BAGHDAD – One of Iraq’s deputy presidents has stepped down, a top Shia leader said yesterday, a sign of divisions in the coalition government formed by Shia, Sunni and Kurdish factions.
Adel Abdul-Mahdi’s resignation came as prime minister Nuri al-Maliki rejected charges that he had not delivered on powersharing promises since forming a fragile multi-sectarian government in December after nine months of political deadlock.
Ammar al-Hakim, the leader of the Iranian-backed Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), said Mr Abdul-Mahdi, a senior Shia politician in ISCI, had presented his resignation but it had yet to be approved by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.
“We were supposed to present this resignation before, but the president was abroad, so once he came back the resignation was submitted to him,” Mr Hakim said. – (Reuters)
