Coalition talks falter; 14 Iraqis are killed

BAGHDAD -- Talks aimed at forging a coalition government faltered yesterday over Kurdish demands for more land and concerns that the dominant Shi'ite alliance seeks to establish an Islamic state, delaying the planned first meeting of Iraq's new parliament.

The snag in negotiations between Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq came as clashes and car bombings in Baghdad killed at least 19 Iraqi soldiers and police officers -- the latest in a wave of violence since elections on Jan. 30.

Also, an American Marine was killed in action yesterday in Babel province south of Baghdad, the US military said, giving no further details.

The group led by Iraq's most wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, purportedly claimed responsibility in an Internet posting for at least one of the bombings -- as it had for a suicide car bombing on Monday that killed 125 people in Hillah, a town south of the capital.

''The bombings in Hillah and again in Baghdad this morning are not going to derail the political process that Iraq is embarked upon," national security adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie said yesterday. ''The Iraqi government will go after and hunt down each and every one of these terrorists whether in Iraq or elsewhere."

But forming Iraq's first democratically elected coalition government is turning out to be a laborious process.

Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders, Iraq's new political powers, failed to reach agreement after two days of negotiations in the northern city of Erbil, with the clergy-backed candidate for prime minister, Ibrahim Jaafari, leaving with only half the deal he needed.

The Shi'ite-led United Iraqi Alliance, which has 140 seats in the 275-member National Assembly, hopes to win backing from the 75 seats held by Kurdish political parties so it can muster the required two-thirds majority for top posts in the new government.

Jaafari indicated after the talks that the alliance was ready to accept a Kurdish demand that one of its leaders, Jalal Talabani, become president.

''We, the United Iraqi Alliance, and I personally respect the Kurdish choice for Jalal Talabani to be their nominee for the presidential post. I will convey this honestly to my brothers in the alliance," he said.

However, he would not commit to other demands, including the expansion of Kurdish autonomous areas south to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

Kurdish leaders have demanded constitutional guarantees for their northern regions, including self-rule and reversal of the ''Arabization" of Kirkuk and other northern areas. Saddam Hussein relocated Iraqi Arabs to the region in a bid to secure the oil fields there.

Politicians had hoped to convene the new parliament by Sunday. But Ali Faisal, of the Shi'ite Political Council, said the date was now postponed and that a new date had not been set.

''The blocs failed to reach an understanding over the formation of the government," said Faisal, whose council is part of the United Iraqi Alliance.

The Kurds, he added, were ''the basis of the problem" in the negotiations.

''The Kurds are wary about al-Jaafari's nomination to head the government. They are concerned that a strict Islamic government might be formed," Faisal said. ''Negotiations and dialogue are ongoing."

In another twist, alliance deputy and former Pentagon favorite Ahmed Chalabi was to meet today with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, whose party won 40 seats in the assembly. It was unclear why the meeting between the two rivals was taking place.

Allawi and Chalabi are secular Shi'ites opposed to making Iraq an Islamic state. Concerns over a possible theocracy are especially pertinent because the main task of the new assembly will be to write a constitution.

Although Kurds make up only about 15 percent of Iraq's population, they won 27 percent of the assembly seats -- largely because most Sunni Arabs did not participate in the elections, either to honor a boycott call or because they feared attack by Sunni-led insurgents trying to disrupt the vote.

Yesterday's attacks began when a car bomb struck an Iraqi Army base, killing eight soldiers and wounding at least 25. A second car bomb an hour later at an army checkpoint killed four soldiers. Separate clashes killed two police officers, the Defense Ministry said.

Two car bombs exploded today near Iraq's Interior Ministry in Baghdad, killing at least five policemen, a police source said. The attacks took place at a police checkpoint.

Material from Reuters was used in this story.