Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Al-Sadr - Maliki's government is on the brink of collapse
Politics
(AP) - A top Iraqi Shiite militia leader predicted Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's government was nearing its end because it has been tainted by its close work with American forces, a British newspaper reported on Monday. Cleric Moqtada Al Sadr told The Independent newspaper that Al Maliki's government was on the brink of collapse, despite efforts to bolster its base of support.
"Al Maliki's government will not survive because he has proven that he will not work with important elements of the Iraqi people," the cleric was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "The prime minister is a tool for the Americans, and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realise he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation."
Al Sadr had been among Al Maliki's strongest supporters. Early this year, Al Sadr agreed to government appeals to tone down his anti-American rhetoric and not directly challenge the waves of US soldiers trying to regain control of Baghdad.
However, he broke with Al Maliki, a fellow Shiite, in April and withdrew his five supporters from the Iraqi Cabinet to protest the prime minister's refusal to demand a timetable for the pullout of US forces from Iraq. During the interview, conducted in the southern Iraqi city of Kufa, Al Sadr also declared that British forces had been defeated in Iraq and would be forced to pull out sooner than they planned.
He said resistance and a rising death toll among troops had forced a withdrawal. "The British have given up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon," Al Sadr was quoted as saying. "They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt."
"Al Maliki's government will not survive because he has proven that he will not work with important elements of the Iraqi people," the cleric was quoted by the newspaper as saying. "The prime minister is a tool for the Americans, and people see that clearly. It will probably be the Americans who decide to change him when they realise he has failed. We don't have a democracy here, we have a foreign occupation."
Al Sadr had been among Al Maliki's strongest supporters. Early this year, Al Sadr agreed to government appeals to tone down his anti-American rhetoric and not directly challenge the waves of US soldiers trying to regain control of Baghdad.
However, he broke with Al Maliki, a fellow Shiite, in April and withdrew his five supporters from the Iraqi Cabinet to protest the prime minister's refusal to demand a timetable for the pullout of US forces from Iraq. During the interview, conducted in the southern Iraqi city of Kufa, Al Sadr also declared that British forces had been defeated in Iraq and would be forced to pull out sooner than they planned.
He said resistance and a rising death toll among troops had forced a withdrawal. "The British have given up and they know they will be leaving Iraq soon," Al Sadr was quoted as saying. "They are retreating because of the resistance they have faced. Without that, they would have stayed for much longer, there is no doubt."
Labels: government, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Nouri Al-Maliki
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Reconciliation Committee Member Reveals There Are Negotiations Between Baathists Close To Al Douri And The Government
Politics
(Al Mowaten Newspaper) - 4 JUN - A Supreme Reconciliation Committee member, Saad Yousif, has revealed that some Baathist members close to Izzat Al Douri have begun negotiations with the government. These Baathists include one who is wanted. Yousif added that if these negotiations are successful, the government will allow these Baathists to participate in the political process, including in elections.
The “Assoo” Kurdish newspaper reported that the negotiations are between the PM and the Baathist group led by Al Douri in order to achieve reconciliation between the government and this group. Assoo added, based on sources close to Al Maliki, that Al Maliki established a supreme committee to run these negotiations. The Baathists are represented in the negotiations by former Iraqi Air Force Captain, Abid Mohammed Falah. The sources added that these negotiations are under Al Maliki’s personal supervision and are attended by the MOI and MOD Ministers in the Green Zone.
Labels: Abid Mohammed Falah, Baathists, government, Izzat Al Douri, negotiations, Reconciliation Committee
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Sadr calls for talks with Sunnis opposed to Maliki's government
Politics
(McClatchy Newspapers) - Both Sunni and Shiite political factions are threatening to withdraw from the already weak government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a prospect that threatens the political accommodations needed to calm Iraq's sectarian warfare. Maliki supporters say the threats are nothing more than the bluster of negotiations and that the prime minister will be able to hold his fragile coalition together.
But Sunni politicians said Tuesday that they're serious about pulling out of parliament over what they say is Maliki's reluctance to share power. Maliki is a Shiite.
Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that loyalists of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also are considering breaking away from the Shiites' United Iraqi Alliance in the legislature, a move that would rob that ruling political bloc of its slim majority. Sadr followers denied that, but they said the cleric has asked them to reach out to rival Sunni groups.
The threat to the Maliki government comes as sectarian violence appears to be on the rise. On five of the last seven days, the number of unidentified bodies found on Baghdad's streets has surpassed 25, a significant increase over previous weeks.
But dissent is coming not only from Sunnis. Sadr, too, was expressing dissatisfaction, which could threaten the government. At issue were Maliki's delay in replacing six Sadrists who walked out of his Cabinet last month to protest the arrests of fighters from Sadr's Mahdi Army and his refusal to set a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw. Maliki still hasn't named replacements for the six ministers, though an aide said those nominations could come this week.
