State Dept.: US ‘fully supports’ Iraq’s president

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The United States said Sunday it “fully supports” Iraq’s new president, just hours after embattled Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki accused him of violating the constitution.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. rejects any effort to use coercion or manipulation in the process of choosing a new Iraqi leader. She said the U.S. supports the process to select a prime minister “by building a national consensus and governing in an inclusive manner.”

President Barack Obama last week approved limited airstrikes against Islamic State fighters, whose rapid rise in June plunged Iraq into its worst crisis since the end of 2011, when U.S. troops withdrew from the country at the end of an unpopular eight-year war. Obama said the current military campaign would be a “long-term project” to protect civilians from the deadly and brutal insurgents.