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The Shia
alliance that won the most seats in Iraqi elections
in January announced today it had reached a deal
with Iraqi Kurds to form a new government.
In the five weeks since elections were held, on
January 30, various factions have jostled for
influence in Iraq's first democratic government in
modern times.
The United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), backed by the
powerful Shia clergy, won 140 out of the 275 seats
that will make up the new national assembly, which
is to convene on March 16.
Although it has more than half the seats, the
alliance needs the 75 seats won by the Kurds to
muster the two-third majority required to elect a
president and secure its choice for prime minister.
Today, after days of negotiations, the two groups
announced a deal after reaching agreement on demands
made by the Kurds for their support.
The (UIA) has given an assurance that a new
government will begin talks on the return of around
100,000 deported Kurds to the oil-rich northern city
of Kirkuk. The deal also involves promises to redraw
the existing Kurdish regions, where the Kurds
already have a large degree of autonomy, to include
Kirkuk.
The redrawing of the regions will be incorporated
into Iraq's new constitution, which it is hoped will
be written by the end of the year.
Fuad Masoum, a member of the Kurdish coalition,
said: "We agreed to solve the issue [of Kirkuk] in
two steps. In the first step, the new government is
committed to normalising the situation in Kirkuk.
The other step, regarding annexing Kirkuk to
Kurdistan, is to be left until the writing of the
constitution."
Ali al-Dabagh, a member of the Shia Political
Council, which is part of the UIA, said: "We told
them that the issues will be discussed as soon as
the central government is formed."
The support of the Kurds will allow the Shia
alliance to install Ibrahim al-Jaafari, 57, a London
GP, as prime minister.
The Shia alliance has previously agreed that the
Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani can take the
presidency, a largely ceremonial role. Mr Talabani
leads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which
controls the eastern part of the Kurds' self-rule
area.
Mr Jaafari, a conservative Shia with strong
religious beliefs, leads the Islamic Dawa party,
which is a major player in the United Iraqi
Alliance. Some analysts see him as a conciliatory
figure who will reach out to Iraq's various groups
including the minority Sunni Muslims, the ruling
group in the Saddam era. Many of this group did not
vote in the election.
Disaffected Sunnis are also linked with the
insurgency that has flared since Saddam was deposed
by the US-led coalition that invaded in March 2003.
At least 30 people were killed today in a suicide
attack at a funeral service in a mosque in the
northern city of Mosul.
Iraq's most senior Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani, 76, is considered the architect of the
Shia coalition that gathered rival parties under one
banner. He will retain influence regardless of who
becomes prime minister.
Earlier this week a UIA official said Ayad Allawi,
the interim prime minister, whose secular Iraqi List
party won 40 seats, had refused an offer of a
cabinet post. Mr Allawi has been manoeuvring to stay
as prime minister, a role he has held since June
2004 when the US-led coalition handed power to an
interim Iraqi authority.
Despite the delay in deciding the shape of the new
government, it was announced last week that the
national assembly should convene on March 16 to show
unity against the insurgency. The date marks the
anniversary of the 1988 chemical attack on the
northern Kurdish town of Halabja. The attack,
ordered by Saddam, killed around 5,000 people.
www.guardian.co.uk
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