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Secular faction joins Iraq's Sunni alliance
 The main political alliance representing Iraq's ousted Sunni Arab elite won a new boost Thursday with the accession of a second secular faction to its parliamentary bloc, making it by a long way the second biggest in the legislature. The secular National Dialogue Front led by Sunni Arab politician Saleh al-Mutlaq said its 11 MPs were joining the Joint Council for National Action, giving it a total of 80 seats in the 275-seat Parliament, comfortably ahead of the 53 seats held by the main Kurdish alliance.Mutlag's faction was the second secular movement to make common cause with the Sunni religious parties of the National Accordance Front. The Iraqi National List, an alliance of secular and leftist parties led by secular former premier Iyad Allawi already announced the accession of its 25 MPs to the new Joint Council last month. Posted by: Fred 2006-02-10 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=142181 |