Members of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces take their positions during clashes with the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the city of Ramadi June 19, 2014. Picture taken June 19, 2014.
Iraq's Shi'ite Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the majority sect's most influential cleric, called for Iraq's political blocs to agree on the next government's prime minister, parliament speaker and president before parliament meets Tuesday.
He said that after a presidential decree that called for the new parliament to convene Tuesday, "what is required of the political blocs is to agree on the three presidencies within the remaining days to this date".
© Thomson Reuters 2014