IRAQ: Iraq says it has postponed a session of parliament set for today, further delaying the formation of a government already held up by four months of political wrangling.
The postponement came after the ruling Shia Alliance, drawn from Iraq's majority community, proposed a new nominee for prime minister to end a deadlock but opposed the main Sunni grouping's candidate for speaker, raising possible new disputes.
Forty-one people, including four US Marines and five insurgents, were killed in weekend violence reported by officials. Washington has blamed the political paralysis for fuelling bloodshed between Sunni Arabs and Shias.
Iraqi leaders promised after national elections in December they would deliver stability, but bickering and infighting have so far dashed hopes for a national unity government, widely seen as the best way to avert a slide to sectarian civil war.
After four months of resisting Sunni and Kurdish opposition to the prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, as its nominee for the top government job, the alliance put forward Dawa party leader Ali al-Adeeb, officials in the Shia bloc said yesterday. Although the alliance has not officially withdrawn Mr Jaafari's name, the new premiership proposal could end the impasse.
Parliament's acting speaker Adnan Pachachi signalled hope, saying the postponement would be just for a "few days". Earlier, he said failure to seal a deal on top government posts before today could delay a new government for at least another month and force parties to choose a parliament speaker, a presidential council and prime minister in stages.
However, Iraqi leaders could be headed for fresh discord over the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front's decision to nominate Tareq al-Hashemi as speaker of parliament. "The alliance has floated Ali al-Adeeb as its candidate for prime minister. But if the alliance does not drop its opposition to Hashemi as parliament speaker the parliament session will be delayed," said an alliance official.
Mr Adeeb is not well known in Iraq but political sources said the alliance opted for him because, unlike other candidates, he was not considered sectarian.
Even if political obstacles are overcome, no government will have easy solutions to a Sunni insurgency and sectarian bloodshed that have scared away foreign investors from the oil producer's economy.
The months of wrangling have hurt the credibility of Iraqi leaders, who have struggled to keep the country from slipping into civil war since the February bombing of a Shia shrine.
Among the latest guerrilla attacks, a suicide bomber in a car killed 13 people and wounded 19 on Sunday near a market in the town of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad. In another incident, guerrillas killed seven men working for the police department in the northern city of Mosul.
The US has been putting pressure on Iraqi leaders to form a coalition government, which it hopes will foster stability and allow it to begin withdrawing troops. Four US marines were killed in combat on Saturday in western Anbar province, a rebel stronghold. Since the US-led invasion in March 2003, more than 2,370 US troops have been killed.
The long drawn-out trial of Saddam Hussein, which began in October, resumes on Monday.
The former Iraqi president is facing charges of crimes against humanity stemming from the 1982 killing of 148 Shia Muslim men and teenagers after an assassination attempt on him in the town of Dujail.