Iraq's main Sunni bloc suspends government talks

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab political blocsaid on Wednesday it had suspended talks to rejoin theShi'ite-led government after a disagreement with Prime MinisterNuri al-Maliki over a cabinet post.

Persuading the bloc to rejoin has been a main aim of U.S.policy in Iraq and is widely seen as a vital step inreconciling the country's factions after years of conflict.Sunni Arabs have little voice in a cabinet dominated byShi'ites and Kurds.

"We have suspended negotiations with the government andpulled out our candidates," said Salim al-Jibouri, spokesmanfor the Accordance Front. He said the decision was taken afterMaliki objected to a candidate for a cabinet position.

The Accordance Front pulled out of Maliki's national unitygovernment in August, demanding the release of mainly SunniArab detainees in Iraq's jails and calling for a greater say insecurity matters.

Since becoming prime minister in May 2006, Maliki has facedconstant criticism from Iraq's minority Sunni Arab communitythat he has promoted the interests of the majority Shi'itesahead of the country's other sectarian and ethnic groups.

But he won praise from Sunni Arab politicians afterlaunching a crackdown on Shi'ite militias in Baghdad and thesouthern oil city of Basra. The government has also begunreleasing Sunni Arab prisoners under a new amnesty law.

Jibouri said the Accordance Front drew up a list ofcandidates for six cabinet posts to hand to the government forapproval but Maliki rejected the nomination for the PlanningMinistry.

Maliki refused to give the Sunni bloc an extra governmentpost as a compromise, said Jibouri.

Officials from Maliki's office were not immediatelyavailable for comment.

A statement on Tuesday from the office of Vice PresidentTareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab and a senior member of theAccordance Front, said he had told reporters in Jordan thetalks would succeed despite disagreements.

"We achieved significant progress on returning to thegovernment although there are some differences in points ofview over some ministries and candidates," said Hashemi.

"And we hope that in the coming days that this will beresolved and the Accordance Front will return to the nationalunity government."

Sunni Arabs were dominant under Saddam Hussein andinsurgents have drawn support from the community.

(Writing by Tim Cocks, editing by Ralph Gowling)