Iraq's two main political blocs led by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and ex-premier Iyad Allawi suspended coalition talks on Monday. According to AFP, Maysoon al-Damaluji, a spokeswoman for Allawi's Iraqiya bloc said the secular group objected to Maliki's labelling of them as a "Sunni bloc," in a television interview to be broadcast on Monday.
"We ceased negotiations with (Maliki's) State of Law," she was quoted as saying by AFP. "We are not a Sunni bloc, we are a nationalist project."
However, Allawi's party left the door open for a return to talks. "We have asked him to apologise. Without an apology, we are not going to negotiate with him anymore," she said.
Iraqiya won the poll with 91 seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives, while State of Law finished with 89.
