways to strengthen their security forces and pushing the nouri al-maliki government to set aside sectarian issues. reports were concerned that the nouri al-maliki asked for military aid. >> we have a request from the iraqi government for air power. >> you do. >> we do. >> do you think it's in our national security interest to hop our that request? >> it's in our security interest to counter i.s.i.l. >> i'm joined from baghdad by omar al saleh. reports say i.s.i.l. has taken the large oil refinery, an rouky military source de -- iraqi military source denies that. what have you heard? >> we spoke to a person who works there, through a relative. he said that the rebels controlled the refinery and staff were asked to leave. we understand that the refinery is understand control of the rebels. another source says that 75% of the refinery is under control of the i.s.i.l. fighters. now, the government is refuting all of this, saying they managed to repel the attack and kill between 50 to 60 fighters. and they say they are in control of this refinery. conflicting r

the priority is to fight nouri al-maliki. the world should help us in our cause, and we'll deal with i.s.i.l. as long as iran is in iraq i.s.i.l. will remain, and as long as sunnis are being repressed, the fighting will continue. >> reporter: human rights groups say government forces are carrying out mass killings. this is a road to baghdad. amnesty international says there appears to have been a pattern of extrajudicial killings. every day that passes brings a share of death and destruction. the risk for iraq is as the conflict widens, the voices of moderation will be drowned out. >>> hong kong is voting on the final day of an informal referendum calling for a democratic way to elect a leader. the 10-day poll is organised by protest groups. several hundred thousands have been voted. campaigners want to choose their chief executive instead of picking one from a list of candidates nominated by the chinese deposit. >>> north korea fired short-raping miss -- short-range missiles in the ocean. it comes days after south korea test

nouri al-maliki alienated his own community. what are his solutions, if you say he has to share. >> that's the major point. if you don't have the people assistance to fight the militants, you won't succeed. we have a successful example of what happened in 2006, 2006. the awakening group. they are the people, and they fought at that time. they succeeded to secure at that time. what happened, he attacked them, the waking group and didn't give them salaries, he didn't give them weapon, because they are afraid of him. at the end time. he is dependent on unprofessional leaders, unprofessional security leaders. that they get in touch by the i.s.i.l. the most important thing now, does mr maliki want a real share of the security decision. this is important thing. while iraq is going to give him the marriage si, does he give promises to the politicians that he will share the security, planning the security decisions. no one knows. until now, no one trusts mr maliki. each the people of his provinces. until now they are afraid from the arm

attend a parliamentary session, they would be considered traitors, and would be accepting of nouri al-maliki. >> reporter: a national salvation government has been dismissed by nouri al-maliki. he called for the parliament to meet, to discuss the process of forming a government. a more inclusive government is a key demand. it wants it in place before insisting the iraqi government if as what it calls military threats. >> reporter: washington is in a difficult position. sunni groups are taking part, and sunnis report the rebellion. the u.s. can't be seen as taking seeds in what is -- taking suds in what is seen as a shia war. once they cooperated with the u.s., but years later they are refusing to fight the islamic state of iraq and levant, until the u.s. reviews policies. >> translation: it needs to review support to the government. some of the statements are unacceptable, like when they say they'll support the iraqi army, what army. there's no army. they are nouri al-maliki's sectarian militias. they are the real threat. >> this conflict has been in the making for years. forming a governmen

is happening right now on the ground that iraq splinters across ethno-sectarian lines. >> if nouri al-maliki does not step down or take measures to seriously moderate his authoritarianism, and his sectarian conduct its likely that iraq will splinter along ethno-sectarian lines. >> you think it may take nouri al-maliki actually stepping down to quell what is happening right now? >> he's the one who created this crisis. after u.s. troops withdrew, he attacked hi. he has fractured the alliances that u.s. forces cemented with sunni tribes. >> and you were there. you were there when this was happening. and so the question then becomes this was tensionally handed to nouri al-maliki, and what did he do with it? >> i think he thought and i think president obama thought the war was won. with the withdraw of the american force was have no serious impact, and in al' al maliki's view, he could rule without blow back, and this is what he gets. >> the more authoritarian he behaves the stronger the isil becomes? >> yes. it's only part of the organization. it is supported by sunni tribes on the ground, in n

political group, the prime minister is a shia, they have begun to openly criticise prime minister nouri al-malikia key politician told al jazeera that it can be somebody from prime minister nouri al-maliki's party, but not somebody - can't be him. others have gone further. sunni politicians saying there needs to be a redrawing, a more unified government. iraqi governments is about building alliances. the prime minister won the popular vote, and got the most seats in the election. that is not enough. he needs political support from the other key parties within the iraqi political system. he doesn't have that. >> thank you imran, imran khan reporting live from baghdad. sunnis in iraq have not responded to the call to policemening allegiance -- pledge allegiance to the armed group. sunni making up 79% in the north and west. around 15% of the country is kurdish. shia'as make up 59% of the population. as you can see from the map, there's large areas that are mixed. >> members of the government welcomed the israeli prime minister's call for an independent kurdish state. binyamin netanyahu is the first

i think so we like nouri al maliki because the multinational corporations have come back into iraq after saddam hussein nationalize the oil in the one nine hundred seventy s. and the oil companies as well as other western companies now it's a feeding frenzy on the dying carcass of iraq so we will do what we want to to defend our interests the funny thing is that we are now. collaborating with iran who also wants the sectarian maliki government to stay and so both of us are arming nouri al maliki and that's an interesting situation really is what do you see the future of the country ten years from no delay what will stop and the bloodshed and just utter destruction well i don't know whether it'll be ten years whether it be one year whether it'll be fifty years but this is the history of iraq and iraqis know their history very well they have seen the highs and the lows and they as i said unbelievable resilience to keep going and keep struggling for their families their city and and their country there is no there was no. divisiveness before the occupation showed up and what they want to re

it was nouri al-maliki that wanted them out as part of a nationalist agenda. i wouldn't be surprised if an american presence is bolstered. it's interesting that a lot of debate is echos of vietnam where american military advisors wept in and years later tens of thousands of troops. clearly, the key question is is the main objective here to defeat i.s.i.s., or is it, for obama, to avoid being dragged into a middle eastern conflict. it's clearly a huge priority. >>> exactly and a huge reluctance by washington to get involved. what do you think tipped washington into sending 300 special forces to iraq. was it the takeover of saddam hussein's chemical research development base? >> well, that. also the capture of oil facilities, it's incredible what happened over the last 11 days. i.s.i.s. put it's on the map. everyone is being caught short by what has happened. i think the americans are playing catch up as we all are. it's a serious tactical and strategic concern having what's going on, going on. >>> thank you for joining us on al jazeera. >>> let's go to sport an

nouri al-maliki rejects calls for an interim national government. unexploded and in the lebanese blowsl, a suicide bomber himself up at a beirut hotel. -- eyes france prepares to take on ecuador. we look at what is at stake. nigeria and argentina have