Jaafari set to become Iraq's next PM

Iraq's main Shi'ite alliance proposed Ibrahim al-Jaafari for prime minister yesterday, signalling the softly-spoken doctor will almost certainly get the job after the alliance's success in last month's election.

Mr Jaafari, a religious Shi'ite and head of the Islamist Dawa Party, had faced competition from inside the alliance from former exile Ahmad Chalabi, once favoured by the Pentagon.

But Chalabi withdrew as a candidate at a meeting in Baghdad, and the alliance unanimously approved Mr Jaafari.

"The priority now is security... it affects all other issues, such as the economy and rebuilding," Mr Jaafari told a news conference to announce his nomination.

He said if he became prime minister he would work to improve the capability of security forces and increase their numbers.

The bearded, 58-year-old still faces a challenge from incumbent interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

But Mr Allawi's list won only 14 per cent of the vote in the election, while the Shi'ite alliance won 48 per cent - enough for a majority in the National Assembly - and has insisted on having the top job.

Mr Jaafari, a physician and father of five, was a member of the US-appointed Governing Council that ran Iraq after the 2003 war. He joined Dawa - Iraq's oldest Islamic movement - in 1966, but fled to Iran in 1980 after a crackdown on the party in which thousands of his comrades were killed.