Baghdad
Shiite and Kurdish parties this week agreed in principle to form a coalition government. The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance and a Kurdish bloc were the two biggest winners in the January elections. Under their agreement, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite who leads the Islamic Dawa party, will become prime minister and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani will be president. Both groups said they planned to include Sunnis in the Cabinet and would consider a Sunni as parliament speaker. Sunnis, who make up 20 percent of the population, were the favored group under Saddam Hussein, but most of them boycotted the election.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 15, 2024Cartoons Friday's cartoons - power couples, mixed messages, and more
-
Why is Labour struggling to grow the economyToday's Big Question Britain's economy neared stagnation in the third quarter of the year
-
Best of frenemies: the famous faces back-pedalling and grovelling to win round Donald TrumpThe Explainer Politicians who previously criticised the president-elect are in an awkward position
