Thursday, March 15, 2007
Talabani - U.S. withdrawal will result in Kurdish-Shia military rule
Politics
(Al-Ra'y) President Jalal Talabani told the Amman-based "Al-Ra'y" in an interview published on March 13 that Iraq needs a reorganization of its political forces. "There are sectarian, nationalist, and ethnic camps in Iraq. This is not ideal. We need a national camp instead of having Sunni Arabs in a certain bloc and Shi'ite Arabs in another bloc. We need a national bloc that comprises all parties," he said.
Talabani added that the Kurdistan Coalition attempted to form an "alliance of moderates" comprising the two main Kurdish parties, the Iraqi Islamic Party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, and the Iraqi National Accord, "but we did not succeed." "If we manage to unite a group of forces to form a national Iraqi front away from sectarian and nationalist blocs...that will be a great victory for Iraq," Talabani said. Asked about the withdrawal of Al-Fadilah from the Shi'ite-led United Iraqi Alliance, Talabani said it would not lead to the dismantling of the alliance, because the "Shi'a are united," though they may change from a coalition to a front in the future.
President Talabani told "Al-Ra'y" that a U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq would result in Kurdish-Shi'ite military rule in Iraq. "The Kurds and the Shi'ites are prepared and they have hundreds of thousands of armed men and they can quickly control all of Iraq. I do not want to see Kurdish-Shi'ite despotism in the Iraqi military sphere," Talabani said.
He noted that Kurds could "take control of Mosul and the Arab areas there within hours" if given the opportunity. "This, however, is not in the interest of Iraq. There must be an Iraqi force that is made up of the main entities of the Iraqi people," he added. Asked about the return of former army officers to the military, Talabani said 80,000 officers who were members of the Ba'ath Party but not Saddam Hussein supporters were returned to service. "The Saddamists do not believe in elections and ballot boxes but in coups. Therefore we should not give them a chance to carry out such coups," he said.
Labels: Iraqi Islamic Party, Jalal Talabani, Kurds, SCIRI, UIA
