Al-Jaafari’s Party Stands Behind Him
The political snarl over choosing Iraq’s new government tightened Monday as Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari’s party indicated it was standing firm for him to keep the post for a second term despite opposition from Sunni Arabs and Kurds. Ali al-Adeeb, a top official in the Dawa party, said the group would not put forward anyone else as the Shiite Muslim nominee for premier unless al-Jaafari decided to step aside. The announcement pointed to further delays in negotiations to form a broad-based government, an effort that has stumbled along for four months since the Dec. 15 parliamentary elections. Full Story