Iraqi PM Maliki asked to form new government

Iraq's president officially asked Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Thursday to form a new management, giving him 30 days to choose a cabinet from in the middle of Iraq's fractious Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni political faction.

The ask for from President Jalal Talabani came two weeks after political leaders reached an accord to divide up the top government jobs, a deal that put Maliki, a Shi'ite, on track for a second term as leader.

The power-sharing pact, more than eight months after an uncertain March 7 parliamentary election, offered several hope that Iraq could avoid a return to the sectarian warfare that killed tens of thousands of people at its crest in 2006-07.

Iraq's Talabani says will not sign Aziz death order

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said on Wednesday he will not sign an implementation order for Tareq Aziz, the former deputy of Dictator Saddam Hussein sentence to death last month for crimes alongside humanity.

"No, I will not sign the execution order for Tareq Aziz, since I am a socialist," Talabani told French television France 24 in a consultation.

"I feel sorry for with Tareq Aziz because he is an Iraqi Christian. in addition he is an old man who is over 70," he said.

Iraq's high court passed a death sentence on Aziz, once the worldwide face of Saddam's government, in October over the harassment of Islamic parties in Iraq throughout Saddam's rule.

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