Iraq's outgoing PM Maliki slams Abadi as PM-designate

BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraq's outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki slammed Tuesday the appointment of Haider al-Abadi as the Prime Minister-designate, saying that this is "not less dangerous than the fall of Mosul."
"We are faced with a violation of the Iraqi constitution… The Federal Court must clarify this issue as soon as possible," Maliki told reporters after a meeting with military commanders and law enforcement officials in Iraqi capital, Bagdad. Maliki said that he told security officials to refrain from political debate in the country.
Iraq's president Fuad Masum asked on Monday the deputy chairman of the Iraqi parliament, Haider al-Abadi, to form a government, snubbing incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The United States, Turkey together with Kurdish, Sunni, anti-Maliki Shiite groups have welcomed the nomination. Abadi must form a unity coalition government within 30 days in conflict-torn Iraq.
Maliki, prime minister since 2006, had been held partially responsible for creating the current crisis. The violence in Iraq escalated in early June after a coalition of armed groups linked to the Islamic State, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, took control of large swathes of the country's predominantly Sunni provinces including Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.