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BAGHDAD, March 15 (AFP) - 15h28 - Kurdish,
Shiite and Sunni politicians laboured Tuesday to
reach a deal on a national unity government, with
less than 24 hours to go before the historic first
session of Iraq's newly elected parliament.
"We are holding extensive talks today with the Kurds
and the Sunnis, and if we agree, the assembly will
vote on the presidential council and the speaker
tomorrow," said Shiite politician Jawad Maliky.
The eleventh-hour talks, a month-and-a-half after
Iraq's watershed election, aimed to break a
stalemate between the Shiites' United Iraqi Alliance
(UIA) and Kurds who emerged the victors of the
polls.
But the Kurdish side, in the role of political
kingmaker with 77 seats, the second largest share in
the new parliament, downplayed the chances for a
breakthrough in time for the inauguration of
parliament.
"It seems it may take more time to agree on a
package on the formation of the goverment. I
personally don't think by tomorrow we'll be able to
finalise that deal," outgoing foreign minister
Hoshyar Zebari told AFP.
"The session would be the formal ceremonial opening
of the new parliament ... and the discussions would
continue ... beyond tomorrow."
Multiple negotiations were going on between the UIA
and Kurds, along with talks with the Sunnis, and a
closed-door session was under way between the Kurds
and outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.
Stirring turmoil, the Kurds on Sunday rejected a
draft agreement they negotiated with the victorious
UIA, winners of 146 of the 275 seats in the new
parliament, on the terms for forming a coalition
government.
Kurdish chieftain Jalal Talabani said the
negotiations were at an impasse over Kurdish demands
on the ethnically-divided city of Kirkuk and the
status of their peshmerga fighters.
After another round of bargaining Tuesday, Zebari
said: "It is almost reached. It is a matter of
refining the language."
The Kurds, long oppressed by Iraq's Arab majority,
fear if they do not have iron-clad commitments in
writing from the new government, they risk losing
their hard-won self-rule in the north.
They are also insisting on the presidency and more
than one cabinet post.
With no end in sight to their haggling, the Kurds
and Shiites decided to start talks Tuesday on
selecting the parliament's presidential council,
which will in turn nominate the premier.
The Kurds and UIA met with Sunni elder statesman
Adnan Pachachi, outgoing President Ghazi al-Yawar
and representatives from the Islamic Party and the
Committee of Muslim Scholars, a grouping of hardline
Sunni clerics, Zebari told AFP.
Already details on the shape of the new government
were emerging.
Iraq's presidency will likely go to a Kurd and the
two deputies will be a Shiite and a Sunni Muslim,
said Maliky, who belongs to the Islamist party Dawa.
The top contenders are Kurdish leader Talabani for
the presidency and outgoing Shiite finance minister
Adel Abdul Mahdi for one of the two deputy slots.
There are four favourites among the Sunni leadership
for the other vice presidency post.
They include Yawar, outgoing Industry Minister Hajem
al-Hassani, tribal leader Sheikh Fawaz al-Jarba and
senior politician Hussein al-Juburi, Maliky said.
The speaker of parliament will also be Sunni and
Yawar, a tribal magnate from northern Iraq, is also
in the running for that post, Maliky said.
The UIA has nominated Dawa chief Ibrahim al-Jafaari
to be prime minister.
Iraqis have grown frustrated with the failure of the
UIA and other election winners to show results after
millions risked their lives on January 30 to cast a
vote.
A failure to produce results Wednesday could
contribute to a negative image of the new democratic
Iraq and play into the hand of the resistance that
has carried out wave after wave of deadly attacks.
Shiite and Kurdish leaders, poised for their first
taste of power in modern Iraq, are hoping to bring
on board the country's embittered Sunni minority,
who enjoyed patronage under the rule of fallen
dictator Saddam Hussein.
Angered by the rise of the Shiites and Kurds, the
Sunni community has spawned the resistance,
responsible for the suicide bombings and
assassinations roiling the country.
In the latest attacks, two car bombs exploded in
western Baghdad near the city's airport, killing one
person and wounding six, three of them policemen,
the interior ministry and hospital sources said.
A third car bomb exploded near the health ministry
and a Sunni mosque on Baghdad's northern side
wounding at least four people, a source at the
interior ministry said.
A US marine was killed in action on Monday in
western Iraq's Al-Anbar province, said a US military
statement.
A roadside bomb Tuesday killed two Iraqi soldiers in
Dujail, north of Baghdad, the Iraqi army said.
Police announced Tuesday the arrest of the man they
said carried out the August 2003 murder of Shiite
leader Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim. He was
also plotting an attack on Shiite spiritual guide
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, they said.
The suspect, a Kurd from the northern city of Mosul
known only as Hashim, was arrested 10 days ago as he
walked in the Shiite shrine city of Najaf in central
Iraq.
AFP
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