Cleric, militia leader announce political alliance

BAGHDAD: Nationalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Iranian-backed militia chief Hadi al-Amiri, who won first and second place respectively in Iraq’s last month’s parliamentary election, announced yesterday an alliance between their political blocs.

The move announced from the Shia holy city of Najaf is the first serious step towards forming a new government after weeks of negotiations between parties.

It comes one month after an election marred by historically low turnout and fraud allegations. “Our meeting was a positive one, we met to end the suffering of this nation ,” Sadr said.

The alliance comes despite an impending nationwide manual recount of votes.

Parliament mandated the recount after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said a government report showed there were serious violations.

A few days later a storage site housing half of Baghdad’s ballot boxes caught fire, raising tensions and prompting some to call for the election to be repeated.