NAJAF -- All political parties need to work together to address security and service issues in the new Iraqi government, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani has said.

Iraq is moving closer to forming a formal government after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki managed in November to secure enough support for a second term more than eight months after parliamentary elections.
Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi told the Voice of Iraq news agency following a meeting with Ayatollah Sistani that cooperation was the main feature of his talks with the revered cleric.
“His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sistani has stressed the principle of national partnership and the need that all political blocs participate in the decision-making process and pay utmost attention to security and services,” he said from the holy city of Najaf.
Sistani underlined “the need that all political blocs participate in the decision-making process and pay utmost attention to security and services,” al-Nujaifi added.
The speaker went on to say that all parties in the new government were keen to move ahead in the spirit of multilateralism.
“The time of discrimination among religious groups and provinces is over,” he said. “We are now seeking a fair government that would serve all groups of Iraqi people away from any forms of discrimination.”
Iraq held general elections on March 7.
Prime Minister Maliki's State of Law coalition and archrival Iyad Allawi's al-Iraqiya secured 89 and 91 seats respectively in the 325-member parliament, both falling shy of the 163 seats required for a majority.
The factions failed to agree on the principles of the future ruling structure until last month, when they clinched a deal, reinstating Maliki and President Jalal Talabani. Maliki has said he would appoint the future government by mid-December.
The next government is expected to defuse the countrywide tension, which is a result of the United States-led invasion of 2003 and the subsequent war and occupation.
Over one million Iraqis have been killed during the war and occupation, according to the California-based Project Censored.
Maliki has warned against any extension of the foreign military presence on the country's soil beyond a 2011 deadline, which Washington is obligated to respect.
Photo: Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani