Iraq stalled on new strategic council

BAGHDAD, May 20 (UPI) -- The Shiite slate of the Iraqi prime minister didn't agree to the parliamentary procedures for a new strategic council, the country's Iraqiya bloc said.

The new Iraqi government following a lengthy political standoff agreed to create a new National Council for Strategic Policies. The strategic council as proposed would enjoy some of the same rights as the prime minister.

Iyad Allawi, a former interim prime minister and leader of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya slate, was mentioned as a possible leader of the new strategic council. Iraqiya won March parliamentary elections but failed to get enough support to form a governing coalition.

Maysoon al-Damluji, a spokeswoman for Iraqiya, told the Voices of Iraq news agency all parties agreed "with the exception of the State of Law, which opposed the mechanism of voting on the NCSP by the Parliament." She said Allawi's name wasn't mentioned as the head of the council during the latest session.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is struggling to fill his administration with new names more than a year after March elections. He threatened to eventually dissolve the government in late April unless there was a breakthrough.