Al-Iraqiya Coalition proposes 4 candidates for Defense Minister’s post, before Political Leaders’ Meeting

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Al-Iraqiya Coalition, led by Iyad Allawi, has proposed 4 candidates for the Defense Minister’s vacant post in the Iraqi Cabinet, its Legislature, Haider al-Mulla, reported on Monday, confirming that his Coalition “insists on the settlement of the issue of the security Cabinet posts in the next meeting of the Iraqi Political Leaderships, scheduled to convene on Tuesday.”   “Our Coalition insists that the meeting of the Political Leaders, scheduled to convene tomorrow (Tuesday), would settle the dossiers of the security ministries and the Arbil Agreement,” Mulla told al-Hayat Newspaper.   Mulla said that the candidates of al-Iraqiya Coalition for the Defense Minister’s post were Qais al-Shadir, Salah al-Jiboury, Salem Dally and Abdul-Karim al-Samarrae, who holds the post of the Minister of Sciences & Technology in the current Cabinet.   The Newspaper quoted Mulla as having denied reports of “Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki’s approval to assign the Defense Minister’s post for the current Communications Minister, Mohammed Allawi,” reiterating that al-Iraqiya Coalition “insists on the implementation of all articles of the Arbil Agreement and the achievement of a genuine partnership in the State’s administration, which it insists not to submit.”   Al-Iraqiya Coalition had rejected on Sunday, according to its Official Spokeswoman, Maysoun Damaloujy, the assignment of the Acting Defense Minister’s post for the current Minister of Culture, Saadoun al-Duleimy, saying that her Coalition had presented several candidates for the post, but they were all rejected by the Prime Minister.   Al-Iraqiya Coalition had threatened mid last month to withdraw trust from Maliki’s government and to call for early elections in the event of non-achievement of the national-partnership, which some analysts believe that such position had been taken due to non-achievement of any progress in the talks between the negotiating committees, formed by both al-Iraqiya and the State of Law Coalitions, led by Allawi and Maliki.   SKH (FT)