BAGHDAD _ Iraq's Mohammed Tawfik Allawi declined to form a cabinet and stepped down as designated prime minister, ending weeks of squabbling and returning the country to a political vacuum.
In a televised address early Monday in Baghdad, Allawi said he was quitting because of what he called "pressures from political parties seeking their own interests."
Allawi, a former communications minister, failed twice to get parliament to vote on his proposed cabinet. He was asked in early February to take charge following several months of anti-government protests that led to the resignation of former premier Adil Abd Al-Mahdi in November.
Soon after Allawi's announced departure, two rockets landed in the Green Zone near the U.S. embassy. The U.S. State Department had no immediate comment on the latest political lurch in Iraq.
Iraqi President Barham Salih accepted Allawi's resignation and said he will work according to the constitution to pick an alternative nominee. Allawi was a compromise candidate agreed to by Iraq's most powerful Shiite leaders _ Hadi al-Amiri, who is Iran's man in Baghdad, and the radical cleric-politician Moqtada al-Sadr.
Al-Sadr backed Allawi's move, saying on Twitter that, "Your love to Iraq inspired your move."
