ERBIL, Iraq 

Iraqi Vice-President Osama al-Nujaifi on Friday announced the establishment of a new political party dubbed “United for Iraq”.

At a press conference held in Erbil, al-Nujaifi -- who currently leads Iraq’s “United for Reform” bloc -- said the new party was aimed at “saving” the crisis-wracked country “in cooperation with other [Iraqi] political forces”.

He also called for the PKK terrorist group’s expulsion from Iraq and for converting Iraq’s 19 provinces into separate “administrative regions”.

“The [new] party is studying the legal framework in this regard,” he explained, adding: “We have had several offers from other political powers for alliances and coalitions”.

Iraq is gearing up to hold provincial council elections in September, with parliamentary polls slated for sometime next year.

Answering questions about the PKK terrorist presence in the Sinjar district of the northern Nineveh province, al-Nujaifi said: “We don’t accept interference by armed groups, militias, terrorist groups -- like the PKK -- or other states”.

“We won’t accept a PKK presence in Nineveh,” he stressed. “PKK elements must vacate Iraqi territory.”

*Reporting by Arif Yusuf; Writing by Mahmoud Barakat