Top Shi'ite official asks Jaafari to step down

BAGHDAD, Apr 2 (Reuters) A senior member of the biggest party in Ibrahim al-Jaafari's Shi'ite Alliance urged him to step down as prime minister today to enable Iraqi leaders to press ahead with efforts to form a unity government.

''I ask Jaafari to step down as nominee for prime minister because ... the candidate ought to secure a national consensus from other lists and also international acceptance,'' Jalal al- Deen al-Saghir, a senior parliamentarian from SCIRI, told Reuters.

REUTERS CH KP1915