IRAQ - Majority Bloc Formed.

Two Shi'ite and two Kurdish parties on Aug. 16 formed an alliance in a bid to help Maliki's government emerge from its crisis. The FT on Aug. 17 quoted Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari as saying the move was to create a core group of parties to bolster the administration and help it win support in parliament to push through important legislation. But the main Sunni Arab bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) which quit the Shi'ite-led government at the beginning of the month, refused to be part of the alliance despite days of consultations, signalling the crisis was far from over.

Zebari said: "The idea is really to support the government to allow us to tidy our house and not allow things to slip or drift. We tried hard to convince the Sunni bloc to join, there was a series of negotiations, but they were unable to join, they have their own difficulties. They will not oppose the bloc and may join in the future". He said a planned "summit" of leaders from all groups, including Sunni Arabs, would still proceed. He said the intention was to add more parties to the new alliance and reach out to all groups.

The FT quoted a "senior US official in Baghdad" as saying it was too early to assess the impact of the move, adding: "We will have to wait and see what follows to see how much significance this has. The fundamental point is the core issues have to be solved by all three of the principal communities (Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds) so it's hard to assess what this particular step means".

The government has been plagued by divisions, criticised for having a Shi'ite bias and for failing to meet political targets and fostering reconciliation. It was plunged into its present crisis when the six IAF ministers resigned from the cabinet, complaining that a series of demands had not been met. Days later five ministers from former PM Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National List (INL) announced they would boycott cabinet meetings.

The crisis erupted just weeks before Lt Gen David Petraeus and US Ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker are to present a report to Congress on Sept. 15 on the success of President George W. Bush's Iraq strategy. The government was already under pressure for failing to deliver on crucial legislation. Parliament is scheduled to reconvene on Sept. 4.

PM Maliki said: "This agreement came to shake the paralysis in the political process. It is not an alternative to the blocs [in parliament]". Reuters quoted IAF member Saleem Jubouri as saying the creation of the alliance indicated the start of a fresh phase in Iraqi politics, with parties in parliament split between pro-government and opposition blocs, adding: "This encourages the other sides to look for the option of forming an opposition front".

The new governing bloc - called "the Alliance of Moderates" - is made up of Maliki's al-Da'wa al-Islamiya, Hakim's SIIC, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of Kurdistan President Mas'oud Barzani and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

The move appeared aimed at displaying an example of political agreement across sectarian and ethnic lines while isolating the more religious parties, including the Sadrists whose six ministers quit the government in April. But the impact of the deal seemed limited. The combined number of seats controlled by the four parties involved in the agreement still falls short of a clear majority in the parliament. To pass legislation, the group would need support from one or more of the religious parties or the main Sunni groups.

A senior US official in Baghdad said any alliance leaving out Sunnis would lack the credibility needed for real reconciliation among the country's three main factions. Talabani said the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), the largest of three Sunni parties within the IAF, also was invited to join the alliance, but declined, adding: "They are blessing this agreement and hoping we can find a way to solve the political problems and then they will be with us". Some Sunni leaders responded with continued defiance. Omar Abdul-Satar, a member of the IIP, dismissed the deal as an effort to formalise the status quo. He said it would not be enough to bring back the IAF, adding: "This agreement remains loyal to the existing reality and will not save the country from its crisis".

For now, the Sunnis seem focused on building unity among their own. IAF leader Dulaimi on Aug. 16 spent the day in Anbar meeting with Sunni tribal leaders who have recently started working with US troops to fight the Neo-Salafis. The tribal groups, known as the Anbar Salvation Council (ASC), have emerged as a potential rival to Dulaimi's IAF, and the meeting appeared to be an effort to smooth over their differences and create a unified Sunni front. Abdul-Satar Buzaigh al-Rishawi, an ASC founder, said after the meeting the tribes had agreed not to seek the IAF's seats in Maliki's cabinet, but he also called on the Sunni leaders in Baghdad to change course.

Maliki, for his part, on Aug. 17 toured Salahuddin Province and met with Sunni tribal leaders. He called on Sunni Arabs to join his cabinet, implying they could replace the IAF figures, even if they have no seats in parliament. Maliki's choice of Salahuddin, and his visit to its capital Tikrit, the birth-place of the former Ba'th Party, was a significant move. It tended to balance Dulaimi's appeal to Sunni tribes and the ASC in Anbar.

Intra-Shi'ite rivalries on Aug. 16 festered in the Shiite-dominated south, where militias loyal to Sadr and the SIIC, along with fighters from the al-Fadhila al-Islamiya Party, have been battling for control. Sadr's Jaysh al-Mahdi (JaM) militia and SIIC's Badr forces have clashed frequently since early 2004.

Fadhila supporters on Aug. 16 buried the leader of their office in Diwaniya, the capital of Qadisiya Province, after he was shot and killed on Aug. 15 by unknown gunmen. Fadhila leaders suspect a faction of the JaM was involved in the killing. There is still confusion about the role of Iran's Quds Force, a special branch of the IRGC, behind the Shi'ite militias, including the various JaM factions, the Badr forces and those of Fadhila. An APS source in the southern city of Basra says the Quds Force is involved in all Shi'ite militia groups in one way or another.