Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Shiite leader in visit to Al Anbar
Politics
(Gulf News) - In a major reconciliatory gesture, a leader from Iraq's largest Shiite party has paid a rare visit to the Sunni Anbar province, delivering a message of unity to tribal shaikhs who have staged a US-backed revolt against Al Qaida militants. The leader of parliament's largest Sunni Arab bloc, Adnan Al Dulaimi, welcomed Ammar Al Hakim's visit to Anbar on Sunday as a "good initiative", saying Shiite-Sunni reconciliation was a goal cherished by his once-dominant Sunni Arab minority.
"This is what we hope, and we pray to Allah for," Al Dulaimi, whose three-party alliance has 44 of parliament's 275 seats, said yesterday. "We pray to God to make our Shiite brothers ... give us our due rights and not monopolise power." Al Hakim's visit to Anbar was the latest sign that key Iraqi politicians may be working toward reconciliation independently of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government, which has faced criticism for doing little to bring together Iraq's Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis.
Sunni Arab Vice-President Tariq Al Hashemi visited Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, last month at Najaf south of Baghdad. The visit amounted to an unprecedented Sunni Arab endorsement of Al Sistani's role as the nation's guardian. Al Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party also has been distancing itself from militant Sunni Arab groups and has in recent months forged closer ties with Al Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the country's largest Shiite party, and the two major Kurdish parties.
Al Hakim, son and heir apparent of Iraq's top Shiite politician, struck a note of national unity in Anbar. "Iraq does not belong to the Sunnis or the Shiites alone; nor does it belong to the Arabs or the Kurds and Turkomen," Al Hakim told his hosts in the provincial capital Ramadi, about 115km west of Baghdad. "Today, we must stand up and declare that Iraq is for all Iraqis." He stood next to the leader of the Anbar movement, Ahmad Abu Risha.
"This is what we hope, and we pray to Allah for," Al Dulaimi, whose three-party alliance has 44 of parliament's 275 seats, said yesterday. "We pray to God to make our Shiite brothers ... give us our due rights and not monopolise power." Al Hakim's visit to Anbar was the latest sign that key Iraqi politicians may be working toward reconciliation independently of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government, which has faced criticism for doing little to bring together Iraq's Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis.
Sunni Arab Vice-President Tariq Al Hashemi visited Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, Iraq's top Shiite cleric, last month at Najaf south of Baghdad. The visit amounted to an unprecedented Sunni Arab endorsement of Al Sistani's role as the nation's guardian. Al Hashemi's Iraqi Islamic Party also has been distancing itself from militant Sunni Arab groups and has in recent months forged closer ties with Al Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the country's largest Shiite party, and the two major Kurdish parties.
Al Hakim, son and heir apparent of Iraq's top Shiite politician, struck a note of national unity in Anbar. "Iraq does not belong to the Sunnis or the Shiites alone; nor does it belong to the Arabs or the Kurds and Turkomen," Al Hakim told his hosts in the provincial capital Ramadi, about 115km west of Baghdad. "Today, we must stand up and declare that Iraq is for all Iraqis." He stood next to the leader of the Anbar movement, Ahmad Abu Risha.
Labels: Adnan al-Dulaimi, Ahmad Abu Risha, Al Anbar, Ammar al-Hakim, Iraqi Islamic Party, tribal leaders
Monday, September 03, 2007
Sunni and Shiite politicians meet at Iraq conference in Helsinki
International, Politics
(Voices of Iraq) - An official source from the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition said on Saturday that officials representing Sunni and Shiite political blocs along with independent figures met in Helsinki in a two-day conference on means to stop sectarian violence throughout the war-torn country.
"The conference that started on Friday in the Finnish capital was attended by many Iraqi figures, including the leading figure of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and State Minister for National Dialogue Affairs Akram al-Hakim, Head of the National Dialogue Front Saleh al-Mutlak, and the leading figure of the Dawa Party Waleed al-Hilli," the source, who spoke on anonymity condition, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source added "the participants are expected to discuss during the two-day-conference a number of experiences that might help establishing peace in Iraq, experiments practiced in states like South Africa and North Ireland." Media reports earlier indicated that representatives from the Sunni Accordance Front, the Shiite Sadr movement, SIIC and Dawa party took part in the conference.
