IRAQ ASSEMBLY SETS MEETING
March 7, 2005

By NEIL GRAVES-New York Post:

Iraq's parliamentary factions, still jockeying for position five weeks after national elections, have scheduled a meeting of the new National Assembly within 10 days — with or without a head man, a chief official said.

The primary concern is naming the prime minister, whose responsibilities include leading the elected body in writing a new constitution, but a consensus still is up in the air.

Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih yesterday said he hoped politicians would soon end horse-trading over the position so that the assembly could move on and properly convene for the first time.

"The meeting will be on March 16 and we agreed to continue meetings," said Salih. "If we don't reach an agreement [on a prime minister], then the National Assembly will begin its work and discussions will continue inside the assembly."

Analysts say a Kurdish coalition, which finished second in the Jan. 30 election, will be instrumental in selecting the prime minister as the two other primary coalitions must cater to them in order to secure the necessary two-thirds majority.

The Shiite Muslim alliance, which posted the highest numbers in the election, is pushing its candidate Ibrahim Jaafari. And a party led by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is also attempting to woo
the Kurds.

But the Kurds on Saturday said they would not back the Shiite alliance unless it has assurances the Shiite majority would not impose an Islamic fundamentalist state.

The Kurds also want clarification on the status of the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, where it hopes to re-establish its majority status.

Even if the rebellion dies down, the United States would not be able to do much nation-building because of a lack of civil-affairs soldiers and psychological-operations troops, Time magazine reported this week.

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) also said many National Guard vehicles are still not properly armored, four months after Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld promised they would be — by Feb. 15.

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