Iraqi PM hopes Russian and Belarus jets will neutralise ISIS rebels

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri Maliki is hoping that jets purchased from Russia and Belarus will turn the tide against the rebels in the coming days.

Insisting that he is the duly elected prime minister of his country, Maliki said that he remains determined to destroy the dens of the terrorists', and added that had proper air cover been in place, the advance of the rebels could have been stopped.

In an interview to the BBC's Arabic service, his first since Isis - the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant - began its major offensive, Maliki said: "I'll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract [with the US]. We should have sought to buy other jet fighters like British, French and Russian to secure the air cover for our forces; if we had air cover we would have averted what had happened."

He said Iraq was acquiring second-hand jet fighters from Russia and Belarus "that should arrive in Iraq in two or three days".

The United States, which backs the Iraqi government, has stressed that the militants can only be defeated by Iraq's own forces.

Iraq has also been receiving support from Iran, with whom its Shia Muslim leaders have close links. Tehran has reportedly sent some of its military advisers to Baghdad to coordinate the government's offensive against the rebels more effectively.

Maliki also confirmed that Syrian forces had carried out air strikes against Islamist militants at a border crossing between Iraq and Syria.

He said Iraq had not requested the strikes but that it "welcomed" them.

So far, the Iraqi army has been unable to launch a strategic counter-offensive to drive the rebels back.

Maliki is trying to form a new government but has rejected calls to create an emergency coalition which would include all religious and ethnic groups.

He said on Wednesday that forming a broad emergency government would go against the results of April's parliamentary elections, which were won by his alliance of Shia parties.