BAGHDAD, March 6: President Jalal Talabani on Monday announced that Iraq’s first permanent post-Saddam Hussein parliament would finally convene on March 12, as pressure mounted on Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari to quit.

The announcement came as rebels killed at least 19 people, including an Iraqi army general shot dead in Baghdad, the highest serving Iraqi military officer to be killed since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Kurds and minority Sunni Arabs kept pressing the dominant Shia United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) to ditch Jaafari — accused by critics of being too sectarian — to prevent him from heading a government of national unity.

“I’ll be summoning today the leaders of parliamentary factions to inform them of the inaugural meeting of parliament to be held on March 12,” Talabani said after meeting the new premier of the northern Kurdish region Nichirvan Barzani.

The opening of parliament, nearly three months after the general elections, has been delayed by bickering over the make-up of the government after the UIA failed to win an overall majority of seats and other parties, backed by the United States, called for it to agree to a broad-based coalition cabinet.—AFP