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November 26, 2010

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Iraq government set in motion

IRAQ'S president yesterday asked incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government, part of a deal to end an eight-month deadlock over who would lead the country through the next four years, including the departure of the final American troops.

The request from President Jalal Talabani sets in motion a 30-day timeline to accomplish the daunting task of finding a team that includes all of Iraq's rival factions.

"I know and you know well that the responsibility I am undertaking is not an easy task especially in the current circumstances that our country is passing through," al-Maliki said after accepting Talabani's request.

The new government is expected to include all the major factions, including the Kurds, Shiite political parties aligned with Iran and a Sunni-backed bloc that believes it should have been the one leading the next government.

Many of the politicians were in the room with al-Maliki and Talabani when the announcement was made in a show of unity that belies the country's often divisive politics.

Al-Maliki, a contentious figure in Iraqi politics who rose from obscurity to lead the government in 2006, called upon Iraqis and fellow politicians - many who view him with distrust and animosity - to support him in the task ahead.

"I call upon the great Iraqi people in all its sects, religions and ethnicities and I call upon my brothers the politicians to work to overcome all differences and to put these differences behind us," said the prime minister designate.

Al-Maliki will have to find substantial roles for all of those factions or risk having them leave his government, which could destabilize Iraq's still fragile democracy.


 

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