Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks at an army base during a visit in Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, August 17, 2007 (REUTERS)
BAGHDAD,(Reuters) – Iraq’s leaders could meet on Saturday to discuss ways to end a political crisis that has all but paralysed Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri a-Maliki’s government, Iraqi officials said. “There is a possibility that the meeting could happen today to discuss the political situation,” Rida Jawad al-Takki, a senior member in the ruling Shi’ite Alliance, told Reuters.
A government official, who did not want to be named, said the leaders could begin meeting at 4 p.m. (1200 GMT) in Baghdad.
The summit will bring together Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, Shi’ite Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, and Masoud Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
The leaders have held a series of meetings this week to try to find common ground so they can begin work on healing Iraq’s fractured national unity government.
Maliki and Talabani announced the formation of a “new” governing alliance of moderate Kurdish and Shi’ite parties in government, which in theory will give Maliki the parliamentary majority he needs to pass crucial laws.
The four parties in the alliance are already in government.
Iraqi bodyguards and a U.S. soldier stand guard as a U.S. helicopter carrying Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki prepares to land at an Iraqi army base during a visit in Tikrit, 175 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad August 17, 2007 (REUTERS)
Iraq’s President Jalal Talabani delivers a speech during a meeting with Iraqis ambassadors at the Iraqi Foreign office in Baghdad, 18 August 2007 (AFP)