New coalition would possibly be announced next week – PM

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said his coalition is close to forming a government and could announce a new coalition by next week, ending the country’s long-running political crisis. “This is not going to be easily determined, but the progress of these talks indicates we have come to near the end of these negotiations,” Maliki told The Christian Science Monitor on Friday. Speaking in his first interview since he received the key backing of hard-line cleric Muqtada al-Sadr last week, Maliki said he expects the results of negotiations with the Kurdish coalition and talks with the secular Iraqiya block to become clear in the next two to three days. Although the most likely scenario appeared to involve an alliance with Ayad Allawi, whose Iraqiya coalition includes many Sunnis, it was still unclear whether Allawi would accept Maliki’s terms. The proposed alliance with Allawi also appeared to sideline the Kurds. Iraqis went to the polls in March in the first national election since they regained full sovereignty, but forming a government that does not exclude major groups and risk re-igniting sectarian violence has proved agonizingly difficult. When none of the candidates won enough seats to form a majority in parliament, Maliki demanded and obtained a recount. Seven months after the election, negotiations have just recently swung into high gear. Maliki, who is still more than 20 seats short of the 163-seat majority he needs in parliament, looks almost certain to be the next prime minister, unless his main Shiite rival Adel Abdul Mehdi can muster enough votes. AmR (S)/SR 1