Allawi warns Iraq could be 'dismembered' unless Al-Maliki leaves

A former Iraqi prime minister has called on the outgoing incumbent, Nouri Al-Maliki, to give up his bid for a third term, or risk the “dismemberment” of Iraq, Reuters has reported.

In an interview on Saturday, the secular Shia Ayad Allawi said that “it’s time for Al-Maliki to leave the scene”, failing which, he claimed, “there will be more violence [and] the security situation will deteriorate.”

On Friday, Al-Maliki insisted that he would run for a third term, an announcement which complicated efforts to form a new government.

“It is not a matter of changing faces,” insisted Allawi. “It is a matter of agreeing on a road map, to get Iraq from where it is now to a brighter future.” The ex-prime minister said that such a road map should incorporate two important areas. “One is the issue of reconciliation. The second is starting to lay down the ground to build the institutions of the state.”

Allawi called for a meeting with the aim of preserving Iraq’s unity and preventing the spread of the conflict into other areas.

He criticised the government’s approach in confronting insurgency: “The element of using army and aircraft to hit at provinces cannot distinguish between civilian groups and military or terrorist groups; this can be very dangerous and backfire on the political situation.”