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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Kurds, Shiites in agreement to convene Iraqi parliament

Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Kurdish and Shiite leaders agreed Monday to convene Iraq’s new parliament this week even if they fail to iron out some wrinkles in their deal to form a coalition government.

Meanwhile, a Marine with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force died Monday in Anbar, a troubled province that has been a hotbed of guerrilla activity and includes the cities of Fallujah, Ramadi and Qaim, officials said today.

Shiite officials said they also agreed to reach out to the country’s Sunni Arab community to name the parliament speaker for the 275-member National Assembly that convenes Wednesday.

The Shiite clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance and a Kurdish coalition, which won the two biggest blocks of seats in Jan. 30 elections, agreed last week to form a coalition government with Islamic Dawa party leader Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister. In return, Jalal Talabani will become Iraq’s first Kurdish president.

“We discussed the blueprint of the agreement reached Thursday. Some issues were revised and those revisions are still being discussed,” alliance member Ali al-Dabagh told the Associated Press.

Al-Dabagh expressed optimism a final deal would be reached soon, but added that even without an agreement “the first session of the National Assembly will be held on Wednesday anyway.”

Barham Saleh, a Kurd, indicated the two groups want to reach out to other factions to fill some Cabinet posts.

He said Shiite and Kurd negotiators planned to meet today with representatives from interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s Iraqi List, which placed a distant third in the parliamenetary elections.

The interim government, meanwhile, announced that Iraqi security forces had captured two of Saddam’s relatives in his hometown of Tikrit and alleged they helped launch terrorist attacks in Iraq.