Iraq PM may face problems over ministerial changes

By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may face problems in parliament over candidates he submitted to replace six ministers who quit in protest at his refusal to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Some Shi'ite officials outside the government said on Thursday parliament might reject the nominations because the candidates were not as independent as Maliki had promised.

Six ministers loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr resigned last month. Maliki also has to find a seventh after the justice minister, an independent, left the government for "professional" reasons.

"It may not be a smooth vote," said a lawmaker from the ruling Shi'ite Alliance, citing problems with Sadr's political movement, which has kept its 30 seats in the bloc despite quitting the government.

Maliki promised to replace the Sadrists -- who did not hold vital security or economic portfolios -- with independents and technocrats. But the names given to members of parliament on Wednesday raised eyebrows, some Shi'ite officials said.

"They are all Shi'ites. Most of them are not independent. This will anger the Sadrists," said a senior Shi'ite Alliance official who is not a Sadrist and who declined to be identified.

"We have one candidate loyal to the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), another is a Maliki aide and others are loyal to other groups," the official told Reuters.

Sami al-Askari, an aide to Maliki, was nominated as transport minister. The mayor of Baghdad, Saber al-Issawi, who is close to SCIRI, which is part of the Shi'ite Alliance, was proposed as agriculture minister, said the official.