Iraq PM says Kurdish Arbil becoming a base for 'Islamic State' militants

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday the Kurdish-controlled city of Arbil was becoming an operations base for the Islamic State militant group that seized swathes of northern and western Iraq last month.

Maliki is under pressure as Sunni Muslim militants, led by the al Qaeda offshoot Islamic State, hold large parts of the north and west of the country and have threatened to march on the capital.