BAGHDAD: Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Thursday agreed to step aside and declared his support for his nominated replacement in the post.

Maliki agreed to endorse Haidar al-Abadi following a meeting of Dawa party members in Baghdad, ending the deadlock that has plunged Baghdad into political uncertainty, party sources said.

Flanked by Abadi and other politicians, Maliki made the announcement in a recorded message broadcast by Iraqi state television. Dawa officials said Maliki would also drop the legal challenge that he filed against President Fouad Masoum, who named Abadi to the post.

Maliki said he refused to “be a reason for bloodshed” after he faced huge pressure to abandon his quest for a third term in the face of an insurgency, led by the Al-Qaeda splinter group ISIS.