Iraq says slows Islamist rebel advance, regains some territory

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By Ahmed Rasheed and Raheem Salman BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A Sunni Islamist offensive threatening to dismember Iraq seemed to slow on Saturday after days of lightning advances as government forces reported regaining territory in counter-attacks, easing pressure on Baghdad's Shi'ite-led government. As Iraqi officials spoke of wresting back the initiative against Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant insurgents (ISIL), neighboring Shi'ite Iran held out the prospect of working with its longtime U.S. arch-enemy to help restore security in Iraq. In a visit to Samarra, a major town in ISIL's sights 100 km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to defeat the rebels who caused international shock waves when they overran the Sunni northwest of Iraq earlier this week.




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