Iraq breaks one political logjam

In a sign the political gridlock that has hampered the formation of a new Iraqi government has loosened, the country's newly elected leaders named a national assembly speaker Sunday.

In their third meeting since the Jan. 30 polls, the 275-member assembly approved a Sunni speaker and two deputies after an embarrassing breakdown in the assembly last week over filling the post.

Appointing Hajim al-Hassani, the current industry minister, as speaker is the first tangible progress since elections. It gives the stalled effort to form a new government new momentum - and not a moment too soon. Many Iraqis are growing impatient with the slow pace, which in turn undermines progress on other fronts such as security and reconstruction.

But the most important step still awaits the assembly. Next it must approve a president, the decision that will set the clock ticking on the formation of the entire government. At their meeting Sunday, the assembly planned to meet again Wednesday to elect a president and two deputies. The likely choice for president is Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani.

Once approved by the assembly, the presidency council has two weeks to name a prime minister, who in turn has a month to appoint government ministers.

The vote for Iraq's new speaker of parliament came just hours after a major firefight between insurgents and US forces at Abu Ghraib prison, just outside Baghdad. The insurgent attack on the notorious prison injured 44 US troops and 12 detainees. The attack was said to be the largest on the prison, which holds 3,000 suspected insurgents.

The flurry of political activity Sunday marks a breakthrough in talks between conservative religious Shiites, who hold the most seats in the assembly, and the Kurds, who have the second-largest representation. The two groups had been at loggerheads over numerous issues for weeks.

The Kurdish politicians have backed down from a demand that they control the oil ministry. They also agreed to follow the interim constitution, rather than resolving all constitutional issues before a government is formed, as they had been insisting.

The most contentious issue between the Kurds and Shiites is over the status of the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk. The Kurds want it to be included in a semiautonomous Kurdistan and had demanded guarantees of that before voting on the presidency, which requires a two-thirds majority of the assembly.

The growing public anger over inaction by the leaders, who Iraqis risked their lives to vote for, was a major factor in breaking the gridlock, a top Kurdish official says.

Abiding bythe interim constitution "is not the real solution, but the Kurdish leaders preferred to take it as a semi-solution to decrease the stress on the government," says Abdul Jalil Faili, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party in central and southern Iraq. "The Kurds insist on fighting for the identity of Kirkuk more and more, but we follow the Kurdish leaders."

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