Iraq parliament fails to reach leadership agreement

BAGHDAD , July 1 (UPI) -- Iraq's parliament failed to make progress in choosing new leadership during its first session Tuesday, with no sign of unity in electing a speaker.

The Council of Representatives' session lasted less than two hours, with Kurdish and Sunni politicians declining to return to the chamber after a break. Kurdish parliament members were accused of disloyalty by Shiite supporters of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, and walked out, followed by other members.

Acting Speaker Mahdi al-Hafez said another session will be scheduled next week, "if there is the possibility of an agreement."

The session devolved into insults and threats, despite urgings to unite to fight a Sunni insurgency that has overtaken much of the country and the establishment of a "caliphate" by the invading Islamic State of Iraq and Syria on Iraq and Syrian territory it controls. Maliki's political party won the most votes in April's elections, and he seeks an opportunity to form a coalition government. The country is fracturing along ethnic and religious lines -- Sunni, Shiite and Kurd -- while the militants' advance has taken them to the outskirts of Baghdad, the capital.