Spokesman: Despite withdrawal, Sadrists won't challenge Maliki for now

Above: The major players -- Nuri al-Maliki (Prime Minister, Shiite), Tariq al-Hashemi (one of two Vice Presidents, Sunni), Moqtada al-Sadr ('fiery' anti-American cleric, Shiite), Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim (head of the largest Shiite coalition), Jalal Talabani (President of Iraq, Kurd, Qadiri Sufi sect of Sunnism), and Massoud Barzani (President of Iraqi Kurdistan, Naqshbandi Sufi sect of Sunnisim). The largest Sunni bloc recently returned to parliament after Mahmud Mashhadani was reinstated as speaker, but has withdrawn its cabinet ministers from Maliki's cabinet. Sadr's parliamentary bloc also returned recently to the legislature following a protest of the most recent bombing of the al-Askari shrine in Samarra, but also withdrew from the cabinet in April. Sadr recently announced a suspension of militia activies by his Mahdi Army following clashes in Karbala which left over 50 dead. Maliki recently announced a new coalition involving al-Hakim and Talabani, but noticeably lacking Sunnis. Not pictured is former Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose smaller Sunni bloc is boycotting cabinet meetings and has threatened to withdraw from government.

Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's political movement has no immediate plan to bring down Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government despite pulling out of his ruling Shi'ite Alliance, a spokesman said on Sunday.

Sadr's bloc withdrew from Maliki's parliamentary coalition on Saturday, leaving him with the support of only about a half of the legislature's 275 lawmakers.

"We have many reservations about Maliki's government but we haven't discussed a vote of no confidence yet because it's still too early to talk about this matter," said Salah al-Ubaidi.

Maliki can count on the backing of two Shi'ite Islamist parties and the two main Kurdish parties in parliament, and could probably survive with the support of a handful of independent lawmakers.

But the Sadr bloc's withdrawal further weakens his coalition, which even before the defection had failed to push through laws aimed at reconciling Iraq's warring majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arabs.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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