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March 4
(Bloomberg) -- The Kurdish Alliance, which came
second in Iraq's Jan. 30 vote for a National
Assembly and holds the balance of power in the
275-seat assembly, will back whichever party agrees
to demands including the creation of a federal
secular state, Kurdish leaders said.
``The Kurdish leadership will ally itself with any
political entity that won seats on the condition
that it recognizes and supports the rights of the
Kurdish people and their goals,'' Jalal Talabani,
leader of one of the main parties in the alliance,
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said yesterday at
a news conference in the town of Salahadin,
according to a statement posted on the PUK Web site.
Salahadin lies north of Baghdad.
Talabani, who is also a candidate for the
presidency, said that other priorities include the
extension of the autonomous region in northern Iraq
to cover all areas once inhabited by Kurds including
the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and that Kurdistan be
permitted to keep its independent Peshmerga army,
according to the statement.
The Kurdish Alliance merged with the Kurdistan
Islamic Group and now holds 77 seats in the
assembly. The cleric-backed United Iraqi Alliance,
which came first with 140 seats and Interim Prime
Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqi List which ran third
with 40 seats, are courting the Kurds in an attempt
to gain the two thirds majority needed to elect the
president and two vice-presidents who will in turn
appoint a prime minister.
Ahmed Chalabi, whose Iraqi National Congress is the
third largest party in the United Iraqi Alliance,
met with Allawi yesterday, the Turkish Zaman
newspaper reported. No further details were
available. Chalabi, who like Allawi is a secular
Shiite, withdrew from the race for prime minister
last month.
New Government
The new government may convene within 14 days, even
if a cabinet isn't selected by then, Agence France-Presse
reported citing United Iraqi Alliance spokesman
Hamid al-Bayati.
Yesterday's conference was held after Talabani met
with Masoud Barazani, leader of the Kurdish
Democratic Party, the other main party of the
Kurdish Alliance, to discuss their demands and
priorities, the PUK said in the statement. When
asked if the Kurdish alliance would back Ibrahim al-Jaafari,
the United Iraqi's Alliance's candidate for prime
minister, or Allawi, Barzani said: ``Our position is
clear; we will not work with a personality but with
a program, any program that we believe approaches
our demands.''
The Kurdish Alliance wants a united national
government in which all groups participate, Barzani
said. ``We believe that our Arab Sunni brothers must
be represented in the government and that they
participate in the constitution and in building a
new Iraq,'' he said.
Kurds represent 15 to 20 percent of Iraq's
population and have been autonomous in the north
since the first U.S. war against Saddam Hussein in
1991.
To contact the
reporter on this story:
Caroline Alexander in London at calexander1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Peter Torday at ptorday@bloomberg.net.
www.bloomberg.com
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