Saturday, December 30, 2006
Al-Maliki urges Baathists to join political process
Politics
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki urged Saddam Hussein's fellow Sunni Baathists on Saturday to reconsider their tactics and join the political process, after the ousted leader was hanged for crimes against humanity. "Saddam's execution puts an end to all the pathetic gambles on the return to dictatorship," Maliki said in a statement issued hours after Saddam was executed in Baghdad at dawn. "I urge followers of the ousted regime to reconsider their stance as the door is still open to anyone who has no innocent blood on his hands, to help in rebuilding an Iraq for all Iraqis," he said.
While Saddam's execution was met with celebration by Maliki's fellow Shi'ites, there are fears it will further anger Saddam's resentful Sunni Arab minority, dominant under the strongman's rule, but now the backbone of the insurgency. Struggling to contain soaring sectarian and ethnic tension that has pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war, Maliki said the demise of Saddam should now give way to reconciliation.
Maliki, whose Shi'ite-led unity government also includes Sunni Arabs and ethnic Kurds, has extended an olive branch to some armed groups and former Baathists under his national reconciliation programme.
While Saddam's execution was met with celebration by Maliki's fellow Shi'ites, there are fears it will further anger Saddam's resentful Sunni Arab minority, dominant under the strongman's rule, but now the backbone of the insurgency. Struggling to contain soaring sectarian and ethnic tension that has pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war, Maliki said the demise of Saddam should now give way to reconciliation.
Maliki, whose Shi'ite-led unity government also includes Sunni Arabs and ethnic Kurds, has extended an olive branch to some armed groups and former Baathists under his national reconciliation programme.
