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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A deal between Iraq's
Shi'ites and Kurds on the shape of the government
should be reached by the time the new parliament
next meets on March 25 or 26, a Kurdish leader said
on Friday.
Jalal Talabani, who is expected to be Iraq's next
president, was quoted as telling CNN in an interview
that the names of the proposed president, prime
minister and parliament speaker would be agreed
ahead of the next parliament meeting.
He said Iraq's new constitution, which should be
written by August, would be based on the interim
agreement that contains provisions for a federal and
secular Iraq -- main points which Iraq's northern
Kurds wanted safeguarded.
"We have the TAL (transitional administrative law)
which will be the main source for the new Iraqi
constitution, (it will be) the base of the Iraqi
constitution," Talabani said.
Earlier this week, Ibrahim Jaafari, the majority
Shi'ite alliance's preferred candidate for prime
minister, said the talks on forming a unity
government could take up to two weeks.
The more than six-week-old talks have struggled over
who would fill top government positions and Kurdish
demands for an extension of their de-facto
autonomous territory in the north to include
strategic oil city of Kirkuk.
Iraqis have become frustrated with the prolonged
talks after millions risked suicide bombers and
mortar attacks to cast votes in the Jan. 30
election. They say the politicians have left a
vacuum, allowing insurgents to step up attacks.
Reuters
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