The still fragile pact has resulted in Nuri al-Maliki being awarded a second term as prime minister and finally raised the prospect of a government being formed in a country that has lacked a new administration since polls in March.

But while the deal illustrates the balance of power in the region, analysts say it may also have been part of an effort by Washington and Tehran, the two biggest foreign players in Iraqi politics, to clear the decks for talks on Iran's controversial nuclear programme next month.

"The agreement came as a result of the confluence of various international and regional issues," said Ehsan al-Shammari, an Iraqi political expert.

"Iran was facing off with Washington and obstructing its efforts to form a government over the past few months. But now, it appears to be more flexible because it needed to conclude this issue as a prelude to addressing its nuclear issue through negotiations."

"The external and the internal situation (in Iraq) cannot be separated," Shammari said.

On Friday, EU diplomacy chief Catherine Ashton agreed to resume long-stalled nuclear talks between the major powers and Iran on December 5, although the venue has yet to be agreed.

Ashton represents Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in the talks aimed at allaying Western concerns that Iran's civilian nuclear programme is cover for a weapons drive, something Tehran denies.

With those talks less than a month away, one Iraqi MP said Iran and the United States wanted to resolve the political stalemate in Baghdad so that they could move on.

"There are basically two countries trying to attract Iraq -- the United States and Iran -- and what happens here reflects their desires," the MP from the mainly Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"They want to maintain their influence at the lowest cost possible ahead of their dealings on other things," he added, alluding to the nuclear talks.

Hamid Fadhel, a professor of politics at Baghdad University, said he saw no direct link to the nuclear talks but agreed that the power-sharing deal could not have been struck without the backing of Tehran and Washington.

"Maliki succeeded in being the acceptable choice of both Iran and America -- that choice kind of balances the interests of America in Iraq and Iran in Iraq," he said.

"Iran felt he was closest to Iran's policies, and the United States did not see him as against their policies, he was cooperative."

Fadhel added: "Without Iran's green light, this government would not have been formed."

A senior US diplomat, however, insisted that Washington exerted its influence only as a facilitator.

"I think they see us as a neutral broker," the diplomat said in a background briefing to reporters in Baghdad. "And I don't think there's anyone else in this country right now that plays that role."

Saleh al-Mutlak of the Iraqiya bloc insisted Iran is the real winner in the process.

"It imposed its will in the formation of a government in Iraq," Mutlak, a secular Sunni former MP, told Al-Jazeera television. "I don't believe in the American reassurances because the United States are incapable of facing up to such interventions."

Iran on Sunday welcomed the power-sharing pact, with foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast calling it a "constructive step" that would help establish security and stability in the war-torn country.

The deal, agreed late on Wednesday, resulted in the selection of Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni Arab, as the speaker of parliament, with Maliki, a Shiite, and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, retaining their posts.

It also established a new statutory body to oversee security as a sop to Iraqiya leader Iyad Allawi, who had held out for months to regain the post of premier after his bloc narrowly won the most seats in the March 7 polls.

earlier related report
Iraqi MPs salvage power-sharing pact after walk-out
Baghdad (AFP) Nov 13, 2010 - Iraqi lawmakers appeared on Saturday to have salvaged a power-sharing deal that gives Nuri al-Maliki a second term as premier, days after a dramatic walk-out from parliament by his former rivals.

The pact, which has looked fragile since being signed on Wednesday, has been lauded by world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, as a step forward in a country without a new government since elections in March.

Leaders from the three main parties to the pact met before a session of parliament on Saturday and agreed to reconcile their differences and address the protests of the Sunni-backed bloc led by former premier Iyad Allawi.

MPs passed the deal by consensus, a parliamentary official told AFP, and an Iraqiya member read a statement to the Council of Representatives explaining why around 60 lawmakers from his bloc had walked out.

"We left because of a misunderstanding over the implementation of the agreement," Haidar al-Mullah, an Iraqiya MP said in a statement to the chamber.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, added that "around 250 MPs (of 325 members) who were present approved by consensus the power-sharing initiative."

It was not immediately clear why 75 MPs stayed away from the session, or whom they represent.

Mullah said later that three senior Iraqiya members who were barred from standing in the March elections over their alleged ties to ex-dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party would be reinstated within 10 days.

Parliament's failure to do so on Thursday prompted the walk-out.

The next session of the Council of Representatives is scheduled for November 21, with the prolonged break due to next week's Eid al-Adha holiday.

The power-sharing deal called for Maliki, a Shiite, and President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, to keep their jobs and for a Sunni Arab to be selected speaker of parliament.

It also established a new statutory body to oversee security as a sop to Allawi, who had held out for months to regain the post of premier.

The support of Allawi's Iraqiya bloc, which narrowly won the March 7 poll and garnered most of its seats in Sunni areas, is widely seen as vital to preventing a resurgence of inter-confessional violence.

The Sunni Arab minority that dominated Saddam Hussein's regime was the bedrock of the anti-US insurgency after the 2003 invasion.

Thursday's parliamentary session, only the second since the election, had got off to a good start, with Maliki and Allawi sitting side-by-side in the chamber.

But shortly after Sunni Arab and Iraqiya member Osama al-Nujaifi was chosen as speaker, verbal clashes erupted, with Iraqiya complaining that the deal was not being honoured.

Iraqiya had wanted the three barred members to be reinstated before the vote to elect the president.

When their demands were not met, around 60 lawmakers left the chamber. After some confusion, the remaining MPs began voting to re-elect Talabani.

Iraqiya has said its participation rests on four conditions: a bill forming the security body, a committee examining cases against political detainees, codifying the power-sharing deal and annulling the bans on the three Iraqiya members.

Allawi has repeatedly accused Maliki of monopolising security decisions during his first term. As far back as six months ago, US officials floated the idea of a new counterweight to the premier's office in order to break the deadlock over the top job.

US President Barack Obama hailed the agreement as a "milestone" in Iraq's history.

The government would be "representative, inclusive and reflect the will of the Iraqi people," he said, adding that Washington had long lobbied for such a "broad-based government."

The US military, which currently has fewer than 50,000 soldiers in Iraq, is due to withdraw all of its forces by the end of 2011.

Britain, a partner in the US-led invasion, called the deal a "significant step forward," a sentiment echoed by France and Iraq's northern neighbour Turkey.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon welcomed the deal but urged Iraq's leaders to "continue demonstrating the same spirit of partnership in moving swiftly to conclude the formation of a new government."

The Security Council said it "encourages Iraq's leaders to rededicate themselves to the pursuit of national reconciliation," and emphasised the importance of Iraq's stability for the region.

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