Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks at a United States Institute of Peace (USIP) forum on Iraq's transition in Washington October 31, 2013. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister urged people in the besieged city of Falluja on Monday to drive out al Qaeda-linked insurgents to pre-empt a military offensive that officials said could be launched within days.
In a statement on state television, Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite Muslim whose government has little support in Sunni-dominated Falluja, called on tribal leaders to drive out militants who last week seized key towns in the desert leading to the Syrian border.
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