Political bloc to target Shiite extremists

By Rick Jervis, USA TODAY
BAGHDAD — A new coalition in Iraq's parliament seeks to challenge Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and force him to purge Shiite militias from police and government.

The alliance is led by Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who was Iraq's interim prime minister in 2004-05. The bloc is a minority in parliament but aspires to overrule al-Maliki on several key issues, Allawi said in an interview with USA TODAY.

The two largest Sunni groups in Iraq's parliament joined Allawi's coalition this week. A leading Kurdish politician and some moderate Shiites also have shown interest.

"We cannot see national reconciliation and national unity … thriving in a state of chaos and institutions riddled with militias," Allawi said Tuesday. "We feel our country has really been taken apart."


more:http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-03-07-iraq-politics_N.htm?csp=34

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