Leaders of Sunni, Kurdish and a secular political party decided today to ask the Shiite alliance to withdraw its nomination of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari for another term, political officials said.
The move is expected to draw sharp opposition from radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose support enabled al-Jaafari to win the nomination by a single vote in a February 12 caucus of Shiites who won election to the new parliament.
A political battle over al-Jaafari could further complicate efforts to form a national unity government – a key step in the US plan to begin withdrawing its troops this year. Those efforts have already been strained b last week’s wave of sectarian violence triggered by the February 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra.
According to several senior politicians, leaders of the three parties agreed to inform Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Shiite alliance, that they lack confidence in al-Jaafari and want the Shiites to put forth another candidate.
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