Ex-PM Maliki making comeback as Iraq's most powerful man


Iraq's former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad January 12, 2014. IRAQ/MALIKI REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani/File Photo

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Nuri al-Maliki is once again positioning himself as Iraq's most powerful man, poised to return as kingmaker in a fight for influence that could decide Iraq's fate as a unified country after the coming battle to recapture Mosul from Islamic State.

Two years after he was pressured to leave office by both the United States and Iran for failing to stop Islamic State fighters from sweeping across the country, the former prime minister still leads a powerful Shi'ite parliamentary bloc.

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