SEOUL/ LONDON: US President Barack Obama on Friday hailed a "milestone" in Iraq after rival factions reached a power-sharing deal following months of fraught negotiations and deadlock.
Obama, speaking at the G20 summit in South Korea, said there were still challenges to come in Iraqi politics. But he billed the deal as "inclusive" and said it reflected the will of the people following the Iraqi election in March.
"There are still some challenges to come but all indications are the government will be representative, inclusive and reflect the will of the Iraqi people," Obama said, capping an intense US effort to back the unity process.
"This agreement marks another milestone in the history of modern Iraq," Obama said, and pledged the United States would continue to support Iraqis as they solidified their democracy.
In a statement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also welcomed the news, even after members of a key Sunni bloc staged a walkout at the parliament, underscoring the deal’s fragility.
The agreement was "a testament to the determination of the Iraqi people to build their own democracy, a goal only they can achieve," Clinton said.
The agreement announced in Baghdad would return Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shia, to power, leave Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, as president and a Sunni Arab from Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc as parliament speaker.
Allawi was due to head a national council on strategic policies, a position that US officials said would allow for checks on the government’s direction.
But after electing Osama al-Nujaifi as speaker, about 60 members of former prime minister Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc walked out to press for the reinstatement of three fellow members barred for alleged links to Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden spoken to several Iraqi leaders in recent days to press for an agreement that would bring Allawi and his bloc into the government, senior administration officials said.
During the calls, Obama "reiterated our strong desire to see an inclusive government in Iraq, and welcomed the steps that have been taken toward reaching that goal," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications, said in a statement Thursday.
"He also stressed the need for Dr Allawi, other members of Iraqiya, and representatives from all of the winning blocs to hold leadership positions in the new national partnership government."
"This looks like a good outcome for those working for a stable, peaceful Iraq and a bad result for those whose agenda is more sectarianism and violence," said Anthony Blinken, Biden’s national security adviser.
A senior administration official said the agreement to form an inclusive government was "a strong rejection of interference of negative external influences in the region."
"Of course, I’m speaking specifically about Iran’s attempts to engineer an Iraqi government that was based on a unified sectarian Shia list that would have been a narrow government and not representative of the government of Iraq," the official added.
Allawi’s faction won the most seats in the elections, but he failed to gain the prime minister’s post.
During calls last week, Obama discussed the possibility of Kurds giving up the presidency in favour of Allawi as an option, a senior administration official said.
But in the end, the parliament speaker post combined with the chairmanship of the strategic policy council proved sufficient to bring Allawi into the new government.
The officials said negotiations remain on distributing positions before the new government can be formed.
"But the major decisions have been taken, the constitutional process has begun and you have an emerging inclusive Iraqi government that is representative of those election results for March," an official said.
Meanwhile, Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague on Friday called the power-sharing deal struck in Iraq a "significant step forward" for the country after months of political deadlock.
"I was very pleased to hear of the agreement on the appointment of the Iraqi president, prime minister and speaker of the council of representatives," Hague said in a statement.
"This is a significant step forward and I now urge Iraq quickly to complete the process of forming a government that represents all Iraqis."
