'Groundswell' of support behind Allawi's rapid ascension
 | |
| VIDEO |
 Scientist Hussain Al-Shahristani declines the top interim Iraq post.
|
|
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The momentum for a vote by the Iraqi Governing Council on the newly designated prime minister came about in the last 24 hours after it became clear that Iyad Allawi enjoyed a "strong groundswell" of support, a senior U.S. official in Baghdad said.
Officials also feared his name would be leaked to the news media -- that the council might learn the selection "from CNN," said the official, who was intricately familiar with the process.
U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi met Thursday with the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council, Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawar, who recommended that the matter go before the council Friday.
"Yesterday it was apparent to all of us, including Mr. Brahimi, that Allawi had the majority of support," the official said. "It seemed necessary to do this with the Governing Council before it leaked."
He added: "We think he'll be a good prime minister. We're delighted with his choice."
The IGC president went to the council at 3 p.m. Friday (7 a.m. ET), a session that resulted in the unanimous approval of Allawi.
Paul Bremer, the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, then joined the meeting around 4 p.m. (8 a.m. ET) and Brahimi arrived at 5 p.m. (9 a.m. ET) to congratulate Allawi and the council, the official said.
"It is a historic moment," this official said. "This has been a process of full-blown democratic politics." (Full story)
The official said meetings began to intensify about two weeks ago, with officials starting to reduce the list of candidates for the new government, focusing on the prime minister post.
The premier list was pared down to three or four candidates last week, when Allawi's "name started coming up more and more," the official said.
"He had far more support than any other names we were talking about," the official said, adding that Allawi used classic politicking to win over Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis alike.
The official said the remainder of the interim government probably will be announced over the weekend or early next week.
