Iraq Shi’ite bloc nominates Maliki for PM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s Shi’ite Alliance has nominated
Jawad al-Maliki as its new choice for prime minister, a senior
official in the bloc and a television station run by it said on
Friday.

Maliki is close to Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who was the
Alliance’s original choice for the job but who dropped his
insistence to run for a second term after months of opposition
that deadlocked the formation of a new government.

Maliki had earlier been seen as an unlikely candidate
because he is perceived as a sectarian politician who would
have trouble gaining the trust of Sunni Arabs and Kurdish
political blocs.

Iraqi legislators were scheduled to meet in parliament on
Saturday in hopes of breaking a deadlock four months after
elections in December.

The Shi’ite Alliance is the largest bloc in parliament. It
was not immediately clear if Sunni Arabs and Kurds would back
Maliki as Iraq’s next prime minister.

Washington hopes that a deal on a national unity government
can avert a full-scale sectarian civil war and draw Arab Sunni
insurgents into the political process.