Iraqi Shi'ites to nominate PM within days

BAGHDAD - Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite alliance said it would name its candidate for prime minister within days and, having dominated last month's election, few expect its nomination to be blocked.

"We have a number of qualified candidates ready to take on the responsibility of this job," said Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of one of the two main parties in the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA).

"In the next few days we will decide who it will be," he told worshippers in an address to mark the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha.

Under the Iraqi constitution, the biggest bloc in the assembly has the right to nominate the prime minister, although he or she must win parliamentary approval.

Preliminary election results suggest the Alliance will have nearly half the seats in the new parliament.

Sources in the Alliance said its two main candidates are Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari and Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mahdi.

The sources said Nadim al-Jadery, head of the Fadhila party also part of the Alliance, had put himself forward but was not expected to win and was instead seeking leverage to gain another senior job in government.

"He just nominated himself so he could bargain later for the vice-president's post," a senior Alliance source told Reuters.

Other senior sources in the coalition said Mahdi, a member of Hakim's Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), is favourite to beat Jaafari, who heads SCIRI's coalition partner, the Dawa Party.

Some alliance sources say Jaafari's record in government over the past eight months could count against him.

His administration has failed to quell the largely Sunni Arab insurgency and has angered many Iraqis by hiking fuel prices and failing to provide basic services. It's human rights record has also been questioned after the discovery in November of a secret jail run by the Interior Ministry.

Relations between Jaafari and his coalition's Kurdish partners, including President Jalal Talabani, have been strained, particularly since October when Talabani's spokesman said Jaafari should be sacked.

In his Eid address, Hakim also reiterated his view that the Shi'ites would not accept any major changes to the constitution, approved by referendum on Oct. 15 but due to be reviewed by a parliamentary committee, yet to be formed.

"Some factions are trying to change the (soul) of the constitution. We will stand against any such change," he said.

Some Sunni Arabs want the constitution changed as they oppose its commitment to a federal Iraq with significant regional autonomy.

- REUTERS