Main Iraq factions agree on top posts for new govt

BAGHDAD, (Reuters) – Iraq’s main political blocs  agreed nominees for the country’s top three parliamentary posts,  ending an eight-month deadlock over a new government, Kurdish  regional president Masoud Barzani said today.
Barzani said incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s  Shi’ite-led alliance would get the prime minister post, while  the Kurdish faction would keep the presidency.
Former premier Iyad Allawi’s Sunni-backed Iraqiya faction  would get the speaker’s post in the national assembly —  parliament — while Allawi himself would head a new council of  strategic policy, he said.