Will Biden's Iraq trip breathe new life into Iraq's political deadlock?
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U.S. Vice President Joe Biden dropped a surprising visit in Baghdad on Saturday and launched his second visit to Iraq this year, with a mission of coaxing Iraqi parties to form a new government as the U.S. forces are scaling back in the country.
The vice president's three-day visit was packed with meetings with Iraqi political leaders, who are still engaged in picking a new prime minister nearly four months after the country held its second national parliamentary elections.
However, Iraqi analysts doubt whether Biden's visit would "dictate" a path for Iraq while the whole country seems to be paralyzed by the political deadlock.
Biden's visit stirs things up
Biden and top U.S. officials' visits were heavily looked upon by all parts in Iraq, since there is no single bloc or coalition that has enough power to break the ice independently under the current circumstance, said some local analysts.
Sabah al-Shiekh, a political professor in Baghdad University, said in an interview with Xinhua that he believed Biden's visit can stir things up even though he offered no clear solution to Iraq's on-going impasses.
"I believe that his visit came to press Maliki's and Allawi's blocs to come together to form the new government, and today there is more possibility that the two blocs are coming closer," he said.
He added that "If it happens, then, the Shiite National Coalition (State of Law and Iraqi National Alliance) will probably collapse, especially after the two Shiite parties have failed to reach an understanding over the candidate for the PM post as Sadr followers rejected Maliki who is the only candidate for his coalition for the post."
Biden's visit can at least break Iraq's current political stalemate by pressing different factions together, but the result depends on to what extent each part will compromise in order to form a government, a local media man refusing to give his name told Xinhua.
