Sadrists won’t stage protests prior to 6-month deadline – official

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Sadrist Movement, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, has given the government a period of six months to improve its work, adding no protests will be organized before that period ends, a Sadrist official said on Saturday. “The results of the questionnaire being worked on by the Sadrist Movement for a week now will be collected and analyzed and after that the movement will take future steps,” Amir al-Kinani, the secretary-general of al-Ahrar Bloc, part of the National Alliance coalition, told IraqiNews.com news agency. Sadr had offered an initiative on Feb. 23 to conduct a plebiscite among the citizens on the level of services provided to them with demonstrations after six months remain a possibility if services were not improved. Regarding security portfolios in the government, Kinani replied that blocs have offered names for security ministries. “Consequently, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will have to name the ministers for these portfolios as soon as possible,” he said. Differences erupted for two months now over the security portfolios in Maliki’s government, which are still vacant, particularly the interior and defense ministries. The interior portfolio is the quota of the National Alliance coalition while the defense is the quota of the al-Iraqiya bloc provided that they are occupied by independent ministers. However, the two blocs refuse the candidates of one another. AmR (TS)/SR 736