Iraqiya didn’t name Hashemi as president – member

BAGHDAD /Iraqi News A member of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s al-Iraqiya bloc denied that incumbent Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi was named for the presidential post, not so far the issue of posts have not been deliberated. “There is no agreement regarding this matter yet. The bloc is waiting for the election results to be announced and only then it would talk about dialogues with the other blocs and settle differences,” Jamal al-Bateekh told Iraqi News. He indicated that the issue of the presidential post in Iraq will be outlined in light of the constitution and in accordance with the election results. Earlier, a member of the al-Iraqiya bloc’s Tajdeed (Renewal) List said the bloc is “still” calling that Hashemi be the president of Iraq, dismissing a spokeswoman’s statements as “personal”. “The al-Iraqiya bloc agrees that the post of president of Iraq should be occupied by an Arab person and still wants the post to be specifically reserved for Tareq al-Hashemi,” Abdulkareem al-Samarraie said in an interview with the semi-official al-Iraqiya news channel. Al-Iraqiya spokeswoman Maysoon al-Damlooji had said that there was no one named for the presidential post in Iraq. “Damlooji’s statements were personal and did not represent the bloc’s opinion. This is what we have been told by the bloc leader (former premier) Iyad Allawi,” Samarraie noted. The current president of Iraq is Jalal Talabani, a Kurd and the leader of one of Iraq’s two main Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). AmR (S) 1