Iraq Sunnis to Form Committee

Sunnis garnered some 20 of the 275 seats in the newly-elected parliament due to a boycott by large segments of the community of the 30 January elections.
The al-Yawir bloc includes figures like elder statesman Adnan Pachachi and Tariq al-Hashimi, secretary general of the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), which had officially pulled out of the elections.

Hard bargaining

The Shia and Kurds who swept the elections are currently locked in hard bargaining over the composition of the next government.

Both have said they were eager to include the Sunnis and avoid alienating them, especially as most of the resistance against the government and US troops is concentrated in Sunni areas like Mosul, Samarra and al-Anbar province.

Separately, the monarchist movement headed by the once-exiled Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, one of the heirs to the overthrown Iraqi monarchy, met on Monday with the representatives of the influential Association of Muslim Scholars.

"The Association maintains its position: we will not take part in the government as long as the country is under occupation," said its chief Harith al-Dhari.
"But we do not oppose those who want to take part to serve the country and pull it out of its misery."
The monarchists, who took part in the elections without winning seats, said they are willing to join the government. "I am willing to accept any post to serve the people," said Sharif Ali.