Iraq parliament session delayed as politicians fail to reach agreement on key posts

BAGHDAD – BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq on Monday delayed a parliament session scheduled for this week as the political impasse over who will lead the country drags into its fifth month.

The deadlock comes as frustration mounts over the inability of Iraqi lawmakers to reach an agreement on the country's leadership more than four months after national elections.

"There are still differences in points of views, so it is impossible to enter the parliament hall," said acting parliament speaker Fouad Massoum, warning that the next session could be delayed for weeks.

"In principle, we postponed the parliament session for two weeks but it could be three," Massoum told The Associated Press in a phone interview on Monday. "If political blocs don't agree on anything (by then), there will be a real crisis," he added.

Elections on March 7 did not give any party enough seats to form a majority in the 325-member parliament. For the past several months, the major coalitions have been engaged in intense negotiations to win enough allies to form a government.

The alliance in early May of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition and another Shiite bloc backed by Iran seemed to indicate the process was picking up speed with their super-coalition only four seats shy of a governing majority.

But even that alliance is showing cracks as many of the al-Maliki's putative allies are virulently opposed to the prime minister keeping his job.

Earlier on Monday, Massoum said the fact that the parliament was not meeting this week is a violation of the constitution, but he said that nothing can be done. Massoum did not clarify what he meant by the violation but one article of the constitution indicates that the new president should elected within 30 days of the new parliament first meeting.

Meanwhile, Iraq has issued arrest warrants for 39 members of an Iranian opposition group who have lived in a camp northeast of Baghdad since Saddam Hussein's reign.

The development comes just days after American soldiers shut down their base near Camp Ashraf as part of the U.S. troop drawdown.

The presence of the Iranian group, which fought alongside Saddam during his 1980s war with Iran, has long irritated Iraq's Shiite-led government.

Judge Munir Hadad, the former deputy chief of the Iraqi High Tribunal told the AP on Monday that the wanted members of the group — known as The People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran — are suspected of committing crimes while helping Saddam crush the 1991 Shiite revolt.

A spokesman for the group who lives at the Camp Ashraf said Iraqi authorities have not informed its residents or their lawyers of the arrest warrants issued, a move he called "a political show."

"There is no legal basis for the arrests of any of our members," Shahriar Kia told The AP on Monday.

Members of the Iranian faction have made several claims about alleged abuses and pressure tactics by Iraqi authorities who are eager to oust them from the country.

Last year's raid of the compound by Iraqi security forces resulted in a melee that officials said left 11 residents dead and dozens injured.

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Associated Press Writer Saad Abdul-Kadir contributed to this report.