Shi'ite Alliance party ready to nominate Iraq PM (drop Jaafari)

[sabra]

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-04-11T055409Z_01_L11684854_RTRUKOC_0_UK-IRAQ-JAAFARI-PARTY.xml

Shi'ite Alliance party ready to nominate Iraq PM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Fadhila party in Iraq's ruling Shi'ite Alliance said on Tuesday it was ready to nominate a replacement for Ibrahim al-Jaafari for prime minister if the bloc fails to resolve the issue.

The Alliance is expected to drop Jaafari as its choice for prime minister in the new government due to pressure from Kurdish and Sunni politicians. But removing him could split the bloc.

[Erika]

1. And we are there because?

Look at www.icasualties.org

We're losing 2.36 American troops a day. For what?

[saigon68]

6. For Exxon and Halliburton Profits

They are doing splendidly right now

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. What difference is another guy going to make?

[Erika]

3. Michael Savage says get Saddam back in power

He could control them.

[maddezmom]

4. I keep waiting to see Allawi's name pop up

for the job.

[maddezmom]

5. Names floated as possible replacements for al-Jaafari

Adil Abdul-Mahdi: Iraq's Shiite vice president and a leading member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the biggest Shiite party. He served as minister of finance in Ayad Allawi's government. Born in 1942, he is the French-educated son of a respected Shiite cleric who was a Cabinet minister in Iraq's monarchy. Abdul-Mahdi lost the alliance's nomination for the prime minister's position to Ibrahim al-Jaafari by a single vote in February.

Hussain Al-Shahristani: Deputy parliament speaker and a nuclear scientist who was imprisoned in 1979 after refusing to work in Saddam Hussein's nuclear program. He escaped in 1991 and moved to Canada, returning after the fall of Saddam in 2003. Independents within the main Shiite alliance have been pushing for al-Shahristani as a possible compromise candidate because he doesn't belong to the main Shiite parties. Sunni Arabs might find him more acceptable because he has no ties to armed militias. Al-Shahristani told Iraqi television Saturday that he is not seeking the nomination.
more:http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3696739?source=rss

[maddezmom]

7. Shiites Can't Break Impasse on Al-Jaafari..will meet again Wed

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Shiite politicians failed Tuesday to resolve the deadlock over the formation of the new Iraqi government after meeting to discuss the opposition of Sunni and Kurdish parties to the Shiite nominee for prime minister.

Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's own Dawa party and his key backer, radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, continued to stand behind him, said Bassem Sharif, who attended the meeting of seven Shiite factions. Some Shiite officials even suggested the alliance block Sunni and Kurdish candidates for key posts if they do not accept al-Jaafari.

Sunni and Kurdish politicians said divisions within the Shiite alliance were making it difficult for the bloc to resolve the issue of al-Jaafari. These include a bitter rivalry between al-Sadr's group and the biggest Shiite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, or SCIRI.

"They are divided and that is the reason why they are not able to reach a quick decision on the candidate," said Mahmoud Othman, an elder Kurdish statesman.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060411/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq;_