State TV says Iraqi PM won't run for third term

AP- Associated Press, Feb. 5, 2011

FILE - In this Jan. 23, 2009 file photo, Iraqi Prime Minister
Nouri al-Maliki is seen at a rally in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city,
550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq's prime
minister says he will return half of his annual salary to the government's
treasury in a symbolic effort to balance the standard of living between
the nation's rich and poor. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani, File)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi state TV is reporting that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won't run for a third time when his current term is up in 2014.

The Shiite premier's political bloc fell two seats short of a majority in parliamentary elections last year and he narrowly kept his job by pulling support from allies in months of closed-door negations after the vote.

Saturday's announcement came a day after the premier's decision to return half his annual pay to the government treasury to ease disparities between rich and poor Iraqis.

That move appeared calculated to insulate al-Maliki from the anti-government unrest spreading across the Middle East.

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