Now Sadr is calling for talks with Sunnis who are bitterly opposed to the Maliki government, including Harith al-Thari, the head of the Muslim Scholars Association. An aide to Maliki, speaking on condition that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the topic, said even if Sadr were to withdraw from the United Iraqi Alliance coalition, giving it less than a majority, the prime minister could still triumph in parliament votes.
Kurdish members of parliament would stick with the prime minister on pivotal matters, and his fellow Shiites would be unlikely to bolt.
"The Sadrists would not leave," he said. "There is no other parliamentary bloc they would join." Still Sunni parliament members say the government is reaching a crisis. "It would be unfortunate if we gave Maliki an ultimatum and he either ignored it or was unable to commit to it," said Omar Abdul Sattar, a Sunni member of parliament and a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party.
But Sunni politicians said Tuesday that they're serious about pulling out of parliament over what they say is Maliki's reluctance to share power. Maliki is a Shiite.
Meanwhile, rumors are swirling that loyalists of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr also are considering breaking away from the Shiites' United Iraqi Alliance in the legislature, a move that would rob that ruling political bloc of its slim majority. Sadr followers denied that, but they said the cleric has asked them to reach out to rival Sunni groups.
The threat to the Maliki government comes as sectarian violence appears to be on the rise. On five of the last seven days, the number of unidentified bodies found on Baghdad's streets has surpassed 25, a significant increase over previous weeks.
But dissent is coming not only from Sunnis. Sadr, too, was expressing dissatisfaction, which could threaten the government. At issue were Maliki's delay in replacing six Sadrists who walked out of his Cabinet last month to protest the arrests of fighters from Sadr's Mahdi Army and his refusal to set a deadline for U.S. troops to withdraw. Maliki still hasn't named replacements for the six ministers, though an aide said those nominations could come this week.
Now Sadr is calling for talks with Sunnis who are bitterly opposed to the Maliki government, including Harith al-Thari, the head of the Muslim Scholars Association. An aide to Maliki, speaking on condition that his name not be used because of the sensitivity of the topic, said even if Sadr were to withdraw from the United Iraqi Alliance coalition, giving it less than a majority, the prime minister could still triumph in parliament votes.
Kurdish members of parliament would stick with the prime minister on pivotal matters, and his fellow Shiites would be unlikely to bolt.
"The Sadrists would not leave," he said. "There is no other parliamentary bloc they would join." Still Sunni parliament members say the government is reaching a crisis. "It would be unfortunate if we gave Maliki an ultimatum and he either ignored it or was unable to commit to it," said Omar Abdul Sattar, a Sunni member of parliament and a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party.
Labels: government, Iraq, Iraqi Islamic Party, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Muslim Scholars Association, politics, United Iraqi Alliance
Monday, April 16, 2007
Al-Sadr's bloc withdraw from government
Politics
(RFE/RL) - The political movement of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered its ministers to withdraw from the Iraqi cabinet. Nassar al-Rubay'i, the head of al-Sadr's bloc in parliament, presented lawmakers with a statement from al-Sadr announcing that the ministers would resign immediately.
Lawmakers close to al-Sadr say the move is an attempt to pressure Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to draw up a timetable for the withdrawal from Iraq of U.S.-led foreign troops. Al-Sadr's group has six cabinet ministers in al-Maliki's government, and some 30 lawmakers in the 275-member parliament. Only the cabinet members are expected to resign.
Violence continued in Iraq on April 15, with more than 40 people reported killed in a series of bomb and suicide attacks in Baghdad. The United States military has announced the deaths of three more U.S. service personnel in Iraq, while Britain said two British service members died when two helicopters apparently collided in midair north of Baghdad.
Lawmakers close to al-Sadr say the move is an attempt to pressure Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to draw up a timetable for the withdrawal from Iraq of U.S.-led foreign troops. Al-Sadr's group has six cabinet ministers in al-Maliki's government, and some 30 lawmakers in the 275-member parliament. Only the cabinet members are expected to resign.
Violence continued in Iraq on April 15, with more than 40 people reported killed in a series of bomb and suicide attacks in Baghdad. The United States military has announced the deaths of three more U.S. service personnel in Iraq, while Britain said two British service members died when two helicopters apparently collided in midair north of Baghdad.
COMMENT: The Sadrists were instrumental in supporting Maliki's coming to power, so in an already fragile political Shiite coalition he will lose his strongest support base and the chasm within the UIA will widen. With al-Sadr out of the government, Maliki will also have less bargaining chips when trying to control Shiite death squads related to the Mahdi Army. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: government, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Sadrist bloc
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Al-Sadr threatens to pull out of government
Politics
(AP) - Iraqi Cabinet ministers allied to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatened Wednesday to quit the government to protest the prime minister's lack of support for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal. Such a pullout by the very bloc that put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in office could collapse his already perilously weak government. The threat comes two months into a U.S. effort to pacify Baghdad in order to give al-Maliki's government room to function.
