Thousands of Iraqis line up at a football stadium in Basra Wednesday to register for the army.
A mounting Sunni insurgency in the country has killed more than a thousand people in less than two weeks.
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) 34-YEAR OLD VOLUNTEER, MAAN SALIM, SAYING:
"We responded to a call by Marjiya (Shiite Islam's highest religious authority), and we came. We will go wherever they want us to go, to Mosul, Ramadi and anywhere. We want to die. We want to die in defense of the country"
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Wednesday he's committed to the process of forming a new government --
Despite growing calls from his opponents -- and some of his former allies -- to step down.
(SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) IRAQI PRIME MINISTER NURI AL-MALIKI, SAYING:
"We will attend the first session of parliament in harmony with the constitutional merits and out of the commitment to the call of the Supreme Marjaiya and out of loyalty to our people"
Critics sa
