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Shiite
and Kurdish figures have delayed the second session
of Iraq's elected Parliament until at least Monday.
They have also warned that bargaining over the
formation of a government could drag on for another
week.
The election-winning Shiite list, the United Iraqi
Alliance (UIA), has announced it would not reconvene
the 275-member Parliament until at least Monday.
"The next meeting of Parliament in principle will be
Monday," UIA negotiator Maryam Rayes said after
talks with her two Kurdish counterparts in Baghdad.
"If there is an agreement with the Kurds, the
Parliament will designate the presidency council and
the Parliament speaker."
UIA member and negotiator Jawad Maliky confirms the
talks are not going as quickly as the initially
expected.
"Parliament is likely to meet in the first three
days of next week and I think we will have a new
government by the end of the month," Mr Maliky, a
deputy to the UIA's candidate for prime minister
Ibrahim Jaafari, said.
"It is all down now to finalizing the cabinet lineup
and I am optimistic we will do that soon."
Haidar al-Mussawi, a spokesman for leading UIA
member Ahmed Chalabi, cautions: "Even if the
Parliament convenes Saturday or Sunday, it may take
another week to have a government."
A Kurdish source says the delay stems in part from
efforts to convince outgoing Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi's list to join the Government.
A Shiite insider suggests the Kurds want Mr Allawi
in the Government to counter-balance the
Government's religious voice.
The Kurds, fearful of falling under the thumb of
Arab rule, have fought for iron-clad guarantees that
the Shiite majority will respect their hard-won
freedom in the north.
Both sides have also struggled to woo Iraq's
alienated Sunni Arab minority, which is seen as
powering the insurgency.
Momentum has also been slowed by the departure of
most Kurdish leaders from the capital for their new
year festival of Newroz, which fell on Monday.
However, they were all expected back for a meeting
today.
While no decisions have been made on the cabinet, Ms
Rayes names the top candidates for Parliament
speaker and the two slots of vice president.
Mr Chalabi, fellow UIA member Adel Abdel Mahdi and
Islamic Virtue party member Nadim al-Jaburi are in
the running for one of the vice presidential posts.
The other slot will go to a Sunni Arab.
The contenders are current Iraqi president Sheikh
Ghazi al-Yawar, monarchist Sharif Ali, Chalabi
confidante Mudhar Sharqat and UIA member Hussein al-Juburi.
Mr Yawar and UIA candidate Fawaz al-Jarba, both
members of the million-strong Al-Shammari tribe,
were candidates for the Sunni-reserved slot of
Parliament speaker.
The Shiite candidates for deputy speaker are Dr
Hussein Sharastani, a nuclear scientist jailed by
Saddam for 10 years over his refusal to work on his
weapons program, and Hassan al-Rubaie.
The Kurds will choose a second deputy slot.
AFP
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