The Shia Alliance has chosen Jawad al-Maliki as their candidate for prime minister, according to Shia MP Bassem Sharif.
Al-Maliki, deputy leader of the Dawa party, was selected after current Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari handed his nomination back to the Alliance.
'Six of the seven leaders of the Shia Alliance member parties gave their consent in favour of Maliki,' Sharif of the Fadhila Party said.
Washington hopes that a deal on a national unity government can avert a full-scale sectarian civil war and draw Arab Sunni insurgents into the political process.
