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| Iraq |
| Two major Iraq Shiite blocs agree on alliance |
| 2010-05-05 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's bloc allied with its main Shiite rival on Tuesday, leaving the newly formed alliance just four seats short of a parliamentary majority, a statement said. "An agreement was reached to form a parliamentary bloc through the union of the two blocs, the State of Law Alliance and the Iraqi National Alliance," said the statement, read by Abdul Razzaq al-Kadhami, an advisor to INA member and ex-premier Ibrahim Jaafari. "We have agreed to announce the forming of a parliamentary bloc through coalition between (State of Law and INA)," al-Kadhami said at a news conference in Baghdad. According to full preliminary results from Iraq's March 7 election, Maliki's State of Law Alliance won 89 seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives and the INA, a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, won 70 seats. While the resulting combination of 159 seats is just short of the required majority, the Kurdish Alliance of the autonomous Kurdish region's two long-dominant blocs holds 43 seats and has previously said it would join the new grouping if the two main blocs allied. The Iraqiya list of ex-premier Iyad Allawi took the most seats in the election with 91 but looks set to be squeezed out. Those figures are in flux, however, as electoral authorities are carrying out a recount of votes in the key Baghdad constituency, which accounts for 70 seats. |
| Posted by:Fred |