Iraq PM threatens early poll as fresh violence flares

Iraq’s prime minister Nuri al-Maliki says he will call for early elections unless a solution is found to the country’s six-month-long political crisis.

A deadlock over power-sharing has crippled the government with Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish political blocks at odds since US troops left in December.

Maliki’s critics have been seeking a vote of no confidence against the Shi’ite leader, accusing him of trying to consolidate power at their expense.

The prime minister’s threat comes amid fresh violence, with at least 11 people killed in and around Baghdad. Bombs planted near a Shi’ite politician’s house claimed at least eight lives.

Some 180 people have reportedly been killed since mid-June, raising fears of a return to the widespread sectarian violence seen in Iraq in 2006 and 2007.

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