Jaafari Out?

IRAQ: DEAL ON NEW PRIME MINISTER, SAY REPORTS

Baghdad, 17 March (AKI) - The representatives of the Kurdish list, the Sunni Iraqi Concord Front and much of the Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution (SCIRI) have reportedly reached an accord on a new prime minister. Their agreement not to reconfirm Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister and instead nominate Abdel Mahdi, a leading SCIRI figure and currently vice president, was reported by the al-Arabiya network and confirmed by Sunni deputy, Salman Jumeiri. The nomination of a new prime minister is the main sticking point in efforts to forge a new government in Iraq after the elections in December.

The representatives of these lists have the parliamentary majority needed to reconfirm president Jalal Talabani as president and nominate Abdel Mahdi as prime minister.

The line-up of those endorsing Abdel Mahdi - who lost narrowly to Jaafari in an internal vote on a prime ministerial candidate - may well exclude MPs from the faction of radical Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr and those of the Islamic party Dawa, led by Jaafari.

The choice of a new prime minister has become the crucial obstacle in forming a new national unity government, following last December's elections.

If this proves out it's terrific news. Abdel-Mahdi, an economist, was favored by the Sunnis and the Kurds because of his secular credentials. Jaafari ,an impotent administrator, was aligned with radical Sadr who was widely known to have had close ties to the Ayatollas in Iran. This move serves to isolate Sadr from the Shia bloc. Other than Sadr being worm food, this is the best possible scenario.

More on Abdel-Mahdi.