Sunnis are odd man out

So what do you think they will do with this?

Shia and Kurdish parties form Iraq alliance

Iraqi leaders on Thursday said Shia and Kurdish political parties had formed a new alliance in a bid to help the beleaguered government emerge from its latest crisis.

Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister, told the Financial Times that the move was designed to create a core group of parties that would bolster the administration and help it win support in parliament to push through important legislation.

But the main Sunni Arab bloc, which quit the Shia-led government at the beginning of the month, refused to be part of the four-party alliance despite days of consultations, signalling that the crisis was far from over.