Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari has cancelled a meeting with senior political leaders, apparently to protest against a campaign to oust him.
Kurdish and Sunni leaders are unhappy with Mr Jaafari and have said they will not join a national unity government with him at its head.
This is the latest crisis to hit attempts to form a new government.
Iraq is undergoing one of its worst periods of violence, with 18 people being killed in attacks on Thursday.
In the bloodiest attack, at least nine members of the Iraqi security forces died in an attack on a checkpoint near the northern city of Tikrit.
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