Disagreement About Iraqi National List Delays Negotiations

Disagreements about the national security council and whether the Iraqi National List should be included in the cabinet has delayed the formation of the new government, lawmaker Mahmood Osman said. The two allied blocs (the United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdistan Alliance) disagreed on four issues: the formation of the Iraqi national security council which the UIA rejected; the inclusion of the Iraqi National List in the government, which the UIA opposes; the strategic decision that the UIA made to form the government based on which alliances won the most votes (in the December 2005 parliamentary elections) rather than a national unity government (that would include all major political blocs); and dialogues that the UIA insisted exclude the Iraqi National List. The Kurdistan Alliance wanted negotiations to include the four top coalitions, including the Iraqi National List. Some of the UIA members had earlier announced that they rejected including former prime minister Ayad Allawi (in the cabinet) have not rejected his list, said Baha al-Araji from the Sadrist current led by Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.