BAGHDAD, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari backed off from his insistence on heading the next government on Thursday, saying it is up to his Shiite alliance to make the final decision.

    Jaafari sent a letter to the Iraq Shiite Alliance just hours before the Iraqi parliament is scheduled to convene on Thursday.

    Shiite politician Jawad al-Maliki, a leader of the dominating United Iraq Alliance, said that Jaafari has left the decision about his candidacy to the alliance.

    "He told the alliance today that it was up to it to decide. Now it will be the alliance which will decide," Maliki told reporters.

    Jaafari's sudden turnaround came as a surprise to Iraqi politicians as he was still reiterating his refusal to step down on Wednesday.

    "Stepping down is absolutely not in my consideration. I can't understand how resigning ... would benefit the national interest,"Jaafari told a news conference.

    On Wednesday, acting parliament speaker Adnan Pachachi announced that the assembly will convene a session on Thursday.

    The long-awaited session, which was originally due on Monday, was postponed due to an impasse among political leaders over premiership of the country.

    Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni political leaders have been at odds over who should be the next prime minister, as Kurds and Sunnis oppose the Shiite alliance's choice of incumbent Jaafari for a second term. Enditem