Iraq political bloc picks PM aside from al-Maliki

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By SAMEER N. YACOUB and VIVIAN SALAMA

BAGHDAD (AP) — The head of Iraq's National Shiite Alliance says it has chosen an alternate nominee for prime minister instead of incumbent Nouri al-Maliki.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Monday in a statement that the alliance of Shiite political parties has agreed to nominate Haider al-Ibadi to replace al-Maliki and to form a new government to unify the country against the growing threat of radical militants.

Al-Maliki has insisted that his party, State of Law, which is part of the alliance, should select the nominee.

Al-Maliki delivered a surprise speech in the early hours of the morning accused the country's new President Fouad Massoum of blocking his reappointment as prime minister.



Displaced Iraqis from the Yazidi community settle at a camp for displaced Yazidis in Derike, Syria, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2014. Kurdish authorities at the border believe some 45,000 Yazidis passed the river crossing in the past week and thousands more are still stranded in the mountains. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140811/ml-iraq-9d65548a3c.html

[potone]

1. Does anybody here know anything about this man?

All I know about him is that he is the Deputy Speaker of Parliament. If their choice holds, I certainly hope that he will prove more competent than Maliki and will make at least some progress in bringing the country together.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

2. I don't know anything about this man ...

... but it's a Shiite coalition. Not sure about they're views on bringing Sunnis into the fold. I hope that's what they mean by "uniting."

[FairWinds]

3. This is eerily reminiscent of . .

the removal (and subsequent assassination) of Diem in Vietnam in 1963.
And we all know how well that turned out.
The US foreign policy elite just does not have much respect for the right
of people to elect their own governments, and frequently uses violence to destabilize and remove them . .
Ukraine, Gaza, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and many, many others.
Join Veterans For Peace.
[post moved from older thread]

[StevieM]

4. It is ironic that Ibrahim al-Jaafari made the statement. Maliki replaced him 8 years ago

in a very similar type situation. His part won the most seats, but the legislature wouldn't coalesce around him. So they picked someone from the same party to take over, but kicked him out.