A Shiite party Wednesday announced withdrawal from the Iraqi leading Shiite alliance which has dominated the parliament since the 2005 elections.

A statement, read by senior party member Nadim al-Jabiri in a news conference, said that "the Fadhila party announces its withdrawal from the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA)."

The party, which holds 15 of the parliament's 275 seats, also said in the statement that it will stay in the parliament as an independent bloc and will be open to join other blocs on national and not sectarian bases.

Jabiri told the reporters that the reason behind the withdrawal is that his party think that healthy political atmosphere should be built on patriotic bases and better political programs.

"We are awaiting for other political moves to work to launch patriotic political program bases on principles of unified and sovereign Iraq," he said.

"We believe that the first step to save Iraq is to dismantle the existing blocs and to prevent blocs from forming on sectarian and ethnic bases," he added.

The Fadhila Party, also known as Islamic Virtue Party, follows Ayatollah Muhammad Ya'qubi, a student of Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr, and thus represents a branch of the Sadrist Movement, but it is not affiliated with Muqtada al-Sadr and is in fact a rival to his branch of the Sadrists.

The Fadhila party's support comes mostly from the Shiite poor in the south of the country.

In May 2006, the party pulled out of negotiations for a new Iraqi government, complaining of American interference. It had hoped that the oil and trade ministers would be named from the party.

Source: Xinhua