Iraq on the edge

Mass exodus by people after islamic terrorists took control of Mosul, Tikrit,Samarra and now insurgents are moving toward Baghdad.Security forces were awaiting orders to begin, the colonel said.Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki travelled to Samarra for a security meeting yesterday, also visiting a revered Shiite shrine in the city, which was bombed by militants in 2006, sparking a sectarian war between Shiites and Sunnis that killed tens of thousands. Maliki, a Shiite, said that "the cabinet granted the prime minister, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces,unlimited powers" to combat the militants, in a statement posted late yesterday on his website.