Iraq announces new Shia-Kurd alliance

Iraq’s prime minister and president today announced a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds, saying Sunni moderates refused to join but the door remained open to them.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said the agreement was the first step to unblock political stagnation that has gripped his Shiite-led government since it first took power in May 2006.

The announcement after three days of intense political negotiations in Baghdad was disappointing because it did not include Iraq’s Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and his moderate Iraqi Islamic Party.

President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, said al-Hashemi refused the invitation to join in the new political grouping but “we have not closed the door to him”.