PUK, KDP agree to form national bloc – al-Hakim

SULAIMANIYA / IraqiNews.com: Head of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC), Ammar al-Hakim, said on Thursday that the two main Kurdish parties agreed to the proposal to form a national bloc. “Any political bloc will not be able to rule Iraq alone, according to the 50%+1 system, after the coming elections as Iraq needs an expanded national bloc which will include all political entities,” al-Hakim said at a meeting with the representatives of the civil organizations at the political bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. “We held talks with Presidents Jalal Talabani and Massoud Barzani, heads of the PUK and KDP, in this regard and they agreed on forming this bloc,” the Shiite leader said. SH (P)/SR 1