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Iraqi PM 'prepared to step down'
 Iraq's Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari says he is willing to withdraw his nomination for a second term if asked to step aside. "If my people ask me to step aside I will do this," Mr Jaafari said after Iraq's first parliamentary session was convened. Mr Jaafari is under increasing pressure from Sunnis, Kurds and secular leaders to allow for another candidate. He is also coming under mounting pressure from some of his partners in the ruling Shiite Alliance, the largest block in Parliament, which nominated him in an internal ballot. Mr Jaafari says it will be finally up to Parliament to make a decision. "I didn't get here as part of a deal. So I can't be pushed aside as part of a deal. It is my people who have chosen me. It will be up to Parliament to decide," he said. Posted by: Fred 2006-03-17 |
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