U.S. official says backs Iraq president after Maliki vows to stay on

U.S. President Barack Obama gestures as he speaks to the media on the situation in Iraq on the South Lawn of the White House, before his departure for vacation at Martha's Vineyard, in Washington August 9, 2014. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior U.S. official for Iraq said on Sunday he fully supported Iraqi President Fouad Masoum after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who the United States has blamed for stoking Iraq's security crisis, accused Masoum of violating the constitution.

"Fully support President of Iraq Fouad Masoum as guarantor of the Constitution and a (prime minister) nominee who can build a national consensus," Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk said on his Twitter feed.