Iraqi leaders will announce a government within days and no one from caretaker Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's party will be in the cabinet, lawmakers and people involved in the negotiations said on Sunday.
"Allawi will take no part, his party will have no ministries," a senior official involved in the talks told Reuters, saying the decision had been taken after another round of negotiations on Saturday that lasted more than 10 hours. "There are still some details to be worked out, but the announcement of the cabinet should be made by Monday," he said.
Politicians have repeatedly said in recent weeks that they are on the cusp of unveiling a government, only for the announcement to fall through. Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim Jaafari theoretically has until May 7 to form a cabinet. Talks have been going on for nearly three months, since elections on January 30. Differences between the main Shi'ite alliance and the Kurds, Sunnis and Allawi's party over the distribution of ministries have stalled the process.
The delays have frustrated Iraqis and contributed to a resurgence in guerrilla violence, U.S. and Iraqi officials say. As talks ended on Saturday, Allawi issued a statement urging all parties to speed up the formation of the government "for the good of the country". Thaer al-Naqib, Allawi's spokesman, said that if members of Allawi's party were not included in the cabinet, he would still give the government his support.
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