Sunday, March 18, 2007
Allawi in Egypt to outline plans for Iraqi 'national salvation government'
Politics
(MENA) Iyad Allawi arrived in Cairo on March 15 for a "several days" visit, MENA reported the same day, where he is expected to brief Egyptian leaders on his plan to establish a national salvation government. Allawi has already presented the plan to U.S. officials, as well as the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. His visit to Saudi Arabia coincided with a visit by Kurdistan region President Mas'ud Barzani. When asked if he met Allawi in Riyadh, Barzani told reporters in Irbil on March 15, "I saw Iyad Allawi there, but there was no connection between our visits." When asked his position on Allawi's proposed front, he said: "This is only media reports and there is nothing like that. When I visited Baghdad three months ago, together with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, we tried to meet other political forces to form a broad-based political entity in support of the current Iraqi government. We may only support that [entity]." Media reports indicate that Barzani discussed the front with Allawi and U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in Irbil earlier this month.
Labels: Egypt, Iyad Allawi, Mas'ud Barzani
