Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Largest Sunni bloc suspends govt membership
Politics
(AP) - Iraq's largest Sunni Arab bloc said Wednesday it has suspended its membership in Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government, dealing a new setback to the Shiite leader's efforts to achieve national reconciliation. The Iraqi Accordance Front, which has six Cabinet members as well as 44 of parliament's 275 seats, said it was giving al-Maliki a week to meet their demands or it would quit his 14-month-old Cabinet altogether.
"The Accordance Front announces the suspension of its membership in the government," Sheik Khalaf al-Elyan said at a news conference attended by the two other leaders of the three-party Accordance Front, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi of the Iraqi Islamic Party and Adnan al-Dulaimi of the Congress of the People of Iraq. Al-Elyan leads the National Dialogue Council.
Reading from a prepared statement, al-Elyan said the front's demands included a pardon for security detainees not charged with specific crimes, a firm commitment by the government to human rights, the disbanding of militias and the inclusion of all parties in the government in dealing with the country's security situation.
The Sunni ministers already had been refusing to attend Cabinet meetings but said Wednesday they would stop going to work, effective immediately. The Accordance Front members of government include the deputy prime minister for security as well as the ministers of planning, higher education, culture, defense and the minister of state for women's affairs.
The decision also threatened to undermine weeks of behind-the-scene negotiations to form a coalition of moderate parties from all sects - dubbed "the alliance of moderates." So far only two Shiite and two Kurdish parties have signed up and they had been urging al-Hashemi's moderate Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni Arab group, and independent Shiites to join them.
Wednesday's decision by the Accordance Front signaled that al-Hashemi had opted not to abandon his Sunni allies for the sake of joining the new group, which was to exclude al-Hashemi's militant partners as well as the Sadrists. In remarks at the news conference, however, al-Hashemi left open the possibility of joining the new alliance if the participants made an unequivocal announcement of "goodwill."
"There are no encouraging indications so far," al-Hashemi said, adding he had informed Talabani of the Accordance Front's decision to suspend its Cabinet membership on Tuesday. A statement by Talabani's office suggested that the Kurdish president sought to dissuade al-Hashemi from breaking with al-Maliki's government in their meeting the previous day.
"The Accordance Front announces the suspension of its membership in the government," Sheik Khalaf al-Elyan said at a news conference attended by the two other leaders of the three-party Accordance Front, Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi of the Iraqi Islamic Party and Adnan al-Dulaimi of the Congress of the People of Iraq. Al-Elyan leads the National Dialogue Council.
Reading from a prepared statement, al-Elyan said the front's demands included a pardon for security detainees not charged with specific crimes, a firm commitment by the government to human rights, the disbanding of militias and the inclusion of all parties in the government in dealing with the country's security situation.
The Sunni ministers already had been refusing to attend Cabinet meetings but said Wednesday they would stop going to work, effective immediately. The Accordance Front members of government include the deputy prime minister for security as well as the ministers of planning, higher education, culture, defense and the minister of state for women's affairs.
The decision also threatened to undermine weeks of behind-the-scene negotiations to form a coalition of moderate parties from all sects - dubbed "the alliance of moderates." So far only two Shiite and two Kurdish parties have signed up and they had been urging al-Hashemi's moderate Islamic Party, the country's largest Sunni Arab group, and independent Shiites to join them.
Wednesday's decision by the Accordance Front signaled that al-Hashemi had opted not to abandon his Sunni allies for the sake of joining the new group, which was to exclude al-Hashemi's militant partners as well as the Sadrists. In remarks at the news conference, however, al-Hashemi left open the possibility of joining the new alliance if the participants made an unequivocal announcement of "goodwill."
"There are no encouraging indications so far," al-Hashemi said, adding he had informed Talabani of the Accordance Front's decision to suspend its Cabinet membership on Tuesday. A statement by Talabani's office suggested that the Kurdish president sought to dissuade al-Hashemi from breaking with al-Maliki's government in their meeting the previous day.
Labels: Iraqi Accordance Front, Iraqi government, Iraqi Islamic Party, Nouri Al-Maliki, Sheik Khalaf al-Elyan, the alliance of moderates
