Al-Maliki pleads for Western support and calls for state of emergency

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki called on the international community to immediately support Iraq in the wake of the fall of Mosul to insurgents.

Al-Maliki appealed to the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab League for immediate support after Mosul was taken over by gunmen, which was followed by the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from the city.

The prime minister also called on the Iraqi parliament to declare a state of emergency in the country.

A curfew was imposed in Tikrit for fear that the militants could progress from Nineveh to Saladin.

Gunmen seized the vital areas and sites in Mosul, and were able to defeat the Iraqi forces, who handed over their weapons to the Peshmerga forces near Erbil to prevent the weapons from falling into the hands of insurgents.