 Maliki says he has accepted the candidacy of Haider al-Abadi, nominated by the president to form a government 
 
 Nouri al-Malki, the embattled prime minister of Iraq, announced on Thursday that he was stepping down after support from his party and associates in parliament slipped away. Maliki for days has refused to step aside, saying the nomination violates the constitution. “I announce before you today, to facilitate the functioning of the political process and the formation of a new government, the withdrawal of my candidacy in favor of brother Haider al-Abadi,” Maliki said during the speech, in which he listed his achievements since taking office in 2006. By stepping aside, Maliki ends his legal challenge to al-Abadi’s nomination as leader, which he had launched earlier in the week after learning that he would not be asked by new President, Fouad Massoum to form a government. “These are encouraging developments that we hope can set Iraq on a new path and unite its people against the threat presented” by the Islamic State, said a statement by Susan E. Rice, President Obama’s national security adviser. A week ago, an American air campaign was launched in the country’s north, where Islamic State militants have been threatening the forces of the semiautonomous Kurdish region and driving huge numbers of refugees — many from minority religious groups — to flee their homes. In comments Thursday before Maliki’s announcement, Obama said that Abadi “still has a challenging task in putting a government together, but we are modestly hopeful that the Iraqi government situation is moving in the right direction.” 
 
 In his speech, Maliki said he had withdrawn the legal case he had lodged against President Fouad Massoum for nominating Abadi to form a government. Maliki was persuaded to stand down after a meeting with senior members of his party Thursday evening, said Saad al-Muttalibi, who belongs to the ruling State of Law coalition.
– Nouri al-Maliki finally took the hint: He's giving up his fight to serve a third term as prime minister of Iraq, reports the BBC. State TV says Maliki has agreed to step down in favor of Haider al-Ibadi, even though Maliki had called Ibadi's appointment unconstitutional and raised fears of a coup by deploying his elite security forces in Baghdad. “The problem is resolved," a member of Maliki’s State of Law coalition tells the Washington Post. Maliki has given Ibadi his "full backing" and "emphasized the need for unity.” Maliki was expected to address the nation tonight. Iraq's president has given Ibadi 30 days to form a government, and the US is pushing him to do what Maliki would not—establish one that includes Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds in substantive ways. That's a big reason that while Maliki has been in power for eight years, the White House is happy to see him go. With today's move, Maliki was "bowing to the inevitable," write Julian Borger and Spencer Ackerman in the Guardian. "He had lost the support of his party, of the president, the parliament, the Americans, Saudis and finally the Iranian government, his biggest foreign ally and sponsor."