Iraqi group demands al-Maliki's resignation

The Iraqi National List, led by former interim PM Ayad Allawi, has called on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to resign over the country's deteriorating security situation. A statement issued by the coalition group on Thursday  held the government responsible for failure to provide security to ordinary Iraqi citizens. The group claimed that aside from the spate of bombings that hit Baghdad and areas nearby, opposition politicians were being targeted for holding a different view to the government. Allawi's group said that Maliki, as commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, should pay the price for every drop of blood shed during the recent violence and urged him to step aside for the betterment of Iraq. Car bombs struck Shiite neighbourhoods of the Iraqi capital and a northern city on Thursday, killing 16 people. The attacks followed a wave of bombings Wednesday that also struck in mainly in Shiite neighbourhoods, killing 33 people and raising concerns over a return to the sectarian bloodshed in Iraq.