Iraq PM Nouri Maliki rejects calls for unity government

LONDON. KAZINFORM Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has rejected calls for a government of national unity to help counter the offensive by jihadist-led Sunni rebels.

photo: QAZINFORM

Mr Maliki said an emergency government of this kind would be a "coup against the constitution", BBC News reports.

The US government has called for a new administration that represents all of Iraq's religious and ethnic groups. Government forces have been unable to recapture the vast swaths of territory seized by the rebels this month.