Iran & Syria back Allawi for PM in Iraq?

UPI/ here

"Damascus and Tehran have thrown their weight behind Iyad Allawi to unseat Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the March elections, sources said Wednesday.

Iraqis are in the midst of a contentious election season ahead of March 7 parliamentary elections. Months of wrangling over amendments to an election law were followed by a January decision to ban several influential Sunni leaders from taking part in the polls.

The Justice and Accountability Commission, led by former Washington favorite Ahmed Chalabi, a Shiite, scoured the election lists for members with alleged ties to the outlawed Baath Party of Saddam Hussein.

Source told Iraq's al-Sumaria that Tehran and Damascus would back Allawi, the secular Shiite leader of the Iraqiya slate, as prime minister. He was previously prime minster in 2004-05.

Allawi sent a delegation to Tehran to discuss his candidacy, the report adds. Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim, who heads the influential Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, is said to be soliciting other political slates to back Allawi over Maliki.."