Day after results, Sunnis ready for talks table

Negotiations will begin in the next couple of days, but it may take weeks or even months for a government to be formed.

US, meanwhile, has made it a priority to persuade the winners in the election not to give top posts in the Defence and Interior Ministries to officials linked to armed groups such as the Shi’ite Muslim-controlled Badr or Al-Mahdi militias, or the Kurds’ ‘‘peshmerga’’ forces.

Officials fear that such ties once again could alienate Sunni Muslims—many of whom are being drawn into the political process—sparking violence and slowing efforts to withdraw US forces.

As the parties held discussions a day after the election results giving the Shi’ite Islamist Alliance a near-majority, insurgents struck in Baghdad, a car bomb exploded in a market that killed one person.

A motorcade carrying members of President Jalal Talabani’s staff was attacked here on Friday. Police said an adviser to the President was among the five people wounded. — Reuters