Final decision on Al Jaafari soon, says Shiite leader

Baghdad: The Shiite Alliance is under pressure to decide the fate of Ebrahim Al Jaafari, its prime minister nominee for the new government against opposition, while Kurds, the Sunni Accordance Front and the country's former interim prime minister Eyad Allawi's list insist that he must not be assigned the leadership of another government.

Jalal Aldeen Al Saghir, a Shiite Alliance leader, said it was highly unlikely that the dispute over Al Jaafari's nomination would break-up the unity of the coalition.

He said four blocs in the alliance want to reconsider the nomination of Al Jaafari, but it is an internal dispute that will be solved democratically, adding that the Alliance will most probably reconsider the nomination of Al Jaafari, and this will be settled in a few days.

When asked about the possibility of concluding a political deal in which the Alliance supports Kurdish Jalal Talabani's nomination for presidency while the Kurdish blocs support Al Jaafari as prime minister, Saghir said no details could be revealed to the media.

The Shiite Alliance faces two choices now. Either it keeps Al Jaafari or refers the issue to the new Parliament where it is possible for Al Jaafari to get 138 votes of the 275-member Parliament, after Saleh Al Mutleq, a Sunni leader, said he does not oppose the nomination of Al Jaafari.

Ahmad Al Quraishi, a Sadr Current leader, said that there was no need to hold on to Al Jaafari, since he is not sacred.

It seems that the Shiite Alliance's last resort to solve the dispute is to consult the highest Shiite authority, Ali Al Sistani.

Shiite leader Muqtada Al Sadr has asked Sistani to interfere urgently, to stop the pressures put on the Alliance for more concessions.

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who visited Baghdad a few days ago, praised Al Sistani's role in the political process, which was considered an indirect call for Al Sistani to interfere.

Iraqi analysts said Al Jaafari is trying to gain more time to convince his opponents to reconsider their stances, against a speedy formation of a National Unity Government.

Sources from Dawa Party, which is led by Al Jaafari, revealed that he has started talks with Kurdish leader Masoud Barazani, which is an indication that Barazani may reconsider the Kurdish position, against guarantees that the situation in Kirkuk (centre of the Arab-Kurdish dispute) will be normalised.

- The writer is an Arab journalist based in Baghdad