PM Maliki opposes al-Iraqiya candidate for Defense Minister’s post, MP says:

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The candidate of Al-Iraqiya Coalition for the new Defense Minister’s post had been rejected by Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, who did not give an official reply for the letter of the minister’s nomination, al-Iraqiya Legislature, Alia Nuseif said on Monday. “Al-Iraqiya had offficially nominated Falah al-Naqib for the Defense Minister’s post and the nomination was addressed in an official letter to the Prime Minister, but we have received some reports saying that Maliki had rejected the nomination, and we are waiting his rejection to be sent to our Coalition officially,” she said. Nuseif expressed hope that “the Prime Minister would accept her Coalition’s candidate, in order that al-Iraqiya would accept the National Coalition‘s candidate for the Interior Minister‘s post.” The Legislature of the National Coalition, Zeinab Wahid Salman, had announced early in the day that her Coalition had nominated Shirwan al-Waely and Adnan al-Assadi for the new Interior Minister‘s post. As regards to the draft-law to elect candidates for the Vice-President’s posts, Nuseif said that “the Parliament had formed a temporary legal committee for this purpose and agreement had been reached that the President have three vice-presidents, to be selected through the mechanisms of the Parliament. HL (A) / SKH 3