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| Iraq |
| IraqÂ’s new govt to include Sunni-backed bloc |
| 2010-11-12 |
| BAGHDAD - Iraq’s fractious politicians have agreed to return Shia Nuri al-Maliki as prime minister, ending an eight-month deadlock that raised fears of renewed sectarian war, but leaving some Sunnis sceptical he can forge national unity. The deal on top government posts brings together Shias, Sunnis and Kurds in a power-sharing arrangement similar to the last Iraqi government and could help forestall a slide back into sectarian bloodshed that raged after the 2003 US-led invasion. Sunnis would have reacted with outrage had the Sunni-backed Iraqiya alliance of ex-premier Iyad Allawi been totally excluded from government. Some may still feel cheated because of Maliki’s return. The deal will see Kurd Jalal Talabani retain the presidency and give Allawi’s bloc the speaker post in parliament and other Iraqiya members cabinet jobs, such as foreign minister. Allawi himself will head a council of strategic policies. “Thank God last night we made a big achievement, which is considered a victory for all Iraqis,” Kurdish regional president Masoud Barzani said at a news conference in Baghdad. OPEC producer Iraq, trying to rebuild its oil industry after decades of war and economic sanctions and to quell a stubborn Sunni Islamist insurgency, has been without a new government since a March 7 election that failed to produce a clear winner. “The most important issue now is that we are out of the bottleneck,” said Amer al-Fayyadh, the dean of political science at Baghdad University. “The formation of a government is now in sight.” Lawmakers were scheduled to meet later on Thursday in only the second parliamentary session since the election and should pick a speaker, the next step toward a new government. A senior Iraqiya leader said the alliance would nominate Sunni Arab lawmaker Osama al-Nujaifi for speaker. Lawmakers must then pick a president who in turn nominates a prime minister, who has 30 days to form a government. |
| Posted by:Steve White |