Iraq Shi’ites break ranks, urge PM to quit

By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Leaders of Iraq’s ruling Shi’ite
Alliance bloc called publicly for the first time on Saturday
for Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step down as prime minister to break
weeks of deadlock over a national unity government.

A U.S. combat helicopter came down, the military said. It
did not know if the crew survived.

A militant group said it shot down the aircraft near
Baghdad and a local official said residents saw a two-seater
Apache gunship take fire and crash.

The move against Jaafari, declared publicly by one leader
and echoed, anonymously, by others came as parties held their
latest round of talks on a grand coalition with Kurds and
Sunnis. They remain adamant in their rejection of Jaafari.

Those talks, which officials hope can ultimately avert
civil war, ended Saturday’s session with a significant
compromise deal on how security issues will be handled once a
cabinet is formed.

A U.S. diplomat reiterated it was Washington’s “analysis”
that Jaafari had not scored well on two key criteria for prime
minister — his ability to unite Iraqis and his competence as a
leader. But, he stressed to reporters, “We have no preference.”

He denied comments from rival Shi’ite leaders that
President George W. Bush had directly asked them to drop
Jaafari.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say a unity government, more than
three months after December’s election, is vital to averting
all-out war after five weeks of spiraling sectarian bloodshed.

“I call on Jaafari to take a courageous step and set a fine
example by stepping down,” Kasim Daoud, a senior member of the
independent group within the Alliance, told Reuters.

A top aide to Jaafari immediately rejected the call.

HELICOPTER

U.S. military spokesmen would say of the lost helicopter
only that it went down southwest of Baghdad around dusk and
“the status of the crew is unknown.” The little known Rashedeen
Army said in a message posted on the Internet before the
military statement that it shot down a helicopter near
Yusufiya.

A local official in the town said residents saw an Apache
come down and crash. The area is a refuge for Sunni insurgents
who have claimed the downings of many of the more than 50
helicopters lost in three years of war.

A Marine involved in a clash with insurgents on Friday
died, bringing the number of deaths in March among U.S. troops
to 30, the lowest monthly toll in two years. But Iraqi
casualties have been rising.

Jaafari won the Alliance nomination in an internal ballot
in February by a single vote over the candidate of the bloc’s
most powerful party, aided by Iranian-backed cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr.

But senior Alliance officials, speaking anonymously, said
four of seven main groups within the bloc now wanted him to
give up the nomination for a second term if, as is all but
certain, he fails within a day or two to persuade Sunni and
Kurdish parties to drop their refusal to serve in a cabinet
under him.

“Daoud’s call is supported by at least 60 percent of
Alliance members of parliament,” another senior Alliance
official from another group within the bloc told Reuters.

“We need another 24 hours before starting the battle.”

The United States, anxious for calm that would let it start
pulling out its troops, has stepped up pressure for a coalition
seen as critical to stemming sectarian violence that has killed
hundreds since a major Shi’ite shrine was bombed a month ago.

Privately, rival Alliance leaders have been turning against
Jaafari but the call on Saturday was their first public stand
against Jaafari, who critics say has failed to stem violence
and bolster the economy in his year as interim prime minister.

Some also view the soft-spoken Islamist physician’s
reliance on the Iranian-backed Sadr with suspicion.

Dozens of Jaafari supporters took to the streets in
Baghdad, holding a mock funeral with a coffin labeled
“Democracy.”

(Additional reporting by Alastair Macdonald)