Iraqi ambassador predicts prolonged delay in forming new government
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Iraqi Ambassador Lukman Faily said the United States is "more influential" than Iran in helping Iraq defeat al-Qaeda in Anbar.
Iraqi Ambassador Lukman Faily said April 23 that parliamentary elections scheduled next week are unlikely to produce a majority for any one party and that the United States retains considerable influence in Iraq despite the withdrawal two years ago of all American combat troops.
Faily, speaking to Al-Monitor a day after completing the Boston Marathon, said Iraqis have a different “concept of time” than Westerners and suggested that the elections could also help clarify nagging divisions that have undermined Iraqi unity, such as the distribution of oil revenues among Iraqi regions and provinces.