A leading figure from the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's movement denied the Sadrists' attendance of the conference. "The Sadr movement is not aware of this conference and no invitation was sent to the movement on attending the conference," Salah al-Obeidi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Adnan al-Dulaimi, Head of the Accordance Front, told VOI "I was not informed of the conference and no invitation was made to us to attend it."
The official from the Unified Iraqi Coalition noted that "the conference was scheduled to be larger in scope but the absence of the good preparation and the short time caused many Shiite and Sunni figures not to attend." "The conference was organized by a Finnish non-governmental organization interested in peace and crises and the Finnish authorities have no connection to the conference," the unnamed official added.
"The conference that started on Friday in the Finnish capital was attended by many Iraqi figures, including the leading figure of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC) and State Minister for National Dialogue Affairs Akram al-Hakim, Head of the National Dialogue Front Saleh al-Mutlak, and the leading figure of the Dawa Party Waleed al-Hilli," the source, who spoke on anonymity condition, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source added "the participants are expected to discuss during the two-day-conference a number of experiences that might help establishing peace in Iraq, experiments practiced in states like South Africa and North Ireland." Media reports earlier indicated that representatives from the Sunni Accordance Front, the Shiite Sadr movement, SIIC and Dawa party took part in the conference.
A leading figure from the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's movement denied the Sadrists' attendance of the conference. "The Sadr movement is not aware of this conference and no invitation was sent to the movement on attending the conference," Salah al-Obeidi told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). Adnan al-Dulaimi, Head of the Accordance Front, told VOI "I was not informed of the conference and no invitation was made to us to attend it."
The official from the Unified Iraqi Coalition noted that "the conference was scheduled to be larger in scope but the absence of the good preparation and the short time caused many Shiite and Sunni figures not to attend." "The conference was organized by a Finnish non-governmental organization interested in peace and crises and the Finnish authorities have no connection to the conference," the unnamed official added.
Labels: Adnan al-Dulaimi, Akram al-Hakim, Finland, Iraq, Sadrists, Saleh al-Mutlak, SIIC, Unified Iraqi Coalition, Waleed al-Hilli
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Sunni politicians have doubts on political deal
Politics
(Al Jazeera) - Iraq's Sunni politicians have expressed doubt that the US-backed prime minister will deliver on goals set down in an agreement hammered out by the country's top leaders over the weekend. Under intense US pressure, Nuri al-Maliki and four other senior leaders declared on Sunday that they had reached a consensus on a number of issues. These included freeing detainees held without charge, easing the ban on former Saddam Hussein supporters in government posts, regulating the oil industry and holding provincial elections. No details were released, and most measures require parliamentary approval.
Some key Sunni figures on Monday dismissed the agreement as a stalling tactic by al-Maliki to ease pressure from Washington. "Our position is that this meeting represents a new phase of procrastination and does not honestly aim at solving the problems quickly," Khalaf al-Ilyan, a leader of the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, said. "I think that no real or practical solution will come out of this."
Another Front leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the accord included "good decisions that would serve the whole Iraqi people". "But we doubt that they will be implemented," he said. "All our experience with al-Maliki indicates that this is another new set of delaying measures. They give you a glimmer of hope, but at the end of the day you get nothing but promises."
Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, has expressed frustration over the lack of movement towards political reconciliation among the Shia, Sunni and Kurdish factions, but called Sunday's accord an "important step forward for political progress, national reconciliation and development". He attended Sunday's meeting with al-Maliki along with Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the Shia vice-president, Tariq al-Hashemi, the Sunni Arab vice-president, Massoud Barzani the head of the northern autonomous Kurdish region and President Jalal Talabani, who is also a Kurd.
But the deal did not convince the main Sunni Arab political bloc to take back the government posts they abandoned this month over differences with al-Maliki, a Shia. The Sunni walkout has paralysed the government ahead of a crucial report to the US congress by Crocker and General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq. In a step towards implementing the deal, US and Iraqi officials announced on Monday that US-led forces would increase the number of detainees released during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in September. They did not say how many would be freed.
