Friday, July 20, 2007

 

Allawi says there are plots to assassinate him in Baghdad

Politics
(Azzaman) - Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said there were serious plots to have him assassinated in Baghdad. In a television interview, Allawi said: “Organs in the current government with the assistance of a foreign state are trying to liquidate me.” Allawi did not name the foreign country but analysts said he was most probably referring to Iran.
Allawi is a Shiite but his Iraqi National List party is secular and moderate and includes members from across the country’s diverse sects, religions and nationalities. The list has 24 deputies in the parliament and is part of the current ruling Shiite-Kurdish government. Allawi said he learned about attempts to have him assassinated “from the U.S. and a number of Arab countries”. He did not elaborate.
Despite his participation in the ruling coalition, Allawi was critical of the government, indicating that he might withdraw if it fails to introduce reconciliation. “If we find that our presence is no longer useful and our presence in the government ineffective, our withdrawal from the government is a measure to resort to,” he said.
He lashed out at the government of Nouri al-Maliki, saying that instead of curbing the country’s unruly militias it was encouraging them. “The militias now target anyone in disagreement with the government,” he said. Allawi is spearheading efforts to form a new ‘moderate’ front but has so far failed to persuade the disgruntled Sunnis to join him.
“I want to set up the front in order to seek real national reconciliation and rid Iraq of the political impasse it is going through,” he said. Allawi strongly opposes a ruling by the Iraqi tribunal trying members of the former regime for sentencing former defense minister to death. “I have called for the release of the former Defense Minister (General) Sultan Hashem Ahmad … We have documents that confirm that coalition forces had given him a promise that he would not be hurt in case he cooperated, and he did,” said Allawi.

Labels: , , ,






<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?