U.S. Staying Neutral On Al-Ja'fari Bid
Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Ja'fari (file photo) (epa)
Iraq's leaders have been struggling to form a unity government since the Assembly was elected more than three months ago.
At the State Department, spokesman Adam Ereli was asked whether the time had come to demand al-Ja'fari's resignation.
"That's a question best put to the Iraqis," he replied. "It's their government. They'll decide who they want to head it. It's somebody who, under the terms of the [Iraqi] constitution, needs to have the support of two thirds of the Assembly. So they've got to find somebody ... around which they can unite."
Earlier in Baghdad, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Minister Jack Straw expressed concern about the slow pace of forming a government. Rice said the lack of a government was jeopardizing national security.