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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's leading parties said on Sunday they had failed to reach a deal to form a new government before the first meeting of parliament, crushing hopes a much-needed cabinet would start to tackle relentless violence. "The talks will continue and there are some important points that deserve more discussion," Fouad Massoum, a Kurd and interim parliamentary speaker, said in the northern city of Arbil. Some of his party's members were less optimistic. Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani's chief aide said: "The negotiations between the two sides have hit a dead end." Ahmad Chalabi, a top member of the...

raqi women eye Islamic law The majority United Iraqi Alliance supports sharia. By Jill Carroll | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitor BAGHDAD – Covered in layers of flowing black fabric that extend to the tips of her gloved hands, Jenan al-Ubaedy knows her first priority as one of some 90 women who will sit in the national assembly: implementing Islamic law. She is quick to tick off what sharia will mean for married women. "[The husband] can beat his wife but not in a forceful way, leaving no mark. If he should leave a mark, he will pay," she...

The less-than-spectacular victory of the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which received 48% of provisional votes in the Iraqi elections of January 30, creates some problems for the expected dominant role of the Shi'ites in forming the transitional government. The Kurdish coalition, which received 26% of provisional votes, has demonstrated an impressive show of unity, but might suffer a setback because of its unrealistic demands for independence. Sunni participation has been low. In Anbar province, for example, turnout was reported to be less than 2%. Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's group garnered 13% of the vote. Still, the real "provisional" winners...

The results of the January 30 elections announced Sunday by the Independent Electoral Commission are another giant step towards building a free and democratic Iraq. Voter turnout, at almost 59 percent, was higher than an U.S. election since 1968. That in itself can be counted as a victory, though hardly surprising except to the chronically pessimistic. But the election results do not in themselves settle the question of who will take power in the transitional government. Handicapping is underway on who will take the top leadership positions. This is taking the form of a debate within the victorious United Iraqi...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An alliance of Shi'ite Islamist groups won the most votes in Iraq's election, but the percentage it received -- 47.6 percent -- was lower than many expected, according to the final tally released on Sunday. A coalition of the two main Kurdish parties won 25.4 percent and a bloc led by Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi got 13.6 percent. Overall turnout was 8.55 million votes, which was 58 percent of those registered to vote. The Shi'ite United Iraqi Alliance won 4.075 million votes, the Kurds won 2.175 million and Allawi's list won 1.168 million, according to the...

Candidates linked to an Islamist party with close ties to Iran won out over rivals in elections for Iraq's provincial councils announced on Friday. The results provide an early glimpse of the balance of electoral strength within the Shia political movement, which is expected to dominate once the final results of the January 30 election - expected in the next two days - are announced. The strong turnout for slates associated with the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, (Sciri) suggests that it would have the advantage over its partners in a pan-Shia coalition in claiming key ministries. However,...

Analysis: Chalabi's magical comeback By Claude Salhani UPI International Editor Published February 1, 2005 WASHINGTON -- If U.S. foreign policy planners were Machiavellian enough, one could be led to believe that they planned the whole affair surrounding former Pentagon golden boy Ahmed Chalabi, the man most likely to become the new prime minister of Iraq. But their track record -- and history -- has proven otherwise. Chalabi, a long-time Iraqi exile who initially based himself in London, was at first supported by Richard Perle, a neo-conservative policy-setter. Chalabi first came into the limelight over his debacle in Jordan in 1992,...

I will bring al-Sadr into government, says the man tipped to be Iraq's new PM By Toby Harnden in Baghdad (Filed: 06/02/2005) A leading contender to become Iraq's new prime minister has offered to welcome Moqtadr al-Sadr, the demagogic Shia cleric behind bloody uprisings against coalition forces, into a new government expanded to include those who boycotted the election. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a moderate Shia whose United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) list is certain to top last weekend's poll, told The Telegraph that Sadr, wanted for alleged involvement in the hacking to death of a fellow cleric, was "a good person" who...

The United Iraqi Alliance scored a sweeping victory. We know that the majority of those who voted cast their vote for the alliance," Abdul Aziz al-Hakim said. Hakim tops the candidate list of the Alliance, drawn up with the blessing of revered Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. He also leads the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, one of the main parties in the powerful Alliance. Iraq's 60 per cent Shiite majority thronged to the polls on Sunday, but many of the Sunni minority, which dominated Iraq under deposed dictator Saddam Hussein, stayed away. Hakim said it was...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The candidate list endorsed by Iraq's top Shiite cleric is likely to emerge as the dominant political group in Sunday's election. But his followers said Monday they aren't looking to create a cleric-led Islamic state, and expectations are they won't be strong enough to govern on their own. The bloc backed by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani probably will have to negotiate a governing coalition with other political groups, including rival Sunni Arabs, a minority that long dominated Iraq's Shiite majority. At a news conference, politicians running on the al-Sistani-endorsed ticket, the United Iraqi Alliance, sought to...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 21 - With the Shiites on the brink of capturing power here for the first time, their political leaders say they have decided to put a secular face on the new Iraqi government they plan to form, relegating Islam to a supporting role. The senior leaders of the United Iraqi Alliance, the coalition of mostly Shiite groups that is poised to capture the most votes in the election next Sunday, have agreed that the Iraqi whom they nominate to be the country's next prime minister would be a lay person, not an Islamic cleric. The Shiite leaders...

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iraq's interim defense minister said on Friday the government would arrest Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmad Chalabi after the Eid al-Adha holiday for allegedly maligning the defense ministry. "We will arrest him and hand him over to Interpol. We will arrest him based on facts that he wanted to malign the reputation of the defense ministry and defense minister," Hazim al-Shaalan told Al Jazeera television, adding the measures would start after the Muslim holiday which began on Jan. 20.