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Iraq struggles to drive back IS

Top US official says Baghdad needs outside help to regain territory

Agencies
Baghdad's forces yesterday struggled to break a military stalemate with Sunni militants, as US officials reached out to key leaders to push for an end to political chaos in Iraq.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has offered an amnesty aimed at undercutting support for the militants who have overrun large areas of Iraq, after the new parliament's first session ended in farce, with MPs walking out instead of working on government formation.
With calls for politicians to come together unsuccessful, Washington contacted Iraqi and regional players individually, with President Barack Obama calling Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah and Vice President Joe Biden talking to former Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a prominent Sunni leader.
The White House said Biden and Nujaifi agreed on the importance of Iraqis "moving expeditiously to form a new government capable of uniting the country".
Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile phoned Kurdish leader Massud Barzani and stressed the important role the Kurds could play in a new unity government in Baghdad, seen as vital to meeting the challenge of Islamic State (IS) jihadists, who have led the militant offensive,
spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Under a de facto agreement, Iraq's premier is a Shia Arab, the speaker Sunni Arab and the president a Kurd. Iraq's legislature would reconvene on July 8 if leaders were able to agree on senior posts.
On the ground, Iraqi forces were struggling to break a stalemate with militants after initially wilting before the onslaught. They have since performed better, albeit with limited offensive success.
Meanwhile, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, yesterday said that Iraqi forces had shored up their defenses around Baghdad but would need outside help to eventually regain territory lost to Sunni militants.
But the Iraqi army's shortcomings did not necessarily mean the United States would have to take military action, he said.
A police lieutenant colonel said security forces yesterday clashed with militants near Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, which they have been unsuccessfully fighting to retake in a highly-touted operation for over a week.
The cost of the conflict has been high for Iraq's forces, with nearly 900 security personnel among 2,400 people killed in June, the highest figure in years, according to UN.
Elsewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia was reported by state media to have deployed 30,000 soldiers to its border with Iraq after Iraqi soldiers withdrew, leaving the border unprotected. The state news agency SPA said King Abdullah had ordered all necessary measures to protect the