Iraqi Leaders Reach Deal to Form Government: Reports

The country has been without a functioning administration since elections in March produced no clear winner.

A lead negotiator overseeing government talks says the country’s political parties have agreed on a power-sharing deal. Under the reported agreement, the incumbent Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki will retain his post, the Sunni faction led by Iyad Allawi will get the speaker’s position, and the Kurdish party will get the presidency. Iraq has been languishing without a government since March elections gave al-Maliki 89 seats and Allawi, the former prime minister, 91 seats in the 325-seat parliament. In October the militant Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr threw his support, and 40 seats, to al-Maliki, turning the tide. There have been allegations that Iran, which is predominantly Shia, had a hand in securing the post for al-Maliki.