Some key Sunni figures on Monday dismissed the agreement as a stalling tactic by al-Maliki to ease pressure from Washington. "Our position is that this meeting represents a new phase of procrastination and does not honestly aim at solving the problems quickly," Khalaf al-Ilyan, a leader of the Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, said. "I think that no real or practical solution will come out of this."
Another Front leader, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the accord included "good decisions that would serve the whole Iraqi people". "But we doubt that they will be implemented," he said. "All our experience with al-Maliki indicates that this is another new set of delaying measures. They give you a glimmer of hope, but at the end of the day you get nothing but promises."
Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Iraq, has expressed frustration over the lack of movement towards political reconciliation among the Shia, Sunni and Kurdish factions, but called Sunday's accord an "important step forward for political progress, national reconciliation and development". He attended Sunday's meeting with al-Maliki along with Adil Abdul-Mahdi, the Shia vice-president, Tariq al-Hashemi, the Sunni Arab vice-president, Massoud Barzani the head of the northern autonomous Kurdish region and President Jalal Talabani, who is also a Kurd.
But the deal did not convince the main Sunni Arab political bloc to take back the government posts they abandoned this month over differences with al-Maliki, a Shia. The Sunni walkout has paralysed the government ahead of a crucial report to the US congress by Crocker and General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq. In a step towards implementing the deal, US and Iraqi officials announced on Monday that US-led forces would increase the number of detainees released during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, which begins in September. They did not say how many would be freed.
Labels: Adnan al-Dulaimi, Iraqi Accordance Front, Khalaf al-Ilyan, Nouri Al-Maliki, politics
Monday, August 13, 2007
Senior Sunni politician in plea to Arab nations to stop 'genocide campaign'
Politics
(AP) - Iraq's most senior Sunni politician issued a desperate appeal Sunday for Arab nations to help stop what he called an "unprecedented genocide campaign" by Shiite militias armed, trained and controlled by Iran. The U.S. military reported five American soldiers were killed, apparently lured into an al-Qaeda trap.
Adnan al-Dulaimi said "Persians" and "Safawis," Sunni terms for Iranian Shiites, were on the brink of total control in Baghdad and soon would threaten Sunni Arab regimes which predominate in the Mideast. "It is a war that has started in Baghdad and they will not stop there but will expand it to all Arab lands," al-Dulaimi wrote in an impassioned e-mail to The Associated Press.
Sunni Arab regimes throughout the Middle East fear the growing influence of Iran's Shiite theocracy with radical groups like Hezbollah and Hamas as well as the Syrian regime. Raising the specter of Iranian power reaching the Arab doorstep, unlikely in the near-term, betrayed al-Dulaimi's desperation.
But his fears of a Shiite takeover of Baghdad were not as farfetched. Mahdi Army militiamen have cleansed entire neighborhoods of Sunni residents and seized Sunni mosques. Day by day, hundreds have been killed and thousands have fled their homes, seeking safety in the shrinking number of majority Sunni districts.
The fighters, nominally loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, are believed to operate as death squads blamed for much of the country's sectarian slaughter. Sunni extremists, many with al-Qaeda links, are responsible too, mainly through massive bombings, often carried out by suicide attackers. Like al-Dulaimi, the United States accuses Iran of providing the Shiite militia with sophisticated armor-piercing roadside bombs, other weapons and training. Iran denies the allegations.
Al-Dulaimi resorted to the extremely harsh language a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, returned from his second visit to Tehran since taking power 14 months ago. The outburst reflected growing anger in the Sunni establishment over perceptions of al-Maliki as a deeply biased sectarian leader with links to Iran. "Arabs, your brothers in the land of the two rivers and in Baghdad in particular are exposed to an unprecedented genocide campaign by the militias and death squads that are directed, armed and supported by Iran," al-Dulaimi said.
And he castigated fellow Sunnis in the Middle East, saying they "did not make any move and did not even bother to denounce what is taking place against your brothers at the hands of Iranian militias and death squads." The 75-year-old al-Dulaimi heads the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni political bloc in parliament. The coalition of parties pulled its six Cabinet ministers from al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government Aug. 1.
