New hope in Iraq impasse
Key to Mr al-Jaafari’s change of heart was pressure from UN envoy Ashraf Qazi and his meetings with the powerful Shi’ite clerics, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and Muqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shi’ite cleric who has backed al-Jaafari, said Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman.
“Qazi’s meetings with (al-Sistani) and al-Sadr were the chief reason that untied the knot,” said Mr Othman.
Shi’ite legislators plan to meet tomorrow to decide whether to replace Mr al-Jaafari, who faced fierce opposition from Kurdish and Sunni Arab parties. A planned session of the Iraqi parliament was also delayed until then.
The deadlock over Mr al-Jaafari’s nomination has persisted since December 15 elections.
Among those mentioned as replacements for Mr al-Jaafari were Jawad al-Maliki, spokesman for the prime minister’s Dawa party, and another leading Dawa politician Ali al-Adeeb.
Sunnis refuse to back Mr al-Jaafari because his government allegedly allowed Shi’ite militias to carry out reprisal killings against Sunnis.
Kurds also believed Mr al-Jaafari had broken promises to support their claims for self-governance in the oil-rich area of Kirkuk.
The largest bloc in parliament, with 130 lawmakers, the Shi’ites name the prime minister but lack the votes in the 275-member parliament to guarantee their candidate’s approval unless they have the backing of the Sunnis and Kurds.
Meanwhile gunmen attacked a Sunni mosque yesterday in the southern Baghdad district of Saidiya, sparking an hour-long clash before dawn with mosque guards and residents.
