Kurdish official: lawmakers to discuss al-Maliki
Kurdish lawmakers began Saturday to plot their course as Iraq's kingmakers with enough seats to secure a second term for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and press key demands including a greater say over the oil riches in the country's north.
The Kurds, who control a semiautonomous northern enclave, emerged as the swing votes after al-Maliki's Shiite-led coalition received a major boost Friday from a powerful Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who once opposed him. The backing pushed al-Maliki close to a majority grip in the 325-seat parliament, but he needs help from other factions to break a nearly seven month impasse. (AP)
