Maliki Rejects Ceding Power as Kirkuk Is Hit by Blast

Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected calls to relinquish power and allow the formation of a “national salvation” government to counter Sunni militants seeking to break up the country.

In a televised address yesterday, the Shiite premier said the demands by political opponents and even some erstwhile allies amounted to a “coup against the constitution and the political process.” He vowed to pursue the fight against militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda splinter group that seized Mosul, the country’s biggest northern city, and other towns this month.