Iraqi parliament in limbo as ISIL declares Islamic caliphate
- 10 years ago
A convoy of ISIL fighters in eastern Syria, Monday.
The black flag of their rebel movement waving over their heads.
Sunni fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant parade through the town of Raqqa.
Their group wants to set up an Islamic caliphate in the region and its fighters now fully control these city streets.
In the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, parliament tries to cope.
The Sunni insurgency threatens to cut Iraq apart along its three main sectarian lines - Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurd.
On Tuesday, Parliament convened for the first time since April elections.
It's under pressure to form an inclusive unity government.
But it failed to name a replacement for embattled Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri-al-Maliki.
And that prompted Sunnis and Kurds to simply walk out, leaving less than a third of lawmakers in the room.
Sunni former speaker of the house Osama al-Nujaifi:
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND THE SUN
The black flag of their rebel movement waving over their heads.
Sunni fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant parade through the town of Raqqa.
Their group wants to set up an Islamic caliphate in the region and its fighters now fully control these city streets.
In the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, parliament tries to cope.
The Sunni insurgency threatens to cut Iraq apart along its three main sectarian lines - Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurd.
On Tuesday, Parliament convened for the first time since April elections.
It's under pressure to form an inclusive unity government.
But it failed to name a replacement for embattled Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri-al-Maliki.
And that prompted Sunnis and Kurds to simply walk out, leaving less than a third of lawmakers in the room.
Sunni former speaker of the house Osama al-Nujaifi:
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND THE SUN