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| Iraq crisis: Obama says US 'broke Mt Sinjar siege' | Iraq crisis: Obama says US 'broke Mt Sinjar siege' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| President Barack Obama has paid tribute to US forces for an operation in northern Iraq that helped "break a siege" and rescue tens of thousands of displaced people. | President Barack Obama has paid tribute to US forces for an operation in northern Iraq that helped "break a siege" and rescue tens of thousands of displaced people. |
| Mr Obama said the situation on Mount Sinjar had greatly improved. | Mr Obama said the situation on Mount Sinjar had greatly improved. |
| Many of those displaced had now left the mountain and further rescue operations were not envisaged, he said. | Many of those displaced had now left the mountain and further rescue operations were not envisaged, he said. |
| However, Mr Obama said the US would continue carrying out air strikes against Islamic State (IS) militants. | |
| Iraqi and Kurdish forces who were fighting the militants would also continue to receive US military assistance, Mr Obama said. | |
| 'Modestly hopeful' | |
| The president re-emphasised the need for Iraqis to find a political solution to the crisis, describing the prospect of a new and inclusive government, led by Haider al-Abadi, as an "enormous opportunity". | |
| "He still has a challenging task in putting a government together, but we are modestly hopeful that the... situation is moving in the right direction," Mr Obama said. | |
| Mr Abadi, a deputy speaker of parliament, has been asked by the Iraqi president to form a new government. However, the current Prime Minister, Nouri Maliki, whose coalition won the most seats in April's election, has vowed to contest the move in court. | |
| Mr Maliki said the move violated the constitution. | |
| Iraq's military response to a rapid advance by IS has been hampered by political chaos in Baghdad. | |
| On 29 June, the militant group said it had created a caliphate, or Islamic state, stretching from Aleppo in Syria to the province of Diyala in Iraq. |