* U.S.-led coalition has so far been absent from offensive * Iranian advisers have coordinated operations on ground * Iran-backed Shi'ite militias fighting with Iraqi forces (Adds context) By Richard Mably, Samia Nakhoul and Ned Parker BAGHDAD, March 24 (Reuters) - Iraq's request to the U.S.-led coalition for air strikes in the campaign to retake Tikrit from Islamic State insurgents is "imminent", a senior diplomat from a Western nation that is part of the coalition told Reuters on Tuesday. There was ** immediate confirmation from the Iraq government about the request, which the diplomat said would be positively received. The coalition has been absent so far from the Tikrit campaign launched three weeks ago, the largest to be undertaken by the Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militias since Islamic State overran a third of the country last year.
03-24-2015, 08:51 PM
Iraq request for U.S.-led Tikrit air strikes "imminent" -diplomat
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