Iraq unity talks snarl; 4 marines killed
(AP)
Updated: 2006-04-17 08:13
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Efforts to form a unity government suffered a new setback
Sunday as Iraqi leaders postponed a parliament session after failing to agree on
a prime minister. Bombs targeted Shiites near a mosque and on a bus as attacks
nationwide killed at least 35 people.
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| An Iraqi soldier
guards the scene of a car bomb explosion Sunday April 16, 2006 in
Mahmoudiya, about 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq. A car bomb
exploded in the public market in Mahmoudiya, a short distance from a
mosque, killing at least 10 people and wounding 25, police said.
[AP] |
| Four more
Marines were reported killed in fighting west of Baghdad as the U.S. death toll
for this month rose to 47 — compared with 31 for all of March.
U.S. officials believe the best way to stem the violence is for the Iraqis to
establish a government comprising Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, paving the way for
the United States to start withdrawing its 133,000 troops.
But progress has stalled over Sunni and Kurdish opposition to the Shiite
choice of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to head the new government. With
al-Jaafari refusing to step aside, acting speaker Adnan Pachachi called a
parliament session for Monday, hoping the full legislature could agree on a new
leadership after the politicians failed.
On the eve of the session, Pachachi announced a delay of "a few days" to give
the religiously and ethnically based parties more time to agree on the new prime
minister, president and five other top posts that require parliamentary
approval.
Before the announcement, Shiite official Hussain al-Shahristani told Sunni
and Kurdish leaders that his bloc, which controls 130 of the 275 parliament
seats, would decide what to do about al-Jaafari "within the coming two days,"
Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said.
Majority Shiites have been giving similar assurances for the past two weeks,
and it was unclear how soon the issue could be settled.
Voters chose the new parliament on Dec. 15, but the legislature met briefly
only once last month.
The bitter fight over al-Jaafari has heightened friction among the rival
parties, raising the spectre of deadlock over other top jobs. Some Shiite
officials say that if they must change their nominee for prime minister, other
parties may not win approval of their first choices for major posts either.
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