Powerful Shiite trio agrees on Iraqi prime minister candidate
A Beirut meetup of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Hezbollah's Hassan Nasrallah and Iran's Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani appears to have produced a compromise candidate for Iraq's next prime minister.
The most recent name to surface as a likely candidate for Iraq's premiership is Adel Abdul Mahdi, a former head of the Ministry of Oil and Ministry of Finance and a one-time vice president of the country. Following negotiations said to have involved Hezbollah, Mahdi now appears to have the support of two on-again, off-again rival parliamentary coalitions: the Sairoon Alliance of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fatah Alliance of Hadi al-Amiri.
Amiri leads Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, which has Iran's support. The United States favors current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who hasn't fared well in his bid for a second term.
