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Iraqi Blocs Select New PM-designate After Weeks of Jockeying

Associated Press

   BAGHDAD - Former communications minister Mohammed Allawi was named
   prime minister-designate by rival Iraqi factions Saturday after weeks
   of political deadlock.

   The choice came as the country has been weathering troubled times,
   including anti-government protests and the constant threat of being
   ensnared by festering U.S.-Iran tensions.

   The selection of Allawi, 66, to replace outgoing Prime Minister Adel
   Abdul-Mahdi was the product of manybackroomtalks over months between
   rival parties.

   In Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Iraq's four-month anti-government
   protest movement, demonstrators rejected Allawi's candidacy.
   Demonstrators, who have long said they would not accept a candidate
   chosen by the establishment, erected portraits of the new
   premier-designate crossed with an ``X.'' Some chanted ``Allawi out!''

   But many feared they would clash with the hundreds of followers of
   influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who recently reversed a
   decision to withdraw support from the protest movement. Officials and
   analysts said that move was to gain leverage on the street as a
   deadline to select a new premier drew near.

   'Square doesn't want him'

   ``The square doesn't want him, but the problem is since Muqtada has
   sided with[the elites],the square cannot refuse him,'' said civil
   activist KamalJaban. ``Otherwise there will be bloodshed.''

   Al-Sadr's followers returned in the hundreds the Friday night, three
   witnesses said, bringing tents and supplies and reoccupying a strategic
   high-rise overlooking the square known as the Turkish Restaurant, as
   well as the Jumhuriya Bridge, which leads to the Green Zone.

   Al-Sadr issued a statement saying Allawi's selection was ``the wish of
   thepeople,`` and asked protesters to carry on with the anti-government
   demonstrations.

   ``The real rebellious Iraqi youth who want change and reform are alone
   tonight,'' said Noor, an activist in Tahrir Square.

   On Wednesday, President Barham Saleh gave parliamentary blocs until
   February1 to select a premiercandidate, orsaid he would exercise his
   constitutional powers and choose one himself.

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