Iraq's ruling Shiite Alliance nominated Jawad Al Maliki as its new candidate for prime minister yesterday in an effort to end four months of political paralysis over the formation of a government.
Iraq's Shiite Islamists have been confirmed in power by election results that gave them a near-majority and opened the way for US-backed negotiations with Kurds and Sunni Arabs on a national unity government.
Supporters and some opponents of the US-led war in Iraq across the world joined to praise Iraqis for turning out in large numbers to vote in the country's general elections.
Prominent Iranian cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani yesterday hailed the Iraqi election as a victory which Iran also shared because it was the "opposite of what the US sought".
