Britain's Hague arrives in Baghdad, meets Maliki

British Foreign Secretary William Hague arrived in Baghdad on Thursday (June 26) for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki centered around the crisis gripping the country, as militants took a town an hour from Baghdad that is home to four natural gas fields, another gain by Sunni insurgents who have swiftly taken large areas to the north and west of the Iraqi capital.          

Hague is also scheduled to meet with parliament speaker Usamah al-Nujaifi and other political leaders.           

Recently Britain ruled out any military involvement in Iraq, but Hague said a British "operational liaison and reconnaissance team" arrived in Baghdad at the weekend and that Britain would provide humanitarian assistance as needed.              

He has also said that as many as 400 British citizens may be fighting in Syria and that some may also be fighting in Iraq alongside the hardline Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).         

Iraq's presidency said a session of parliament would be held on July 1, the first step to forming a new government that the international community hopes will be inclusive enough to undermine the insurgency.        

The overnight insurgent offensive included Mansouriyat al-Jabal, home to the gas fields where foreign companies operate, security forces said.        

The fighting threatens to rupture the country two and a half years after the end of U.S. occupation.              

The insurgents, led by the hardline ISIL but also including other Sunni groups, blame Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for marginalizing their sect during eight years in power and he is fighting for his job.


REUTERS