BAGHDAD: The former prime minister who led a political coalition heavily supported by Iraq's minority Sunnis has turned down a position in the nation's new government, spokeswomen said Thursday, in a step that could leave Sunnis further marginalized. Ayad Allawi's political bloc, Iraqiya, narrowly won the most seats in last year's parliamentary election, but he was outmaneuvered by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who kept his job after drawn-out political negotiations. As a compromise to keep Allawi in the political process, the US pushed for him to head a council that would serve as a check on Al-Maliki's powers. A suicide bomber struck a group of soldiers collecting their paychecks Thursday in a western Iraqi city, killing eight people, police said. A curfew has been imposed on the city. Meanwhile, Iraq has agreed to postpone an Arab League summit scheduled for March 29 in Baghdad at the request of Arab foreign ministers because of turmoil in some countries in the region, a government official said Thursday. “It has been agreed to postpone holding the Arab summit for a maximum period until May 15 in order to understand the situations which are taking place now in some countries,” said Ali al-Moussawi, Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's media adviser.
