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Iraq Shi’ite bloc nominates Maliki for PM | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari at a news conference in Baghdad, April 19, 2006 (REUTERS)


Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari at a news conference in Baghdad, April 19, 2006 (REUTERS)

Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari at a news conference in Baghdad, April 19, 2006 (REUTERS)

BAGHDAD,(Reuters) – Iraq’s Shi’ite Alliance has nominated Jawad al-Maliki as its new choice for prime minister, a senior official in the bloc and a television station run by it said on Friday.

Maliki is close to Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who was the Alliance’s original choice for the job but who dropped his insistence to run for a second term after months of opposition that deadlocked the formation of a new government.

Maliki had earlier been seen as an unlikely candidate because he is perceived as a sectarian politician who would have trouble gaining the trust of Sunni Arabs and Kurdish political blocs.

Iraqi legislators were scheduled to meet in parliament on Saturday in hopes of breaking a deadlock four months after elections in December.

The Shi’ite Alliance is the largest bloc in parliament. It was not immediately clear if Sunni Arabs and Kurds would back Maliki as Iraq’s next prime minister.

Washington hopes that a deal on a national unity government can avert a full-scale sectarian civil war and draw Arab Sunni insurgents into the political process.

US President George W. Bush (R) assists Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) to his spot during a welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, 20 April 2006 (AP)

US President George W. Bush (R) assists Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) to his spot during a welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, 20 April 2006 (AP)

Iraqi photographers and policemen run for cover as a road side bomb explodes in Baghdad's Al-Qadsya district, 21 April 2006 (EPA)

Iraqi photographers and policemen run for cover as a road side bomb explodes in Baghdad’s Al-Qadsya district, 21 April 2006 (EPA)