Posted on 04/20/2006 11:46:05 AM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -
0420dv-qna-iraq Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, under intense pressure to give up plans for a second term, agreed Thursday to let Shiite lawmakers reconsider his nomination, a step that could mark a breakthrough in the months-long effort to form a new government.
Key to al-Jaafari's change of heart was pressure from U.N. envoy Ashraf Qazi and his meetings Wednesday with the most powerful Shiite cleric in the country, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical cleric who has backed al-Jaafari, said Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman.
"There was a signal from Najaf," Othman said, referring to al-Sistani's office in the Shiite holy city. "Qazi's meetings with (al-Sistani) and al-Sadr were the chief reason that untied the knot."
Al-Jaafari's turnaround came less than 24 hours after vowing at a televised press conference that he would remain the candidate.
Shiite legislators planned to meet Saturday to decide whether to replace al-Jaafari, who faced fierce opposition from Iraq's Kurdish and Sunni Arab parties.
A planned session of the Iraqi parliament aimed at trying to jump-start the formation of a new government also was delayed until Saturday.
The U.S. and Britain have been pressing hard for the Iraqis to break the deadlock over al-Jaafari's nomination that has persisted since Dec. 15 elections, preventing the creation of a government at a time of increasing sectarian violence.
Among those mentioned as replacements for al-Jaafari were Jawad al-Maliki, spokesman for the prime minister's Dawa party, and another leading Dawa politician Ali al-Adeeb.
Al-Maliki, who fled Iraq in the 1980s and settled in Syria, is a prominent parliament member, but some critics consider him too sectarian, according to alliance members. Al-Adeeb spent most of the 1990s in exile in Iran - and his links to the country could lead to problems with the Americans and Britons as well as many Sunni Arabs who fear Iranian influence.
Sunni and Kurdish parties blamed the incumbent for worsening the tensions - with Sunnis refusing to back al-Jaafari because his government allegedly allowed Shiite militias to infiltrate the Iraqi police and carry out reprisal killings against Sunnis.
Kurds also believed al-Jaafari had broken promises to support their claims in the oil-rich area of Kirkuk. The Kurds want to incorporate the area into their three-province self-governing region.
Al-Jaafari won the alliance nomination two months ago by only one vote, beating Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi with al-Sadr's support.
Stepping up the pressure earlier this month, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw flew to Baghdad and demanded quick action to resolve the impasse. However, several Iraqi figures complained the U.S. and British intervention had prompted al-Jaafari's supporters to dig in their heels against what many Iraqis considered foreign interference.
President Bush also urged the Iraqis to "step up and form a unity government so that those who went to the polls to vote recognize that a government will be in place to respond to their needs."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday that it would ultimately be up to the Iraqis to decide who will lead the next Iraqi government.
"There are some indications that it is, again, moving toward a resolution, and we look forward to working with that next Iraqi government," he said in Washington.
Al-Jaafari said Wednesday that backing down on his nomination was "out of the question." His steadfast refusals had backed the rest of the Shiite coalition into a corner, with many members reluctant to reconsider his nomination for fear of splintering the seven-party alliance.
Al-Maliki told reporters that "circumstances and new situations had occurred," prompting al-Jaafari to refer the nomination back to the alliance "so that it take the appropriate decision."
Bassem Sharif, a lawmaker in the seven-party Shiite coalition, said, "The alliance is leaning toward changing (the nomination). The majority opinion is in favor of this."
Acting speaker Adnan Pachachi later said the Iraqi parliament session scheduled for Thursday would be delayed for two days to allow time "to intensify our efforts to overcome the obstacles," created after Sunnis and Kurds rejected al-Jaafari's nomination.
"I am confident we will succeed in forming the national unity government that all Iraqis are hoping for," Pachachi said.
The largest bloc in parliament, with 130 lawmakers, the Shiite alliance gets to name the prime minister subject to parliament approval. But the Shiites lack the votes in the 275-member parliament to guarantee their candidate's approval unless they have the backing of the Sunnis and Kurds, whom they need as partners to govern.
With the deadlock dragging on, more Shiite lawmakers have shown a willingness to dump him - though they have been reluctant to do so overtly and break the coalition.
Resolution of the prime minister issue could smooth the way for filling other posts, including the president, two vice presidents, parliament speaker and the two deputy speakers. The Shiites could block Sunni and Kurdish candidates for those positions in retaliation for the standoff over al-Jaafari.
Late Wednesday, the Sunnis decided to support Adnan al-Dulaimi for speaker, a post held by a Sunni Arab in the last parliament.
Thursday's parliament session had been intended to vote on the parliament speaker and his deputies. Lawmakers have met briefly only once since the election four months ago.
In the months while the politicians were deadlocked and unable to compromise, sectarian tensions mounted, with continued suicide attacks and reprisal Shiite-Sunni killings since the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra.
Gunmen attacked a Sunni mosque Thursday in the southern Baghdad district of Saidiya, sparking an hour-long clash before dawn with mosque guards and residents.
No casualties were reported, but the walls of the mosque and nearby houses were damaged, police 1st. Lt. Thair Mahmoud said.
The fighting came days after fierce battles in Baghdad's biggest Sunni neighborhood, Azamiyah, that underlined the deep distrust between the country's communities.
In other violence reported by police Thursday:
- Gunmen killed two Sadrist militiamen in a drive-by shooting in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Um al-Maalif. Elsewhere, the bodies of two al-Sadr loyalists were found.
- Armed men broke into a bakery in Baghdad's Dora district and killed two Shiite workers.
- A former officer from Saddam Hussein's security forces was shot to death as he stood near his house in the Shiite city of Karbala.
- A roadside bomb hit a police patrol in the town of Khalis, killing two policemen and a civilian and wounding seven people.
- A roadside bomb killed an Iraqi policeman in Baqouba.
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fyi
This is really good news.
Yes, there is movement!
the x-lax worked
Among those mentioned as replacements for al-Jaafari were Jawad al-Maliki, spokesman for the prime minister's Dawa party, and another leading Dawa politician Ali al-Adeeb.
"Al-Maliki, who fled Iraq in the 1980s and settled in Syria, is a prominent parliament member, but some critics consider him too sectarian, according to alliance members. Al-Adeeb spent most of the 1990s in exile in Iran — and his links to the country could lead to problems with the Americans and Britons as well as many Sunni Arabs who fear Iranian influence."
As the Rolling Stones sang, "A choice of cancer or polio".
Why are we stuck with supporting these two? Both seem like stooges for Iran.
One word,"Cash"
I was thinking the EXACT same thing! LOL
" bodies of 2 sadr loyalists found"
only 9998 to go
Or that other song,
"But that was yesterday,
and yesterday's gone".
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