Iraq breaks one political logjam

Despite weeks of wrangling, the positions are only temporary until another round of elections are held in December. The fighting over the jobs, however, may be an indication of how negotiations will go when the assembly sets to its real work of writing a permanent constitution. That is when issues such as the degree to which Islamic law will govern Iraq - which the Shiites strongly support and the Kurds reject - will be decided.

The most significant power held by the speaker is the ability to ask for a one-time, six-month extension in writing the permanent constitution. The speaker could potentially leverage that power if lawmakers want to extend the Aug. 15 deadline, something that looks increasingly likely because of the delay in forming the government.

Average Iraqis are eager for a government to be formed that, they hope, can bring some stability to the country. Everything from renewing driver's licenses to launching new efforts to battle the insurgency remains stalled without a government.

"People don't like to sign any contracts with any ministry when they don't know if that new minister will honor them.... Everything is on hold," said Sabah Kadhim, spokesman for the interior ministry, after the assembly failed to choose a speaker last week. "You have to move forward on the security situation, you cannot wait."

Beside frustration, the protracted negotiations also produced strange bedfellows: a unity of opinion between average Sunnis and Shiites who say that Kurds are only looking out for their own interests. Many chafed at the idea of a Kurdish president. "Is it right that the president of an Arab country be a Kurdish man? From the first he should say, I am not Kurdish. I am not a representative of the Kurdish interests of Iraq. He should say I am an Iraqi," says Ghaith al-Azawi, a Sunni businessman.

Although Kurds dismiss those complaints, they say they're justified in protecting Kurdish interests. "All we are doing is fighting for our rights...." Faili says. "The ones who elected [Kurdish leaders] are the Kurdish people, and one of our duties is to protect their rights and be representative of them."

A top Shiite official said Sunday that most government ministries had been allocated to the various parties, but who would run the interior ministry was still being worked out.

During all this, the US has been careful to keep a low profile, concerned that any overt interference could discredit the process.

Separately, a group of 64 Sunni clerics issued a statement Saturday encouraging Iraqi Sunnis to join the police and army - to prevent Iraq's security forces from falling into "the hands of those who have caused chaos, destruction and violated the sanctities."

For months, Sunni clerics had warned against cooperating with the post-Hussein government.

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