Iraq's parliament will convene by Saturday to elect a speaker and try to reach agreement on a government to end a political crisis in the country, politicians said. The assembly's first working session will be held at the weekend after the Shia and Kurdish blocs, who between them have the two-thirds majority needed to form a government, sign a declaration on the status of the oil city of Kirkuk and the role of Islam, they said.
"We will affirm the need to solve territorial disputes according to the interim constitution, which also says Islam is a main source of legislation and dispels fears that Iraq will be ruled by the clergy," said Ali al-Dabagh, a member of the Shia bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance.
"There are still issues to be settled, notably ministries such as defence," said Dabagh, who is well connected with the Shia seminary in Najaf and its Iranian-born leader Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, another alliance member, said the session of the 275-member assembly could be as early as Friday, after Kurdish leaders return from Kurdish new celebrations in the north.