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Maliki breaks ranks with Shiite bloc ahead of election
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Maliki breaks ranks with Shiite bloc ahead of election
AFP - Tuesday, August 25
BAGHDAD (AFP) - - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Monday broke ranks with his ruling Shiite parliamentary bloc ahead of January's general election, paving the way for a new chapter in the country's politics.
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Maliki instead aims to establish a multi-confessional coalition including tribal Sunni leaders as well as Shiite candidates to run in the nationwide poll, one of his closest aides said.
The split became clear when Iraq's leading Shiite alliance, the biggest group in parliament, announced its list of election candidates on Monday, which excluded Maliki and his allies.
"The differences between us remain massive," said Maliki adviser Ali al-Mussawi, revealing that last-ditch talks between the premier and the alliance had failed to reach a deal.
"Mr Maliki wants a real national coalition, not just in the word but in the programme and composition of the alliance," Mussawi added.
The new Shiite Iraqi National Alliance will replace the United Iraqi Alliance, which was created for the last general election in 2005 and which at one time embraced all Shiite parties.
The 2005 poll was seen as being strictly divided along sectarian lines, but Maliki hopes a multi-confessional alliance can bridge the divide that has marred politics and security since the 2003 US-led invasion.
Former prime minister Ibrahim Jaafari, a leading figure in the new Shiite alliance, however, appeared to reach out to Maliki and his allies despite being rebuffed ahead of Monday's announcement.
"To the brothers who are not joining us today, for any reason, we want their participation and we want to share responsibilities with them," Jaafari said, clearly referring to Maliki's Dawa party.
The new Shiite grouping includes members of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), supporters of radical anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, as well as a large number of independent candidates.
Shiite parties clinched 128 seats in the 275-strong parliament at the last general election in 2005, but Maliki's decision comes amid simmering differences between the premier and the alliance.
Maliki has been working to strike up partnerships with Iraq's powerful Sunni tribes as part of efforts to form a broad-based political base ahead of the 2010 election.
The prime minister has been buoyed by recent shows of support he has received from Sunni groups and tribal leaders, namely from Al-Anbar province, once a bastion of the Sunni insurgency.
Neither Maliki nor his Dawa party stood in January's provincial elections, which were seen as a de facto referendum on his leadership, with the premier instead campaigning vigorously for candidates under the State of Law Coalition banner.
His allies won a resounding victory, taking the majority of votes in Baghdad and eight of Iraq's nine Shiite-dominated provinces.
But Maliki's position as guardian of the country's security has come under pressure in recent weeks after several massive bombings that have killed hundreds of people and wounded many more.
The SIIC has also previously criticised Dawa leaders for their "pride and vanity" since the provincial polls, accusing them of being pawns of Sunni leaders.
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Enlarge Photo
Iraq's Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr, seen here May 2009. Iraq's leading Shiite coalition, the biggest group in parliament, announced a new alliance for January's general election which excludes allies of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
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