Ebrahim Al Jaafari, the man set to become Iraq's next Prime Minister, has asked Tony Blair to help break deadlocked talks between Shiites and Kurds, Gulf News has learnt. A source close to Al Jaafari said his representatives had met with Downing Street officials and appealed to the British Prime Minister to "put pressure" on the Kurds. The Islamic Dawa Party, led by Al Jaafari, is also keen for the United States to step into the argument, the source said, although he made clear no formal request for US diplomatic intervention had yet been made. "We have had a series of meetings with the British Foreign Office and with Tony Blair's office in the last couple of weeks they understand our position. We said, frankly, international pressure needs to be put on the Kurds. They know that, now it is up to them," he told Gulf News.