[Iran Press TV] The US administration has reportedly told Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to marginalize supporters of Moqtada Tateral-Sadr in exchange for Washington's support for his re-election.
The American daily The New York Times revealed on Sunday that the B.O. regime has sought assurances from Maliki that he will not appoint al-Sadr's followers to high security positions.
Washington's worries doubled after Maliki's State of Law coalition and Moqtada al-Sadr's Iraqi National Alliance agreed on a merger between, increasing the possibility of Sadr's followers occupying key positions in a future coalition government.
"The United States' government has always preferred some blocs over the others ever since we first raised resistance to the occupation," said Amir al-Kanani, a Sadrist member of the new parliament.
Efforts by the US administration to include former premier Iyad Allawi's al-Iraqiya alliance in a coalition government in Iraq are in line with the goal of marginalizing Sadrists.
Iraq has been grappled in a political gridlock since the inconclusive general elections of March 7, in which no party was able to gain a majority of parliamentary seats.