Iraqi parliament to discuss unity government

By Mariam Karouny and Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s parliament said on Wednesday it
would meet next week to discuss a unity government but the
Shiite alliance, key to breaking a deadlock, remained paralyzed
by reluctance to drop its choice for prime minister.

Acting parliament speaker Adnan Pachachi said Iraqi leaders
would discuss a national unity government during the next
session on Monday and was optimistic of a breakthrough before
then.

“I spoke to the heads of all the political blocs and I
sensed a true intent from all to push the political process
forward,” said Pachachi.

Asked if the political stalemate over appointing a prime
minister would have to be brought to parliament, Pachachi said:
“From now until the 17th of this month, we believe there will
be an agreement on some of the problems.”

Much depends on whether the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance
(UIA) can drop Ibrahim al-Jaafari as its candidate for prime
minister without splitting the bloc apart.

The alliance entered another round of talks on Wednesday to
try to reach an agreement.

Before any name can be put to a parliamentary vote, the
speaker of the house and his two deputies must be elected,
followed by a vote for a three-man presidential council, which
then has to unanimously choose a prime minister.

Then the prime minister has one month to name his cabinet
and put it to parliament for approval.

CIVIL WAR FEARS

Unless extraordinary measures are taken to bypass those
steps, frustrated Iraqis could be kept waiting even longer for
a government, four months after elections that politicians
hoped would deliver an administration that can avert civil war.

Aware of the growing sectarian conflict in Iraq, Iraqi
leaders struggling to project an image of unity were infuriated
by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s assertion last week that
Shiites in Arab countries were more loyal to Shiite Iran.

The Shiite-dominated Baghdad government protested by
boycotting an Arab foreign ministers’ meeting on the crisis in
Iraq that began in Cairo on Wednesday.

Mubarak said civil war had already started in Iraq, where
fresh violence on Wednesday reminded Iraqi politicians that
they will face an enormous task in tackling insurgent bombings,
kidnappings and death squads once a government is formed.

A policeman and three civilians were killed and four others
wounded when a roadside bomb struck a police patrol car in
central Baghdad, police said.

In what has a become a routine event, police said they
found the bodies of three men in different areas of the
capital.

Insurgent attacks have killed seven U.S. soldiers since
Sunday, including two who died in a roadside bombing just south
of Baghdad on Wednesday.