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Iraq army launches Tikrit offensive, politicians elect speaker

World News

15-07-2014 | 02:17

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Iraq army launches Tikrit offensive, politicians elect speaker

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Iraq's army and Shi'ite militia forces launched an assault on Tuesday to retake the city of Tikrit from Islamist militants as parliamentarians in Baghdad prepared to vote for a new speaker, a possible step towards breaking months of political deadlock.

The Defence Ministry said ground troops backed by air support began their offensive at dawn against insurgents, led by the al Qaeda offshoot the Islamic State, who have held Tikrit since mid-June.

If the army and its militia allies retake Tikrit, hometown of Saddam Hussein, it would be the first insurgent-held city to switch back to government control since Iraq's latest crisis erupted last month.

The offensive took place as state television reported that moderate Islamist Sunni politician Salim al-Jabouri was elected as Iraq's new speaker, winning an absolute majority of votes from deputies.

Live television footage broadcast from inside the parliamentary chamber showed Jabouri being congratulated by other lawmakers.

The position of speaker is the first of three leadership posts which Iraq's divided Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish politicians were seeking to agree, three months after a parliamentary election.

The other two posts are the presidency and the prime minister. There was no immediate indication whether the agreement on Jabouri as speaker was part of a wider deal to break the deadlock over Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ambitions for a third term.

REUTERS

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