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Rice, Straw press for Iraqi coalition

Source: CCTV.com

04-03-2006 10:32

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her British counterpart Jack Straw secretly entered Baghdad on Sunday. They told Iraqi leaders that it was time to pick a governing coalition, in the hope it might prevent a slide into civil war.

Pressure is building on Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari to step aside as the Shiite nominee for a second term, and clear the way for the selection of new leaders.

During talks with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Rice and Straw said they hoped to see a prime minister who could unite Iraqis. Jaafari, they say, does not fit the bill.

The Iraqi prime minister has condemned US interference in Iraq's new democracy. And an aide said he was ready to fight "to the end". But his days in office look numbered.

After an uncomfortable meeting with Jaafari, Rice said the US was not trying to interfere as the Shiites, who won the largest bloc of votes, had chosen their leadership. But she said Jaafari should be replaced if he is unable to form a government of national unity.

For the first time, one of the leaders of the biggest party in the Alliance bloc that nominated him has now said publicly that Jaafari should go.

Jalal al-deen al-saghir, from United Iraqi Alliance, said: "Some of the parties in the Alliance have begun to reconsider if the nomination of Jaafari is useful. Today I called on Jaafari to step down and abandon the nomination, for many reasons, especially that the political atmosphere is facing a big crisis and there is a lot of blood being spilled in Iraqi streets."

Rice and Straw also met the head of the Supreme Council For Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.

It's now nearly four months since the elections, and still no government has been formed.

Talks among Iraqi politicians have stalled, in part because of opposition to Jaafari's nomination by the Shiite bloc. Minority Sunni and Kurdish leaders insist they will not join a cabinet under Jaafari, and want a different Shi'ite nominee.

The United States and Britain claim that a unified government would help calm Iraq's insurgency, and pave the way for their troops to begin heading home. But they've said that so many times in the past that no one really believes them anymore. 

 

Editor:Wang

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