Baghdad -- Iyad Allawi, the former Iraqi Prime Minister, is pushing for a return to power after assembling a parliamentary coalition of more than 80 seats.

The new bloc formed by the former Baathist, whose secular party enjoyed US support, is the first serious threat to Nouri al-Maliki's Shia fundamentalist Government since it took office last May.

The former Prime Minister, who governed Iraq from June 2004 to April 2005, is presenting himself as a secular alternative to Mr Maliki and is promising to quell the sectarian bloodshed that has blighted Iraq since 2005.

Falah Naquib, a confidant of Dr Allawi and who was once interior minister, told The Times that if the movement took charge "I think Dr Allawi would be the prime minister".

Dr Allawi, who has spent much of the past year in Britain, has reportedly been planning his return to power for months. Only last week did his attempt become serious when he formed an alliance with the 44-seat Sunni bloc Tawafuq.

The news comes after Mr al-Maliki's Shia coalition suffered its first significant defection in two years. The 15-seat Shia Fadhila party walked out of the Government last week, whittling the Shia alliance's numbers down to 113 seats. The movement, masterminded by the revered Shia religious figure, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has until now dominated Iraq's political arena.

Dr Allawi's bloc is courting Fadhila and the Kurds, whose 55 seats are key to obtaining a working majority in the 275-member parliament. "I think if Fadhila and the Kurds join we'll have 140 seats," Dr Naquib said. "We'll form a government and save the country."

Dr Naquib said that groups outside parliament were also being courted. It was possible that factions of the Sunni insurgency could be wooed if Dr Allawi formed his salvation government.

Asked about the possibility of joining the Allawi bloc, a Fadhila member Hasan al-Shimari told The Times: "Everything is possible in the future."

The Kurds want guarantees that they will receive the disputed oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, an official working with Tawafuq said.

Dr Allawi visited Kurdistan a little over a week ago to meet the Kurdish president, Massoud al-Barzani, but failed to get him on board. A Kurdish official speaking on condition of anonymity said that Mr Barzani preferred to remain independent. Dr Naquib said that Mr Barzani wanted to join, but did not yet have backing from President Talabani, his fellow Kurdish leader.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US Ambassador, visited Mr Barzani at the same time as Dr Allawi but the Embassy has said that it was a coincidence.

Sami al-Askari, a Shia MP close to Mr al-Maliki, said he doubted that Dr Allawi would be able to keep together such a far-reaching alliance. He pointed to internal tensions within the Sunni bloc and also in Dr Allawi's 25-seat list, which is split among Allawi loyalists, independents and the Communist party. He also questioned the ability of Dr Allawi to keep a Shia fundamentalist party such as Fadhila in his coalition.

One Western diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity criticised Dr Allawi and said that he was not playing a positive role in Iraqi politics. Dr Allawi has spent most of the past year outside Iraq, mainly in London and Jordan, which he says was because of health problems.

By Ned Parker
www.timesonline.co.uk