BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi lawmakers elected a veteran Kurdish
politician on Thursday to replace long-serving Jalal Talabani as the
country’s new president in the latest step toward forming a new
government. But a series of attacks killed dozens of people and Islamic
militants destroyed a Muslim shrine traditionally said to be the burial
place of the Prophet Jonah, underscoring the overwhelming challenges
facing the divided nation.
The 76-year-old Fouad Massoum, one of
the founders of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party led by the
previous president, Talabani, accepted the position after winning
two-thirds of the votes in parliament, noting the "huge security,
political and economic tasks" facing the next government.
Iraq is
facing its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops amid
the blitz offensive launched last month by al-Qaida breakaway Islamic
State group, which captured large swaths of land in the country’s west
and north, including Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul. The militants
have also seized a huge chunk of territory straddling the Iraq-Syria
border and declared a self-styled caliphate in the territory they
control, imposing their harsh interpretation of Islamic law.
As
Massoum was named president, the Islamic militants blew up a revered
Muslim shrine in Mosul traditionally said to be the burial place of the
Prophet Jonah, several residents of the city told The Associated Press.
The
militants first ordered everyone out of the Mosque of the Prophet
Younis, or Jonah, then blew it up, the residents said, speaking on
condition of anonymity for fear for their own safety. Several nearby
houses were also damaged by the blast, they said.
The mosque was
built on an archaeological site dating back to 8th century BC and is
said to be the burial place of the prophet, who in stories from both the
Bible and Quran is swallowed by a whale. It was renovated in the 1990’s
under Iraq’s late dictator Saddam Hussein and until the June militant
blitz, remained a popular destination for religious pilgrims from around
the world.
In Baghdad, a double car bombing ripped through the
busy commercial district of Karradah as people gathered at dusk to break
their daily fast for the holy month of Ramadan, killing 21 people and
wounding 33 and sending smoke billowing over the city, police and
hospital officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they
were not authorized to talk to media.
Earlier in the day,
militants fired mortar shells on an army base holding suspects facing
terrorism charges in Taji, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of
Baghdad. As the prisoners were being evacuated by bus to prevent a
jailbreak, the militants attacked with roadside bombs, igniting a
gunbattle that left 52 prisoners and eight soldiers dead, the officials
said, adding that another eight soldiers and seven prisoners were
wounded in the gunbattle.
It was not immediately clear if the
prisoners were killed by soldiers or militants, or if the Islamic State
group was involved. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the
attack. In the past, militants have staged several jailbreaks in Iraq,
including a complex, military-style assault on two Baghdad-area prisons
in July 2013 that freed more than 500 inmates.
Iraq’s large,
U.S.-trained and equipped military has largely melted away in the face
of the onslaught by the Islamic State group, sapping morale and public
confidence in its ability to stem the tide, let alone claw back turf
lost to the extremists. Following a meeting with Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki in Baghdad on Thursday, Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S.
Central Command, warned that "in the absence of political movement, any
support the U.S. government might consider providing could have only
limited, short-term effects."
The post of Iraq’s president —
previously held by the ailing Talabani — is largely symbolic but
Thursday’s election marked a step toward achieving consensus among
political rivals, badly needed if Iraq is to tackle the unprecedented
security crisis.
A native in what is now the regional Iraqi
Kurdish capital of Irbil, Massoum entered politics when he was 16 years
old, taking part in Kurdish-organized demonstrations and joining the
Kurdistan Democratic Party in 1964.
From 1973 to 1975, he was the
Cairo representative of Kurdish rebels battling the Arab-dominated
government in Baghdad, then went on to establish the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan with six other Kurdish politicians, including Talabani.
Under
an unofficial agreement dating back to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion,
Iraq’s presidency is held by a Kurd while the prime minister is Shiite
and the parliament speaker is Sunni.
The next step in Iraq’s
political transition will be for Massoum to select a candidate for prime
minister who will try to form a new government.
Al-Maliki’s bloc
won the most seats in April elections but has faced mounting pressure to
step aside, with critics accusing him of monopolizing power and
alienating the country’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities, contributing to
the latest unrest.
Al-Maliki has, however, vowed to remain in the post he has held since 2006.
U.N.
chief Ban Ki-moon on a visit to Iraq on Thursday urged lawmakers to
"find a common ground" so they can address the crisis sparked by the
Islamic State, whose push has threatened to fracture Iraq.
At a
press conference with al-Maliki, Ban said Iraq is facing an "existential
threat," but one that could be overcome if it forms a "thoroughly
inclusive government."
Al-Maliki said he is committed to quickly
forming a government. "Despite the fact that we have problems … we are
moving at a confident pace to implement the mechanisms of the
democratic work," he said.
Ban strongly condemned the persecution
of religious and ethnic minority groups by the Islamic State and other
extremists, and offered continued U.N. support to the refugees fleeing
the violence.
Ban also met with Iraq’s most revered and
influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in the
southern city of Najaf.
"In this time of crisis, when we see the
shocking treatment of minorities by the Islamic State," al-Sistani
"continues to preach peace, love and unity among all" Iraqis, Ban said.
___
Associated
Press writers Murtada Faraj, Sinan Salaheedin and Vivian Salama in
Baghdad, Jan Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Edith M. Lederer at the
United Nations contributed to this report.