Calls for unity government rejected by Iraq PM Nouri Maliki

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has rejected calls for a national salvation government to help counter the offensive by jihadist-led Sunni rebels.

Such calls represented a "coup against the constitution and an attempt to end the democratic experience", he warned.

The US has told Mr Maliki that Iraq needs an administration that represents all its religious and ethnic groups.

Government forces have been unable to recapture the vast swaths of territory seized by the rebels this month.