DHAKA: Iraq prime minister Nouri Maliki has rejected calls for a national salvation government to help counter the offensive by jihadist-led Sunni rebels.

Such calls represented a ‘coup against the constitution and an attempt to end the democratic experience’, he warned, reports the BBC.

The US has led appeals to the country’s political leaders to rise above sectarian and ethnic divisions.

Government forces have been unable to recapture the territory seized by the rebels this month.

Almost half of the 300 US military advisers assigned to help the Iraqi security forces have arrived and are to start work on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the crisis in Iraq is being discussed by Nato leaders meeting in Brussels.

They have been joined by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has just returned from a two-day visit to Baghdad and Irbil.

BDST: 1956 HRS, JUNE 25, 2014