No progress in Iraq political deadlock

Baghdad: Weeks after followers of an influential cleric stormed parliament, Iraq's political crisis shows no signs of abating, despite rising public anger over a debilitating gridlock that has further weakened the country's caretaker government and its ability to provide basic services.

Iraq's two rival Shiite political camps remain locked in a zero-sum competition, and the lone voice potentially able to end the rift - the revered Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani - has been conspicuously silent.

For now, hundreds of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, a firebrand Shiite cleric, are still camped outside the legislative building in Baghdad, ready to escalate if their demands are not met.

Al-Sadr has called for early elections, the dissolution of parliament and constitutional amendments. He has given the judiciary an end-of-the-week deadline to dissolve the legislature.

His Shiite rivals in the Iran-backed camp have conditions of their own. They accused him of violating the constitution, prompting counter-protests that have spurred fears of bloodshed.

On Sunday, Iraq's top judicial body said it doesn't have the authority to dissolve the country's parliament. The Supreme Judicial Council said in a statement after a meeting that political groups in the country should not get the judiciary involved in their rivalries and political competition .

Neither faction seems willing to compromise to end the 10-month-old political crisis, the longest since the 2003 US invasion reset the political order. The caretaker Cabinet - unable to pass laws or issue a budget - grows more feeble by the day, while the public lashes out in protest against poor services, including power cuts during the scorching

summer heat.