Iraqi leaders should rise above their differences: Kerry

He added that efforts made by the US would be successful only if Iraqi leaders embrace a political plan together

Secretary of State John Kerry said the US is committed to fight back the Sunni militants who are inching closer to Baghdad, but America's efforts would be successful only if Iraqi leaders embrace a political process shunning differences.

He said the efforts made by the US "will only be successful if Iraqi leaders rise above their differences and embrace a political plan that defines Iraq's future through the political process, not through insurgency and conflict."

"That will require diplomacy and it will require willpower, leadership, decisions by those who really hold Iraq's future in their hands. And we will be working very hard on all of this in the next few days," he said.

"So if there is to be a solution, recognising that ISIL is a threat to everybody in the region... We still know that unless there is a coming together, an elimination of the mistrust, an addressing of the sense of isolation of different segments of Iraqi society, there is no single military solution," he said.

Kerry said it is crucial that the government formation process, that is now underway, be affected as rapidly as possible.

"The people of Iraq had an election. They've made their choices, and they have a parliamentary system with factions coming together to choose a prime minister and choose a government," he said.

"That process has to be played out as rapidly as possible, so the security of Iraq is determined by Iraqis, and that would be the greatest single step taken to have an impact on the outcome of this current conflict," he added.