IRAQ pleaded with the US yesterday night to launch airstrikes to beat back Islamist fighters who have seized towns and cities across the country.

US President Barack Obama is reportedly considering the request, but domestic pressure is building on him to cut adrift Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shi’ite-dominated government and press for a more inclusive regime.

Mr Maliki has rejected charges of bias and claimed that the crisis has led Iraqis to rediscover “national unity.”

Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey confirmed the US had received a request for air power, but highlighted the uncertain political situation in Iraq.

“The entire enterprise is at risk as long as the political situation is in flux,” he told a Senate panel. 

He added that Iraqi security forces had backed down when confronted by the militants because they had “simply lost faith” in the Baghdad government.

The former CIA chief warned that Washington risked becoming an “airforce for Shi’ite militias,” if it agreed to the request.

And former US commander in Iraq General David Petraeus said there should be no air support without major change in Baghdad.

Meanwhile Iraq’s military insisted government forces had defeated attacks on the oil refinery at Baiji, but other reports claimed the battle was still continuing.

The remaining 250 to 300 workers in the plant were evacuated yesterday morning under an agreement brokered by local tribal leaders.

Foreign workers in other areas are also packing their bags.

Philippines Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose said that 154 Filipinos in the Baghdad area would be pulled out. 

The rest of the 900 Filipino workers in Iraq are located in Kurdistan and will not be asked to leave.

And China’s major oil firms have prepared evacuation plans.

The country has more than 10,000 workers in the country, although most are in the south, far from the current fighting.

“As of today, most Chinese workers have gone to work as usual,” said China National Offshore Oil yesterday.

“But if insurgents attack Baghdad we will pull out of the country immediately.”