BAGHDAD, March 7 (Xinhua) -- Eight politicians from the parliamentary political bloc of Iraqia have withdrew on Monday from the cross sectarian bloc, headed by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, due to political dispute.
"We have decided to withdraw from the Iraqia bloc which failed to follow its original plans that we agreed with its leaders from the beginning," Jamal al-Battikh, a leading figure in the Iraqia bloc told a news conference in Baghdad.
Battikh said that the he and seven politicians of the bloc have also decided to form a new parliamentary bloc proposed to be named "White bloc of Iraqia" which will be headed by Hassan al-Alawi, a Shiite secular politician.
For his part, al-Alawi said that his new bloc will pursue the original program of the Iraqia bloc which has been ignored by the leader of Iraqi bloc, Ayad Allawi.
"The forming of the White bloc of Iraqia is an uprising against the way of dealing with the political problems and the formation of the cabinet by the leaders of the Iraqia," al-Alawi said.
Al-Alawi ruled out that his new bloc is going into alliance with any other parliamentary blocs, attributing his stance to that his bloc is "liberal while the others are conservative blocs."
Al-Iraqia is an umbrella bloc of seven parties, including the leading National Accord Movement of Allawi himself.
The bloc gained narrow victory in March 7 elections last year, with 92 seats out of the country's 325 parliament seats. Only two seats ahead of Allawi's Shiite contender Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki who nonetheless managed to keep his post for another four years.
Special Report: Situation in Iraq
