Iraq Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has put out a new plea for Iraqis living in cities controlled by the Sunni militant group known as the Islamic State to join the army and take part in what he calls the "clearing journey".
"We have started the clearing journey for these areas and our decision is that the end of this terrorist group, IS and al-Qaida, will be Iraq. But I say to the people of these areas, your presence and participation in the clearing movement in these areas has become essential and necessary, so I call upon you to volunteer and join the formations of army and volunteers and be ready, take arms, and join training to turn this painful page that Iraq has undergone."
Al-Maliki also says the Iraqi government has set aside 500 billion Iraqi dinars, or some 430 million US dollars, to displaced Iraqis forced to flee the Islamic militants.
Meanwhile, the French government says it is ready to offer asylum to the estimated 35-thousand Iraqi Christians in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Right now more than a million Iraqis are classified as internally displaced or refugees.
The Islamic State currently controls large swaths of northern Iraq and eastern Syria.
