Qaeda-inspired group says it will march on Baghdad

An al-Qaeda-inspired group that took control of two key Sunni cities in Iraq is vowing to march on Baghdad, even as the Iraqi parliament was expected to hold an emergency session to vote on declaring a state of emergency.  

The Islamic militants have seized two key cities in the country's Sunni heartland north of Baghdad.

Lawmakers were to convene at noon on Thursday to consider a request by embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has asked them to declare the state of emergency following the push by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (AP)