The announcement by the National Alliance (NA), which remains short of an absolute majority in the 325-member Council of Representatives, is the first sign of hope in months of a new government since March 7 elections.

"The National Alliance has chosen Maliki as its candidate for the premiership," coalition member Falah Fayadh said at a news conference. He said coalition members had voted "by consensus," but did not elaborate.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said the United States was "now encouraged" that Iraqi political leaders are finally beginning to take steps to form a government.

"We've been recognizing and communicating to Iraqi political leaders that they have to find ways to form a political coalition, strong enough to stand up a government," he told reporters.

"These are the kinds of steps Iraq has to take and we are now encouraged that they are beginning to take these steps," he added.

Maliki's State of Law Alliance finished second in the polls, two seats behind the Iraqiya bloc of ex-premier Iyad Allawi, but neither had the 163 seats needed for a majority to form a government on its own.

In May, Maliki joined forces with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), parliament's third-biggest group, to form the National Alliance.

On-off internal NA talks dragged on for months as members quarrelled over the selection of a candidate for premier. The INA wanted Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi as its choice, but Maliki eventually won out.

Given the 163 threshold, NA falls four short with 159 seats. But it could need 31 seats, because the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and Fadhila, two of the blocs inside the INA which between them hold 27 seats, did not take part in negotiations over choosing a candidate.

The question remains, however, of whether or not the NA will include Iraqiya, which drew most of its support from predominantly Sunni areas, in any coalition.

Analysts say Iraqiya must play a prominent role in the government, as Sunni anger and a boycott of the political process in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion helped fuel the country's insurgency.

"Maliki will have to give concessions in order to satisfy other blocs and like that, we will have, for the first time in modern Iraqi history, parties from all the communities participating in government," Iraqiya MP Hassan Alawi told AFP.

"Iraq is like Lebanon -- everyone has to participate, whether they like it or not," he added.

On Friday, Iraq equalled the world record for the longest period without a government after elections, with its 208-day impasse matching the time it took the Netherlands to name a prime minister after elections in 1977.

In 2006, Maliki took the reins of Iraq's first permanent government after the 2003 ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein, and later won plaudits for his willingness to face down a Shiite militia and set aside communal interests for a nationalist agenda.

But while violence has dropped dramatically since its peak in 2006 and 2007 -- something Maliki has been quick to take credit for -- analysts note that much of the decline had to do with a strengthened US troop presence and the co-opting of Sunni tribal groups to fight Al-Qaeda.

The NA's announcement on Friday came hours after officials said that 273 Iraqis died in attacks in September, fewer than any month since January, when 196 were killed.

The sharp decline in violence comes after July and August recorded two of the highest monthly tolls since 2008, shortly after a brutal sectarian war across the country left tens of thousands dead.

The selection of Maliki was made a month to the day after the United States declared an official end to combat operations in Iraq on September 1, seven and a half years after it invaded the country to oust Saddam.

Meanwhile, attacks in Baghdad and the restive northern city of Mosul on Friday killed five people, including a policeman and a soldier.

earlier related report
US encouraged Iraqi leaders taking steps to form government
Washington (AFP) Oct 1, 2010 - The United States said Friday it is "now encouraged" that Iraqi political leaders are finally beginning to take steps to form a government, nearly seven months after the elections.

"The United States of America does not have a favorite candidate," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

"But obviously we've been recognizing and communicating to Iraqi political leaders that they have to find ways to form a political coalition, strong enough to stand up a government," he added.

"These are the kinds of steps Iraq has to take and we are now encouraged that they are beginning to take these steps," he said after Iraq's main Shiite parliamentary bloc chose incumbent Nuri al-Maliki as its candidate for premier.

The announcement by the National Alliance (NA), which remains short of an absolute majority in the 325-member Council of Representatives, is the first sign of hope in months of a government forming after March 7 elections.

"The one announcement by itself does not necessarily give any one block enough support to form a government," Crowley said.

He added there "will have to be more dialogue among the major parties and we hope that they'll find a way to work past their immediate political interests and stand up an inclusive government."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs was also heartened by the news.

"Politics is breaking out in Iraq," Gibbs told reporters.

"This is what young democracies go through to form a government, a representative government of the people. So obviously we are helping and assisting in any way we can with this process, but these are decisions that have to be made by the Iraqis," he said.

Asked if the US administration wanted to see a broad-based Iraqi government, he replied: "A government that represents everybody... is what everybody here is focused on."

earlier related report
Iraq postpones nationwide census again: minister
Baghdad (AFP) Oct 3, 2010 - Iraq again postponed its first census in more than two decades because of political wrangling over disputed areas in the country's north, a deputy minister said Sunday.

The October 24 census has now been delayed until December 5, the latest in a string of deferrals that have consistently put back a count originally due in 2007.

"There was a special meeting of the cabinet today to discuss the issue of the census and discuss the situation," deputy planning minister Mehdi al-Alak told AFP.

"There was some flexibility for the date of the census, and they decided that the date of the census should be delayed until December 5 to finish the negotiations over the unresolved questions.

"The land dispute (between Kurds and Arabs) is the main dispute," he said.

That row is mainly over a swathe of land in northern Iraq, centring around the provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh, bordering the autonomous Kurdistan region.

Kurdish authorities in Arbil claim the land as their own, and Baghdad insists it should be administered by the central government.

There are fears that the dispute, particularly over the fate of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, could trigger open conflict.

To reduce tensions in the disputed area, the US military has this year been conducting joint patrols and manning checkpoints with Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces.

Plans to hold the census in 2007 were scrapped because of nationwide sectarian strife and violence.

The last census in 1987 counted a total population of 16 million, but international organisations now put the figure at around 30 million.

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