Iraqi government close to forming?

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Shiite Muslim politician likely to be Iraq's next prime minister said Saturday the country's long-awaited government could be formed within days, an accomplishment that would mark the end of nearly two months of tortured negotiations after the nation's first free elections in a half-century.

Iraqi politicians, however, have been reporting they were near a deal for at least a month.

Insurgents, meanwhile, continued efforts to thwart political progress by blowing up a car Saturday near a U.S. military patrol in Baghdad, killing two American soldiers and wounding two others. A day earlier, the military said, a U.S. Marine died in action in Anbar province, the insurgent heartland stretching from west of Baghdad to the Jordanian and Syrian borders.

More than 1,520 members of the U.S. military have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion, according to an Associated Press count.

Saturday's deaths came as six members of the U.S. Congress met with Iraqi politicians on a mission to assess progress toward building a new political and security apparatus that would allow an eventual U.S. withdrawal from Iraq.

Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the likely next prime minister, said he believed an agreement on the government was imminent.

"God willing, the government could witness its birth in the coming few days," he said.

Members of the country's new 275-member National Assembly, chosen in historic elections Jan. 30, were sworn in during the parliament's first-ever session March 16. But officials have repeatedly postponed a second session as desultory talks have dragged on over the division of top Cabinet posts among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups.

Jawad al-Maliki, a negotiator from the Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance, said members of parliament have agreed to meet Tuesday, but it was unclear if they would choose a president — expected to be Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani.

Al-Jaafari cautioned against rushing the process, saying: "We need to remember that the era of democratic dialogue is different from the era of the dictatorship practices."

"There are various groups, and we're keen that the process of forming the government be quick," he told reporters. "But we're also keen that this birth has all the requirements needed for success."

Iraqis are showing increasing signs of frustration over the slow pace of progress.