PARIS: The United States urged Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday to do what they can to encourage Iraq to form an inclusive government to tackle Islamist militant forces threatening to tear apart the country.

In a frenetic round of meetings in Paris, Secretary of State John Kerry briefed his counterparts about US intelligence-gathering on potential targets in Iraq aimed at beating back the insurgency, according to senior State Department officials.

He made clear Washington had not decided whether to launch air strikes “but reserves the right to do so,” the officials told reporters, adding that none of the countries offered military assistance.

The foreign ministers of the three Arab states expressed concerns with the current leadership in Iraq, the officials said. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has long had chilly relations with Sunni Gulf states, which view him as too close to Iran.

“We share concerns and we are as focused as they are on making sure the next Iraqi government is inclusive and is formed in the near future,” a US official said.

“While there is no silver lining in a process like that, we do hope it infuses a sense of urgency into the process.” Amid the possibility of air strikes, Kerry briefed the ministers on his recent talks with Maliki in which he urged him to form an inclusive government bridging sectarian splits that have been exploited by Islamist in­sur­ge­nts.—Reuters

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2014