WASHINGTON - The United States on Monday signaled its impatience with the failure of Iraqi leaders to complete the formation of a new government nearly three months after the country's landmark elections.
A senior State Department official said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had urged the Iraqis to end their political stalemate in a telephone call Friday to Kurdish chief Massoud Barzani.
The official also said Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney pressed for quick action on the government impasse at a meeting here Friday with one of Iraq's new vice presidents, Shiite Muslim leader Adil Abdul Mahdi.
"She (Rice) encouraged them to move on to the next phase," said the US official, who asked not to be named.
Deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli sidestepped a question whether US unease was growing at the delay in following up the January 30 elections for a national assembly.
But Ereli said, "The United States and the Iraqis want to see a government formed as soon as possible so that we can keep moving toward fulfillment of the political transition in Iraq."
He spoke as Iraqi leaders acknowledged they had failed again to agree on an interim coalition government despite 12 weeks of intense horsetrading.
Washington previously had kept a low profile in the protracted jockeying among the majority Shiites, the Kurds and Sunni Muslims in Iraq, insisting it was nothing more than politics as usual.
But fears have mounted that the absence of a government could be hampering efforts to build local resistance to an insurgency that was stepping up its attacks.
"We and the Iraqis agree that everybody would be well served by having a government in place, not just on the security side but to deal with the whole range of challenges facing Iraq," Ereli said.
Iraq has seen the beginnings of a government emerge since the elections for a 275-seat assembly, with Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani chosen president and Shiite Ibrahim Jaafari designated prime minister.
Jaafari has been seeking in vain to form a cabinet based on a broad coalition of Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs, despite the fact the once-dominant Sunnis largely boycotted the elections.
The New York Times, which first reported the US pressure on Baghdad, said Rice told the Iraqis enough time had passed since the election and they should wrap up a new government "as soon as they could."
The impact of the US move was unclear. But Shiite leaders declared Sunday they would no longer hold out for a deal with Iyad Allawi, a secular Shiite and the outgoing prime minister.
The delay in finalizing the administration has raised questions whether Iraq would be able to respect the rest of the timetable laid out for its transition to full democracy after US-led drive to oust Saddam Hussein two years ago.
The national assembly faced equally delicate negotiations on a constitution due by August 15 to prepare for another round of elections and a definitive government by year's end.
But Ereli played down concern that the deadlines might be missed. "What we're hearing is that the timetable is still workable," he told reporters at the daily State Department briefing
The political calendar, set by the Transitional Administrative Law adopted during the US occupation of Iraq, calls for a referendum on the constitution by October 15.
But the speaker of the assembly, backed by a majority of legislators, can ask before August 1 for a one-time six-month extension of the deadline for drafting the constitution.
If the constitution is approved in time, general elections are to be held by December 15 and a new government installed by December 31.
If the constitution is rejected, a new assembly is to be elected by December 15 and charged with writing another version next year.

04/25/2005 17:46 GMT