SYDNEY (AP) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iraq’s new leaders on Tuesday to work quickly to form an inclusive government and said the U.S. is prepared to offer it significant additional aid in the fight against Islamic State militants.
Kerry said the U.S. “stands ready to fully support a new and inclusive Iraqi government” and called on Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Ibadi “to form a new cabinet as swiftly as possible.” As that happens, he said Washington would be ready “to fully support a new and inclusive Iraqi government, particularly in its fight against ISIL,” the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
“Without any question, we are prepared to consider additional political, economic and security options as Iraq starts to build a new government,” Kerry said. He added that the assistance would be “very much calculated to try to help stabilize the security situation, expand economic development and strengthen democratic institutions.”
Kerry’s comments came a day after Iraqi President Fouad Massoum selected al-Ibadi, the deputy speaker of parliament from current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite Dawa party, to be the new prime minister and gave him 30 days to present a new government to lawmakers for approval. But al-Maliki has balked at stepping aside and accused Massoum of violating Iraq’s constitution.
The Obama administration believes new leadership is needed in Iraq, not only to face the immediate crisis of the rise of the Islamist militants but also to restore the confidence of the Iraqi people in democracy. Kerry said a new government should move quickly to resolve numerous initiatives that have stalled under al-Maliki’s premiership, including a long-delayed oil law and constitutional reforms.