Iraqi Communications Minister Mohammed Allawi resigned due to disputes between the State of Law Coalition (SLC) of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iraqiya List, led by PM's elections rival Ayad Allawi, said an independent MP.

The minister handed his resignation to Maliki on July 28. He explained there were "political interventions" in the ministry's affairs and the PM did not respond to some of the demands by the ministry.

Turhan Mufti, state minister for provinces' affairs, has taken over as the minister by proxy until the new minister is assigned.

"Resignation of the communications minister is linked to the disputes between SLC and Iraqiya List [led by Allawi]," said Hassan al-Alawi, the independent MP.

Alawi added not the Iraqiya List but the National Accord Bloc
(NAB), led by Allawi, will be affected by this resignation.

The National Accord is a major rank in the Iraqiya alliance.

A source from the NAB said that the PM has agreed to the resignation.

The resignation was handed in only a few months after Maliki's opponents launched efforts to withdraw confidence from PM, who was described by Allawi (among others) as a "dictator."


AKnews