Leaders of Iraq’s Kurdish, secular and Sunni Arab parties asked the main Shiite alliance on Thursday to withdraw the interim prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, as its candidate for prime minister in the next government, saying Mr. Jaafari failed to contain the sectarian violence that swept the country over the past week. The leaders said that if Mr. Jaafari continued as prime minister, they might try to force his removal by forming an opposition group larger than the Shiites, in a move that could upend the political process and prolong efforts to form a government. Full Story