Five days later, government ministers loyal to former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, launched a boycott of Cabinet meetings. That left the government without any Sunni Arab members, except the politically unaffiliated defense minister. Major political figures were expected to hold a rare summit with al-Maliki this week in Baghdad to address the government crisis.
At a news conference Sunday, al-Maliki defended his Iranian sojourn and said he would continue traveling to neighboring countries and asking for help to curb violence. He was expected to be in Syria next week, but the trip has not been announced. "Iraq has turned into the center of terrorism. Iraq will only succeed through reconciliation," he said.
Al-Dulaimi's remarks focused not on reconciliation but on Arab nationalism and perceived Iranian threats. "I call on all Arabs — Muslims, presidents and kings and people — to intervene and urge the Iraqi government to end this crisis. I call on them to stand beside Iraqis against violence and the oppression that come to us from Iran and its agents."
Adnan al-Dulaimi said "Persians" and "Safawis," Sunni terms for Iranian Shiites, were on the brink of total control in Baghdad and soon would threaten Sunni Arab regimes which predominate in the Mideast. "It is a war that has started in Baghdad and they will not stop there but will expand it to all Arab lands," al-Dulaimi wrote in an impassioned e-mail to The Associated Press.
Sunni Arab regimes throughout the Middle East fear the growing influence of Iran's Shiite theocracy with radical groups like Hezbollah and Hamas as well as the Syrian regime. Raising the specter of Iranian power reaching the Arab doorstep, unlikely in the near-term, betrayed al-Dulaimi's desperation.
But his fears of a Shiite takeover of Baghdad were not as farfetched. Mahdi Army militiamen have cleansed entire neighborhoods of Sunni residents and seized Sunni mosques. Day by day, hundreds have been killed and thousands have fled their homes, seeking safety in the shrinking number of majority Sunni districts.
The fighters, nominally loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, are believed to operate as death squads blamed for much of the country's sectarian slaughter. Sunni extremists, many with al-Qaeda links, are responsible too, mainly through massive bombings, often carried out by suicide attackers. Like al-Dulaimi, the United States accuses Iran of providing the Shiite militia with sophisticated armor-piercing roadside bombs, other weapons and training. Iran denies the allegations.
Al-Dulaimi resorted to the extremely harsh language a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, returned from his second visit to Tehran since taking power 14 months ago. The outburst reflected growing anger in the Sunni establishment over perceptions of al-Maliki as a deeply biased sectarian leader with links to Iran. "Arabs, your brothers in the land of the two rivers and in Baghdad in particular are exposed to an unprecedented genocide campaign by the militias and death squads that are directed, armed and supported by Iran," al-Dulaimi said.
And he castigated fellow Sunnis in the Middle East, saying they "did not make any move and did not even bother to denounce what is taking place against your brothers at the hands of Iranian militias and death squads." The 75-year-old al-Dulaimi heads the Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni political bloc in parliament. The coalition of parties pulled its six Cabinet ministers from al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government Aug. 1.
Five days later, government ministers loyal to former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite, launched a boycott of Cabinet meetings. That left the government without any Sunni Arab members, except the politically unaffiliated defense minister. Major political figures were expected to hold a rare summit with al-Maliki this week in Baghdad to address the government crisis.
At a news conference Sunday, al-Maliki defended his Iranian sojourn and said he would continue traveling to neighboring countries and asking for help to curb violence. He was expected to be in Syria next week, but the trip has not been announced. "Iraq has turned into the center of terrorism. Iraq will only succeed through reconciliation," he said.
Al-Dulaimi's remarks focused not on reconciliation but on Arab nationalism and perceived Iranian threats. "I call on all Arabs — Muslims, presidents and kings and people — to intervene and urge the Iraqi government to end this crisis. I call on them to stand beside Iraqis against violence and the oppression that come to us from Iran and its agents."
Labels: Adnan al-Dulaimi, Iran, Iraqi Accordance Front, Mahdi Army, Nouri Al-Maliki, Persians, Safawis
