Psycho4Bud
04-27-2006, 02:30 PM
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki said on Thursday he hoped to form a government within a week after meeting Washington's top defense and foreign affairs officials and two of Iraq's most powerful clerics.
As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumseld flew out, Maliki pledged to fill the key posts of interior and defense ministers with non-sectarian appointees.
Maliki has 30 days from last Saturday to present his cabinet to parliament for approval but has said he wants to move faster on creating a grand coalition of majority Shi'ite Muslims, Sunni Arabs and Kurds to combat the violence wracking the country.
"The dialogue is still ongoing with the different parties from which the government will be formed, including on the important ministries," Maliki told reporters after meeting Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy southern city of Najaf.
"God willing, it will be settled next week."
Maliki also met firebrand Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, an influential political leader who condemned the U.S. visit.
"It is a shocking intervention in Iraqi affairs," he told a joint news conference with Maliki, adding the new government's first duty was to ensure Iraq's stability and independence, including a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060427/ts_nm/iraq_dc
Best of luck to all in Iraq! This has been a long time coming.:thumbsup:
As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumseld flew out, Maliki pledged to fill the key posts of interior and defense ministers with non-sectarian appointees.
Maliki has 30 days from last Saturday to present his cabinet to parliament for approval but has said he wants to move faster on creating a grand coalition of majority Shi'ite Muslims, Sunni Arabs and Kurds to combat the violence wracking the country.
"The dialogue is still ongoing with the different parties from which the government will be formed, including on the important ministries," Maliki told reporters after meeting Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the holy southern city of Najaf.
"God willing, it will be settled next week."
Maliki also met firebrand Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, an influential political leader who condemned the U.S. visit.
"It is a shocking intervention in Iraqi affairs," he told a joint news conference with Maliki, adding the new government's first duty was to ensure Iraq's stability and independence, including a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060427/ts_nm/iraq_dc
Best of luck to all in Iraq! This has been a long time coming.:thumbsup: