Irbil, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's president appointed a new prime minister on Monday, further complicating the country's intense power struggle amid a dire humanitarian crisis and a militant threat strong enough to draw U.S. air power back to the fray.
President Fuad Masum appointed Haider al-Abadi as the country's prime minister, replacing a defiant Nuri al-Maliki with a member of his own party.
It wasn't clear whether al-Maliki would peacefully relinquish power or what impact the situation would have on the country, which is already torn by a threat from Islamist militants so brutal that they crucify people and brag about it online.
"I've never seen Iraq so bad -- ever," CNN national security analyst and former CIA operative Bob Baer said Monday, before the latest political developments.
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The new Prime Minister-designate, al-Abadi, is the deputy speaker of the Iraqi Parliament and a former aide to al-Maliki.
Masum appointed the prominent Shiite politician as prime minister on Monday despite al-Maliki's pronouncement earlier in the day that he intends to stay in office for a third term.
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You've got Nuri al-Maliki refusing to step down. Now he's mobilized not just security troops loyal to him, but now he's mobilized army units to put tanks in the streets," said retired Lt. Col. Rick Francona, a CNN military analyst.
"It looks like he's trying to lock down the city in some sort of confrontation with the President, so this does not portend well."