Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc, which quit the Shi'ite-led government last year, is close to rejoining and has submitted a list of candidates for ministerial posts, President Jalal Talabani said yesterday.

"The main obstacles have been lifted. The Accordance Front delivered the names of their candidates for ministries to the Prime Minister. Two names for each ministry," President Talabani, a Kurd, said in televised comments after meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The Front quit the national unity government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki last August, demanding the release of mainly Sunni Arab detainees and more say in security matters.

Persuading the bloc to rejoin the government has been a key aim of US policy in Iraq, given minority Sunni Arabs currently have little voice in a Cabinet dominated by Shi'ites and Kurds.

The government has begun releasing prisoners under a new amnesty law, and the Front signalled support for Mr Maliki's security policy this month by signing on to a statement backing the Prime Minister's crackdown on Shi'ite militias.

Mr Talabani said talks were also under way with a secular bloc led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and with the small, Shi'ite Fadhila party to bring them back into the government. But he did not mention reconciliation with followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who also quit the government last year.

Mr Maliki has threatened to ban Cleric Sadr's followers from politics if they do not disband their Mehdi Army militia. On Saturday Cleric Sadr threatened to respond with a threat of "open war".