Iraqi PM says three months needed to rout Islamic State

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday it would take three months to rout Islamic State, as U.S.-backed forces battle to dislodge the militants from their city stronghold of Mosul. Asked to respond to comments by a commander of the U.S.-led coalition that it would take as long as two years to eliminate Islamic State and its cells in Iraq and Syria, Abadi said: "The Americans were very pessimistic. A U.S. battlefield commander told Reuters on Monday Iraqi forces would resume their o