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BAGHDAD -- The electoral coalitions of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and the other major Shiite bloc in Iraq announced a postelection alliance on Tuesday night that cleared the way for a Shiite-dominated government for the next four years. The new alliance -- not unlike the one that emerged after Iraq's last parliamentary election in 2005 -- strengthens the position of the country's main Shiite parties but does not yet guarantee Mr. Maliki re-election for a second term. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports that Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, will issue a religious ruling instructing Shiites to vote in favor of the country's draft constitution in a referendum planned for October 15, 2005.

The Shiite-dominated government in Iraq is driving out many leaders of Sunni citizen patrols, the groups of former insurgents who joined the American payroll and have been a major pillar in the decline in violence around the nation. In restive Diyala Province, United States and Iraqi military officials say there were orders to arrest hundreds of members of what is known as the Awakening movement as part of large security operations by the Iraqi military. At least five senior members have been arrested there in recent weeks, leaders of the groups say. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]