U.S. pressures Iraqi leader to curb sectarian governance

[World News]

By Warren Strobel and Arshad Mohammed WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. security officials prepared on Monday to brief President Barack Obama on options to counter militants threatening Baghdad as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came under increased U.S. pressure to curb religious partisanship in his government. Obama notified Congress on Monday the United States was deploying up to 275 military personnel to provide support and security for U.S. personnel and the country's embassy in Baghdad after militants seized control of the north of the country. Brett McGurk, the State Department point man on Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Stephen Beecroft met with Maliki in Baghdad on Monday as part of a U.S. effort to prod leaders of Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated administration to govern in a less sectarian manner, officials said.

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