DHAKA: Iraqi president Fuad Masum has asked the deputy speaker of parliament, Haider al-Abadi, to form a new government.

Abadi has been nominated prime minister by Shia parties, instead of the incumbent Nouri Maliki, reports the BBC.

But Maliki has made it clear he wants to stand for a third term, and pro-Maliki security forces took key sites in Baghdad overnight.

Meanwhile the jihadist insurgency in the north of Iraq continues to cause international concern.

Fighters from the Islamic State (IS) group have made substantial gains in northern Iraq in recent months, forcing tens of thousands of people from religious minorities to flee their homes.

The US has begun supplying weapons to the Kurdish Peshmergas who are fighting the militants, senior US officials have told the Associated Press.

In Baghdad, president Fuad Masum said in a TV address that he hoped Abadi would succeed in forming a government that would ‘protect the Iraqi people’.

Analysts say the announcement is a public snub for Maliki, whose State of Law coalition won the most seats in April’s elections.

BDST: 2142 HRS, AUG 11, 2014