| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Sunnis endorse al-Maliki |
| 2006-04-22 |
| IRAQ'S top Sunni-led parliamentary bloc, the National Concord Front, has endorsed the Shiite alliance's choice of Jawad al-Maliki for prime minister. "We welcome the choice of Maliki and believe that we can now form a national unity government in Iraq which will be non-sectarian," Mr Zhafer al-Ani, spokesman of the National Concord Front said. "We hope that Maliki will be a better leader than his predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari." Mr Jaafari had insisted on retaining his post until he bowed to national and international pressure on Thursday, clearing the way for Mr Maliki, his loyal lieutenant in the Shiite fundamentalist Dawa party, to come forward. The National Concord Front, with 44 seats in the 275-member parliament, and Kurdish parties had strongly opposed Mr Jaafari's candidacy, stalling the political process after December's national election. The two groups blamed Mr Jaafari for failing to curb the raging sectarian violence that has engulfed Iraq in the last two months. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |