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SALAHADDIN, March 28 - Iraq's Shiites and Kurds
are still fighting over the oil ministry in their
negotiations over forming a government, Iraq's
deputy prime minister Barham Saleh said Monday.
The Kurdish negotiator said the Shiites were
refusing to award the Kurds the oil ministry unless
he, Saleh, took the post himself.
"Some of the Shiite brothers said if you were the
candidate for this post it's possible to agree....
But I apologised and I said I have my reservations
about this.... More important for us is that we do
not accept this logic which says the Kurds (may) not
have this post or any other post."
Although he stressed the common ground between the
sides, he said the Kurds would not join any
government if they felt discriminated against.
"If they want to put down red lines for us and say
it's not possible for Kurds to have this post at
this time, we will return to the Kurdistan
parliament and we will take care of ourselves."
Despite his strong words, Saleh said he still
believed the Shiites and Kurds would manage to form
a government, although two months after national
elections they have still not been successful.
He stressed one of the difficulties was bringing
Iraq's Sunni minority, who boycotted elections, into
the process.
The 275-member parliament is due to hold its second
session Tuesday, but will only select a parliament
speaker and his two deputies.
The crucial task of electing a three-member
presidency council that will in turn choose a prime
minister, who then names the government is still
some time off.
Favourites for the post of speaker were two Sunni
Arabs, Shiite negotiator Maryam al-Rayes said.
The Shiites were backing UIA member Sheikh Fawaz al-Jarba,
a tribal leader from the powerful Shammar tribal
confederation, which straddles the sectarian divide.
Rayes said the Kurds wanted Hajem al-Hassani, the
outgoing industry minister, who won a seat in
parliament as part of the list of outgoing President
Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Arab.
According to one UIA member, the two deputy
parliament speakers will be Shiite independent
Hussein Shahrastani, a nuclear scientist who spent a
decade in Saddam Hussein's jails for refusing to
work on Iraq's weapons programme, and a still
to-be-named Kurd.
The Shiite source said politician Ahmed Chalabi had
withdrawn his candidacy for vice president in favour
of outgoing finance minister Adel Abdel Mahdi.
A second vice president post will go to outgoing
president Yawar, whose old job is expected to be
taken by Talabani, the source said.
Chalabi is still in the running for deputy prime
minister if the next government creates three or two
deputy prime minister posts and not just one as the
Kurds are demanding, the source said.
AFP
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