Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunni leader urges his party to withdraw if security does not improve
Politics
(AP) - An Iraqi Sunni lawmaker urged his party Sunday to withdraw from the Shiite-led government if it fails to better protect citizens from sectarian bloodshed. Khalaf al-Ilyan, one of the three leaders of the Iraqi Accordance Front, said his party should set a timetable for the government to end mass killings and "stop threatening lawmakers" from his party.
Al-Ilyan's announcement came less than a week ahead of a conference on Iraq in which Arab countries are expected to demand that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government do more to reach out to disgruntled Sunni Arabs before they pledge substantial aid to the country. Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, along with Egypt, Bahrain and representatives from the five U.N. Security Council members have agreed to attend the conference, which will be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Thursday and Friday.
"I call on the Accordance Front, its leaders, Cabinet ministers and lawmakers, to rise to their responsibilities and to clearly state their position on the deteriorating situation in Iraq," al-Ilyan told reporters in Amman. The Accordance Front holds five Cabinet posts and 44 seats in the Iraqi Parliament. He urged them to "threaten to completely pull out of the government, unless our legitimate demands are met within a specific period of time to protect our citizens." He declined to specify the timeframe.
The Iraqi lawmaker has been in Jordan for several weeks recovering from knee surgery he underwent in the United Arab Emirates. On April 8, an Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi troops found a huge stash of weapons in al-Ilyan's Baghdad home and arrested more than a dozen men working for him. But al-Ilyan denied any wrongdoing and insisted that the government was trying to smear his reputation because he is a fiery critic of al-Maliki's policies.
Al-Ilyan's announcement came less than a week ahead of a conference on Iraq in which Arab countries are expected to demand that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government do more to reach out to disgruntled Sunni Arabs before they pledge substantial aid to the country. Iraq's neighbors, including Iran, along with Egypt, Bahrain and representatives from the five U.N. Security Council members have agreed to attend the conference, which will be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik on Thursday and Friday.
"I call on the Accordance Front, its leaders, Cabinet ministers and lawmakers, to rise to their responsibilities and to clearly state their position on the deteriorating situation in Iraq," al-Ilyan told reporters in Amman. The Accordance Front holds five Cabinet posts and 44 seats in the Iraqi Parliament. He urged them to "threaten to completely pull out of the government, unless our legitimate demands are met within a specific period of time to protect our citizens." He declined to specify the timeframe.
The Iraqi lawmaker has been in Jordan for several weeks recovering from knee surgery he underwent in the United Arab Emirates. On April 8, an Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi troops found a huge stash of weapons in al-Ilyan's Baghdad home and arrested more than a dozen men working for him. But al-Ilyan denied any wrongdoing and insisted that the government was trying to smear his reputation because he is a fiery critic of al-Maliki's policies.
Labels: Iraqi Accordance Front, Khalaf al-Ilyan, politics, security
