Salim al-Juburi

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres called on March 30 for protection of civilians to be the "absolute priority" as he visited Iraq, where hundreds of thousands are caught up in the battle for Mosul.

Iraqi lawmakers approved five of the prime minister's candidates for a new cabinet on April 27 after weeks of delays and chaos at parliament, as thousands of people demonstrated for reforms.

But some MPs, who were barred from attending after chanting for the parliament speaker's removal and disrupting an earlier session, said they would mount a legal challenge.

Embattled Iraqi parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi April 19 announced the suspension of parliament sessions "until further notice" after a week of turmoil during which lawmakers brawled and sought to sack him.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has delivered a list of ministerial candidates to parliament, speaker Salim al-Juburi said on April 12.
 
"We received the names from Mr. Prime Minister with their resumes, and MPs can vote to reject or accept the names that will be presented," said a post on Juburi's official Twitter account.
 

United States and Iraqi authorities were searching on Jan. 18 for three Americans who were kidnapped in Baghdad, the latest group of foreign nationals abducted in recent months.

Kidnappers have recently seized Qataris and Turks, but it has been years since Americans were abducted, and Iraqis have suffered the most from kidnappers seeking ransoms or to settle scores.

Former Iraqi premier Nuri al-Maliki on August 18 dismissed as "worthless" a parliamentary report blaming him and others for the jihadist takeover of second city Mosul last year.

The operation by Iraqi government and allied forces to liberate Anbar and its capital Ramadi from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) was launched too soon, Parliament Speaker Salim al-Juburi said May 27.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Baghdad on March 30 for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other top officials.
      
Ban first met President Fuad Masum and Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and was also due to meet parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi before holding talks with Abadi.
      

Iraqi MPs approved a new cabinet on Sept. 8 but key security posts remained unfilled, as America's top diplomat prepared to visit the region to build a coalition against jihadists.

Iraq's parliament on July 24 elected veteran Kurdish politician Fuad Masum as federal president, a move that paves the way for the much-delayed formation of a new government.
      
Parliament Speaker Salim al-Juburi announced that Masum, who was born in 1938 and became the first prime minister of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan more than two decades ago, had won the most votes.