Eurasia Press & News
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius urged Iraq’s bickering leaders on Sunday to form an inclusive government capable of countering Islamic State militants advancing through the north of the country.
“Iraq is in need of a wide unity government, and all Iraqis should feel that they are represented in this government, and all Iraqis should feel they are represented to take part in this battle against terrorism,” Fabius told a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad.
Laurent Fabius arrived in Baghdad on Sunday for talks with officials on efforts to confront Islamic State militants who have advanced across northern Iraq, state television reported.
Kurdish officials said Fabius would later travel to their regional capital Arbil for further talks.
The Islamic State has captured wide swathes of northern Iraq since June, executing non-Sunni Muslim captives and minorities, displacing tens of thousands of people and drawing the first US air strikes in the region since Washington withdrew troops in 2011.
After routing Kurdish forces last week, the militants are just 30 minutes’ drive from Arbil, the Iraqi Kurdish capital, which until now has been spared the sectarian bloodshed that has scarred other parts of Iraq for a decade.
The possibility of an attack on Arbil has prompted foreigners working for oil companies to leave Arbil and Kurds to stock up on weapons at the arms bazaar.
