MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) - Kurdish ministers who earlier suspended their participation in former Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s government have rejoined the administration, Reuters reported citing reinstated Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, an ethnic Iraqi Kurd.
“I am back in Baghdad as foreign minister,” Zebari was quoted as saying by Reuters.
This comes as a hopeful sign for Iraq, which has been engulfed in political turmoil. Maliki caused outrage among Kurdish leaders when he accused them of harboring Islamic State (IS) militants in the city of Yarbil. The Kurds said they were going to boycott the Maliki government in response to the accusations.
On August 11, Iraqi President Fuad Masum nominated Haider Abadi as the next prime minister and asked him to form a new government, giving him 30 days to do so. Maliki initially did not agree with Abadi’s nomination and said he would take the case to court.
Maliki has since been facing pressure to step aside for a new leader who can oppose IS militants, the biggest threat to the country’s security.
On August 14, Maliki announced his resignation from the post of prime minister in a televised speech and supported his replacement for the post, Haider Abadi.
Abadi has also been endorsed by the United States, European Union, United Nations, League of Arab States, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.
The Sunni Islamic State militant group previously fought in Syria before launching an offensive in Iraq in June, seizing large parts of the country, with the aim of capturing Baghdad. In late June, the IS announced the establishment of an Islamic caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
