Iraq parliament talks on security posts postponed

BAGHDAD, June 4 (Reuters) A session of Iraq's parliament in which new defence and interior ministers were expected to be chosen was postponed today, the deputy speaker said, in a clear setback to the prime minister.

Khaled al-Attiya did not give reasons for the postponement ''until further notice'' but government sources said the powerful Shi'ite Alliance is deadlocked on a nominee for the Interior Ministry post.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has threatened that if there was no consensus he would exercise his constitutional right to put his own nominees to a vote in Sunday's session.

Government sources said the political blocs had reached an agreement on the candidates late on Saturday to vote for Maliki's candidates, Farouk al-Araji for the interior post and General Abdel Qader Mohammed Jassim, the commander of Iraqi ground forces, for defence minister.

But the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) has threatened to reject Araji for the job and present its own candidates.

Such a move could split the bloc, to which Maliki belongs and throw the country into another political crisis after months of wranging over a new government that Washinton hopes can avert a sectarian civil war.

Some members of the Shi'ite Alliance said a deal could still be struck later in the day.

INTENSE WRANGLING Intense wrangling forced Maliki to leave the defence and interior posts empty when he unveiled his government of national unity on May 20.

Maliki said he had accepted a delay of almost two weeks as the parties, all of which agreed a veto right on the candidates for the two post, proposed a dizzying variety of names.

In principle, Maliki's dominant Shi'ite Alliance is promised the interior ministry, but it is under pressure from minorities and from US officials engaged in the process to find someone seen as less sectarian in outlook than the previous minister.

Minority Sunnis, who are promised the defence ministry, accuse the previous interior minister of overseeing the use of Shi'ite militias in the police as sectarian death squads, a charge he denied.

Political Shi'ite sources said that there is a battle of wills among Shi'ite Alliance rivals the Dawa party, Maliki's group, and SCIRI, led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim.

''Some want to tell him that even though he is a prime minister he must consult with his bloc on jobs,'' one senior Shi'ite source told Reuters.

''Otherwise he will not make it, they will make him fail for sure, the decision is a group decision not one man's.'' REUTERS SK PM1811