Reply #412: BBC (Feb 14): Iraq Shias move to form coalition

[Jack Rabbit]

From the BBC Online
Dated Monday February 14

Iraq Shias move to form coalition

Moves to form a new government are under way in Iraq after the announcement of full election results.

The Shia United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) says it wants to name a new prime minister after it was confirmed as winning nearly half the vote.

However the bloc will not have a parliamentary majority on its own. Kurdish groups, which came second, are seen as potential partners.

The process of forming a coalition is likely to take several weeks.

Read more.

This story has the Shias forming a coalition with the Kurds. It only mentions Allawi as finishing a distant third. This would relegate him to the status of also-ran, which is better than he deserves.

The concern may be Madhi becoming Prime Minister. Naomi Klein reports that he may be a part of a sinister plan by the neocons to frustrate the Iraqi people's desire for real sovereignty. She her piece in post 383, above.