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BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq's new government will not
be formed until next Thursday at earliest, said
Hussein Shahrastani, the parliament's deputy speaker
and a senior member of the Shiite United Iraqi
Alliance (UIA).
"The earliest would be the end of the next week,"
Shahrastani told AFP on Friday.
His words confirmed the caution displayed on
Wednesday by prime minister designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari
who warned that forming a cabinet could take time.
Sharastani's words deflated expectations the
government could still be unveiled this Sunday when
the 275-member parliament holds its next session.
"The national assembly for Sunday has been called to
discuss the rules of the national assembly and not
the cabinet."
The main obstacle to completing the cabinet is
finding the right Sunni candidates for ministerial
positions, Shahrastani said.
"The alliance has always said it would like to
include all components of Iraqi society in a
government of national unity. What makes this
project lengthy is not all of these groups are
represented in the parliament," Shahrastani said.
"I was specifically referring to the Sunnis."
Up to six ministerial posts are still on the table
for the Sunnis, Shahrastani said.
He said the UIA and Kurdish Alliance, the two
largest blocs in the parliament elected more than 10
weeks ago, were still in negotiations with Sunni
groups.
The UIA is in talks with the National Front, an
umbrella association of political parties; Vice
President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar's Iraqiyun party and
professional and community organisations, including
the Sunni Muslim Waqf (religious endowment).
The deputy speaker denied that the UIA was talking
with actual insurgent groups, from which it hopes to
lure Sunni nationalists from the violent revolt
waged since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime two
years ago.
"The alliance refuses to talk or meet with any
groups responsible for the violence against Iraqi
civilians or security forces. We should not confuse
that with general representatives of the Sunni
community."
Both Jaafari and Iraq's new President Jalal Talabani
have indicated they are mulling a new amnesty
initiative for those involved in the resistance.
On Wednesday, Jaafari denied there were any direct
talks with the resistance, but indicated they met
people with channels to the insurgency.
"We have no meetings or talks with those who are
carrying weapons. We reach out to Iraqi factions,
even those who are in disagreement with us on the
political process including those who boycotted the
process and those who fought, the ones who went to
elections and made explosions."
Shiite spiritual leader leader Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani has told UIA members he thinks it should
compromise on cabinet posts and focus more on
drafting Iraq's constitution, a Shiite MP and
confidante of Sistani told AFP.
AFP
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