Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who's political bloc came third in a May parliamentary election, (L) meets with cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who's bloc came first, in Najaf, Iraq June 23, 2018. REUTERS/Alaa al-Marjani
NAJAF, Iraq: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Saturday that their political blocs, which came in third and first place in a May parliamentary election respectively, would enter into an alliance.
The alliance between Abadi's third-placed Victory Alliance and Sadr's Saeroon which won the largest number of seats would cross sectarian and ethnic divisions, the leaders said at a news conference in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf where Sadr lives.
Earlier in June, Sadr and second-placed Hadi al-Amiri, a Shi'ite militia commander with close ties to Iran, had announced an alliance between their blocs. It was not immediately clear if Saturday's announcement meant the top three blocs had now entered into one larger alliance.
