Shiites take steps to resolve standoff over prime minister

~ However, the meeting, held on the third anniversary of Baghdad's fall, failed to produce breakthroughs.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Shiite lawmakers met on Sunday, the third anniversary of the fall of Baghdad to U.S. forces, in the first formal step to break the deadlock over Sunni and Kurdish opposition to their choice for a prime minister to head the next government.

But the meeting, held at the insistence of the Shiites' top clerical leadership, failed to produce any breakthroughs, as Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's key allies stuck by their support for him, according to Shiite officials.

Iraq observed "Freedom Day," a holiday that commemorates U.S. Marines tearing down a statue of Saddam Hussein as Iraqis cheered in Firdous Square on April 9, 2003, marking the collapse of Saddam's regime.

Meanwhile, at least 15 people were killed Sunday, including eight suspected insurgents shot by American soldiers in a pre-dawn raid north of the capital.

Representatives of the seven factions within the United Iraqi Alliance made no final decisions during the Sunday meeting but agreed to form a three-member committee to discuss the crisis with Sunni Arab and Kurdish parties that have opposed al-Jaafari.

Though the Shiites' support is still behind al-Jaafari, several names have been floated as possible alternatives as the Shiites face massive pressure from the United States and top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani to speed formation of the new government.

The Shiites planned to meet again today to review their options.

Late Sunday, the Shiite committee met with Kurdish leaders, who stuck by their insistence that al-Jaafari must go. Kurdish elder statesman Mahmoud Othman said the Kurds made clear they would not participate in a government headed by al-Jaafari.

Blaming the candidate

Sunnis and Kurds have blamed al-Jaafari for the rise in tensions between Sunnis and Shiites, which boiled over following the Feb. 22 bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra, triggering reprisal attacks against Sunnis that plunged the nation to the brink of civil war.

Al-Sistani has insisted that Shiite politicians resolve the deadlock as soon as possible in the interest of national unity.

With al-Jaafari refusing to step aside and his key supporters standing fast, Shiite officials have been reluctant to try to force the prime minister to withdraw, fearing it would shatter their alliance.

A Sunni politician, Dhafir al-Ani, said the Shiites had told Sunni leaders they were ready to give guarantees to make the Sunnis soften their opposition. Al-Ani would not elaborate.

Another Sunni politician, Saleh al-Mutlaq, proposed that the new prime minister be chosen by consensus among all parties, a proposal the Shiites are unlikely to accept. Al-Mutlaq said the new government should be made up of "independents, nationalists and technocrats" not affiliated with "current political parties."

The constitution states that the prime minister must come from the ranks of the largest faction in parliament. The Shiites won 130 of the 275 seats in the Dec. 15 election, making them the biggest faction but without enough strength to govern without partners.

Names of several other Shiites have been mentioned as a possible alternative to al-Jaafari, including Vice President Adil Abdul-Mahdi, deputy parliament speaker Hussain al-Shahristani, and two members of al-Jaafari's Dawa party, Jawad al-Maliki and Ali al-Adeeb.

Also Sunday, kidnappers threatened to kill two German engineers seized by gunmen in January in northern Iraq unless prisoners held by U.S. forces are freed. The two Germans -- Thomas Nitzschke and Rene Braeunlich -- were shown in a video posted Sunday on the Web pleading for help.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government was "doing everything in our power to save the lives of the hostages."

U.S. officials believe a unity government with Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds offers the best hope for easing sectarian tension and restoring order in this turbulent country.

Delays in forming a new government have persisted despite strong pressure from the U.S., Britain and Iraq's fellow Arab countries, which fear the turmoil here will spill across their borders and expand the influence of Shiite-dominated Iran.

Without a new government in place, U.S. hopes to begin removing troops from Iraq are effectively on hold.

Nevertheless, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has cautioned that Iraqi leaders face difficult decisions in forming a government that meets the aspirations of all ethnic and religious communities.

"We need to be patient at the same time to make sure that they don't get any government, but that they get a good government," Khalilzad said on CNN's "Late Edition."

The turmoil across this country stands in sharp contrast to the euphoria that swept many areas of Iraq when Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed during the U.S.-led invasion three years ago.

"Freedom Day" has been declared a national holiday, although the day was not celebrated in Fallujah and other parts of insurgent-infested Anbar province.

The insurgency, militias, rising sectarian violence, electricity shortages and the political vacuum have all sapped much of the enthusiasm generated by the collapse of Saddam's dictatorship.

"Iraqis are pleased and displeased," said Qassim Hassan, a soldier. "They are pleased because they got rid of tyranny and dictatorship, but they are displeased because they went from bad to worse. The Iraqi street is seething between sadness and terrorism."

In a pre-dawn raid Sunday, clashes erupted when U.S. forces surrounded a suspected safehouse and nearby tent on the northern outskirts of Baghdad. After being fired upon, troops gunned down five suspected insurgents, and three others were killed in an air strike.

In other violence:

-- Roadside bombs killed one civilian in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of the capital.

-- Three civilians and a policeman were killed in bombings in Baghdad.

-- Gunmen killed a guest after opening fire on a Baghdad wedding reception, police said.

-- A man allegedly making a bomb in Baqouba was killed when it exploded, police said.

-- Police discovered four bodies, handcuffed and at least one shot in the head, in the Dora district of southern Baghdad.