Iraqi president calls for prime minister to step down

IRAQ’S Kurdish president called on the country’s Shi’ite prime minister to step down, the spokesperson for the president’s party said Sunday, escalating a political split between the two factions that make up the government.

Sunni Arab leaders, meanwhile, were angered after the Shi'ite-dominated parliament passed a new ruling on the key October 15 constitutional referendum, making it more difficult for Sunnis to defeat the draft constitution that they oppose.

The political wrangling deepened the splits between Iraq's three main communities amid a constitutional process that was aimed at bringing them together to build a democratic nation.