Shi'ite Alliance Still In Talks On Al-Ja'fari

Al-Ja'fari has strong support among more radical Shi'a (epa) April 11, 2006 -- Leader's of Iraq's main Shi'ite alliance meet again today on whether to drop Ibrahim al-Ja'fari as its candidate for prime minister in the new government.

They postponed making a decision on April 10.

Some Sunni and Kurdish parties have already rejected al-Ja'fari to serve another term as prime minister. Sunnis and Kurds blame al-Ja'fari, a Shi'a, for failing to bring an end to violence between Sunnis and Shi'a.

The standoff has left a power vacuum in Iraq nearly four months after parliamentary elections.

U.S. President George W. Bush on April 10 urged Iraqi leaders to put aside their differences and create a unity government.

(AP)

Deputies Speak Out Against Al-Ja'fari Bid

Deputies Speak Out Against Al-Ja'fari Bid

LOOKING FOR A NEW FACE: Two Iraqi parliament deputies on April 2 told RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq (RFI) that they do not support the nomination of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Ja'fari to retain his post. Disagreement over the nomination, among other things, has prevented Iraq from forming a government in the wake of legislative elections in December 2005.
"Our Kurdish friends and our friends in the Iraqi Accordance Front have insisted in new messages they sent three days ago on a refusal to deal with the nominee of the United Iraqi Alliance [al-Ja'fari]," said QASIM DAWUD, a parliamentary deputy and a member of the independent bloc within the United Iraqi Alliance. "But I must clearly say that I represent a very broad stream within the alliance that supports a policy [of choosing a nominee other than al-Ja'fari]...." (more)

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