BAGHDAD, Iraq

Al-Jaafari may become prime minister

Interim Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari was chosen as his Shiite ticket’s candidate for prime minister yesterday after Ahmad Chalabi dropped his bid, senior alliance officials said.

Al-Jaafari’s selection means he likely will lead Iraq’s first democratically elected government in 50 years. But first he has to be approved by a coalition that likely will include the Kurds, and then he must be approved by a majority of the newly elected National Assembly.

Pressure from within the ranks of the United Iraqi Alliance, which won Iraq’s landmark Jan. 30 election, forced the withdrawal of Chalabi, a one-time Pentagon favorite, said Hussein al-Moussawi from the Shiite Political Council, an umbrella group for 38 Shiite parties.

Two explosions echoed through Baghdad at midday. A plume of black smoke rose from the Green Zone, where Iraqi government offices and the U.S. Embassy are located.

Police Capt. Muthanna Hassan said one of the blasts was a car bomb that exploded as an Iraqi special forces convoy passed by, killing two soldiers and wounding 20 others. It was not clear what caused the other blast.

 

SEOUL, South Korea

North Korea sets conditions for nuclear talks

China urged the United States and North Korea yesterday to be more flexible in trying to resolve their nuclear standoff after communist leader Kim Jong Il said his government would return to six-party disarmament talks if Washington shows sincerity and meets his conditions.

Kim said in a rare comment on the nuclear dispute that his government remained committed to a peaceful solution.

“We will go to the negotiating table anytime if there are mature conditions for the six-party talks thanks to the concerted efforts of the parties concerned in the future,” the reclusive leader told a visiting Chinese envoy, according to Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency. He expressed the hope that the United States would show “trustworthy sincerity,” it said.

KCNA did not elaborate on what conditions Kim cited to the envoy from China, his impoverished country’s only remaining major ally.

 

RAMALLAH, West Bank

Qureia promises to reform Palestinian cabinet

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia yesterday promised a drastic overhaul of his Cabinet, signaling the start of long-sought reform, after his original lineup of political old-timers prompted an angry outcry and threats of a no-confidence vote.

Qureia told parliament he would largely appoint experts, rather than politicians, to the Cabinet, which will be presented to parliament for approval Wednesday.

Sweeping change in the Cabinet would mark a first for the Palestinian Authority. Until now, the ministers were largely chosen from a small circle of cronies of the late Yasser Arafat, often regardless of expertise.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas appeared to be largely untouched by the political turmoil. Abbas could simply appoint a new prime minister if Qureia fails to win approval for his Cabinet.

 

KABUL, Afghanistan

U.S. considers permanent bases in Afghanistan

The United States needs permanent military bases in Afghanistan to protect its “vital national security interests” in the region, Arizona Sen. John McCain said yesterday after talks with the Afghan president.

McCain’s remarks were the latest indication of American and British aspirations to cement their influence in this former al-Qaida stronghold on the doorstep of Iran, China and nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India.

McCain, part of a five-member Senate delegation that met President Hamid Karzai at his palace in the Afghan capital, said he was committed to a “strategic partnership that we believe must endure for many, many years.”

 

— Compiled from Daily wire reports