By Mariam KarounyMon Apr 10, 7:18 AM ET
Pressure from Kurdish and Sunni leaders looked increasingly likely on Monday to force Iraq's Shi'ite alliance to drop Ibrahim al-Jaafari as its choice for prime minister to break a deadlock over a new government.
The stalemate since December elections has seen Iraq slide closer to all-out civil war, with sectarian bloodshed and the emergence of militia death squads adding to the woes of Iraqis already demoralized by insurgent suicide bombings and attacks.
Dhafir al-Ani, spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, the biggest Sunni Arab bloc, said the Front had informed the Alliance of "the continuation of our stand" to reject Jaafari.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurdish leader, told the Shi'ite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance on Sunday that the Kurds would not drop their opposition to Jaafari, a soft-spoken physician who has resisted mounting calls for his resignation.
The Alliance is the biggest bloc in parliament, but needs Sunni and Kurdish votes to secure a majority. It was expected to make a decision on Jaafari on Monday, despite fears of some members that shunting him aside could split the bloc.
"This afternoon there will be a meeting to discuss other fronts rejecting Jaafari and also to talk about a replacement if Jaafari withdraws his nomination," said Jalal al-Deen al-Saghir, a senior member of the Alliance and SCIRI leader.
"Without the Sunnis and the Kurds we cannot talk about a government."
A senior Alliance source said former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's secular Iraqiya bloc would also veto Jaafari.
"After we formally hear from the other lists, like the Iraqiya, which will also refuse to work with Jaafari, then we will today sit down in the Alliance and decide," he said.
Jaafari's critics accuse him of monopolizing power and governing ineffectively. Even senior Alliance partners oppose him, but the Dawa party leader has refused to step down.
Iraq's acting speaker of parliament said on Sunday he would call on the assembly to convene in the next few days, raising the possibility of an end to the political paralysis.
Some leaders want a parliamentary vote to decide the Jaafari issue, but that could damage the Shi'ite bloc, which has avoided such a move to avoid widening its own internal divisions.
BURY DIFFERENCES
The United States and Britain have repeatedly urged Iraqi leaders to bury their differences and fill a political vacuum in which sectarian violence has flourished.
A planned meeting between the United States and Iran on stability in Iraq had raised hopes that the neighboring power could use its influence over fellow Shiites leading the Baghdad government to help push the political process forward.
But U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who will represent Washington in the talks, said on Sunday the meeting will not be held until after an Iraqi government emerges.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak hit a raw nerve among Iraqis when he told al Arabiya satellite channel on Saturday that civil war had started in their country.
Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, eager to project an image of unity, criticized Mubarak for saying Shiites were more loyal to non-Arab Iran than their own Arab countries, echoing accusations made by Sunni Arabs in Iraq.
Lebanon's top Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, also said Mubarak was mistaken.
"The big surprise comes because such a stance is not accurate and comes...at an unfortunate time to say the least while the nation awaits a decisive Arab and Muslim movement against the U.S. occupation of Iraq," he said in a statement.
"The relationship of the Shi'ite Muslims with Iran has to do with Iran being a launch-pad against international arrogance," he said on Monday, referring to Western powers.