(Updates with quote, background) BAGHDAD, Aug 1 (Reuters) - The main Sunni Arab political bloc said on Wednesday it was withdrawing from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition government over his failure to meet a list of demands. The move is likely to complicate efforts by Maliki's shaky government to agree on a series of laws which Washington sees as crucial to bringing minority Sunni Arabs more closely into the political process and quelling sectarian violence. The Accordance Front, which last week suspended the work of its six ministers in government, had wanted a greater say in security matters and had accused Maliki's Shi'ite led-coalition government of failing to consult it on key issues. "The Accordance Front is announcing that is withdrawing from the government of Nuri al-Maliki and its deputy prime minister and the five ministers will present today their resignations," Accordance Front official Rafei Issawi told a news conference. Six ministers loyal to Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr also quit Maliki's government in June in protest over his refusal to set a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal. They have not yet been replaced.
Anti-war protesters hold pictures of South Koreans killed overseas during a candle-light vigil demanding negotiations between the U.S. government and the Taliban for the safe return of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, August 4, 2007. The Afghan government and Taliban kidnappers on Saturday sought a venue for negotiations to try to free 21 South Korean Christian hostages held for more than two weeks, the provincial police chief said. The slain Koreans (from L-R) are Kim Sun-il, killed by Iraqi militants in Iraq on June 22, 2004, Yoon Jang-ho, killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan on February 27, 2007, Bae Hyung-kyu and Shim Sung-min, kidnapped and killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan on July 25, 2007 and on July 31, 2007 respectively. The banner reads: "How many more will be victimized? Stop the war and dispatch of troops which is causing the deaths!"