Al-Sadr's political committee issued a statement a day after al-Maliki rejected an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal. "We see no need for a withdrawal timetable. We are working as fast as we can," al-Maliki told reporters during his four-day trip to Japan, where he signed loan agreements for redevelopment projects in Iraq. "To demand the departure of the troops is a democratic right and a right we respect. What governs the departure at the end of the day is how confident we are in the handover process," he said, adding that "achievements on the ground" would dictate how long American troops remain.
Al-Maliki spoke a day after tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of two Shiite holy cities, on al-Sadr's orders, to protest the U.S. presence in their country. The rally marked the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's conquer by American forces. "The Sadrist movement strongly rejects the statements of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in which he stood by the continued presence of occupation forces despite the will of the Iraqi people," said the statement, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
"The Sadrist movement is studying the option of withdrawing from the Iraqi government, a government that has not fulfilled its promises to the people," it said. "We are serious about withdrawing," it added. It would not be the first time the Sadrists, who hold six seats in the Cabinet, left al-Maliki's government. Al-Sadr's ministers and 30 legislators boycotted the government and parliament for nearly two months to protest a November meeting between al-Maliki and President Bush in Jordan.
The statement expressed anger over the Baghdad security plan launched on Feb. 14, calling it "unfair." Iraqi and U.S. troops have been targeting members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which has been blamed for sectarian killings.
Al-Sadr's political committee issued a statement a day after al-Maliki rejected an immediate U.S. troop withdrawal. "We see no need for a withdrawal timetable. We are working as fast as we can," al-Maliki told reporters during his four-day trip to Japan, where he signed loan agreements for redevelopment projects in Iraq. "To demand the departure of the troops is a democratic right and a right we respect. What governs the departure at the end of the day is how confident we are in the handover process," he said, adding that "achievements on the ground" would dictate how long American troops remain.
Al-Maliki spoke a day after tens of thousands of Iraqis took to the streets of two Shiite holy cities, on al-Sadr's orders, to protest the U.S. presence in their country. The rally marked the fourth anniversary of Baghdad's conquer by American forces. "The Sadrist movement strongly rejects the statements of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in which he stood by the continued presence of occupation forces despite the will of the Iraqi people," said the statement, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press.
"The Sadrist movement is studying the option of withdrawing from the Iraqi government, a government that has not fulfilled its promises to the people," it said. "We are serious about withdrawing," it added. It would not be the first time the Sadrists, who hold six seats in the Cabinet, left al-Maliki's government. Al-Sadr's ministers and 30 legislators boycotted the government and parliament for nearly two months to protest a November meeting between al-Maliki and President Bush in Jordan.
The statement expressed anger over the Baghdad security plan launched on Feb. 14, calling it "unfair." Iraqi and U.S. troops have been targeting members of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which has been blamed for sectarian killings.
Labels: government, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Nouri Al-Maliki, Sadrists
Friday, April 06, 2007
Government buries thousands in mass graves in Karbala
Security
(Azzaman) - The government is burying en mass hundreds of bodies of victims of violence which have been lying in Baghdad morgue for several months. Government sources, refusing to be named for fear or retribution said, said at least 2,252 bodies have been buried in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. But the government itself is making no secret of the burials. A government-related website said on Wednesday that 93 more bodies were buried in Karbala.
It said they were all numbered and pictured before burial. It said the 93 bodies could not be identified and have been lying in the morgue for a long period. No one has come forward to claim them, it said. The dead were victims of current sectarian strife in the country. It is not clear why so many bodies had remained in the morgue for so long period without anyone asking for them.
During interviews, residents of some of Baghdad’s most violent neighborhoods said many relatives of the victims were killed at the morgue as they were trying to retrieve the bodies. In other instances the victims had either all members of their families killed or forced to flee their areas. Claiming a body from a morgue in Iraq is a dangerous endeavor and occasionally families have to pay militias huge sums of money to help them retrieve the dead bodies of beloved ones.
It said they were all numbered and pictured before burial. It said the 93 bodies could not be identified and have been lying in the morgue for a long period. No one has come forward to claim them, it said. The dead were victims of current sectarian strife in the country. It is not clear why so many bodies had remained in the morgue for so long period without anyone asking for them.
During interviews, residents of some of Baghdad’s most violent neighborhoods said many relatives of the victims were killed at the morgue as they were trying to retrieve the bodies. In other instances the victims had either all members of their families killed or forced to flee their areas. Claiming a body from a morgue in Iraq is a dangerous endeavor and occasionally families have to pay militias huge sums of money to help them retrieve the dead bodies of beloved ones.
Labels: Baghdad morgues, bodies, government, Karbala
Friday, March 09, 2007
Allawi outlines plans should he gain majority
Politics
(AINA) Ayad Allawi's newly formed Iraqi National Front (INF) seeks to challenge Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and force him to purge Shiite militias from police and government. Allawi, a secular Shiite, was Iraq's interim prime minister in 2004-05. The bloc is a minority in parliament but aspires to overrule al-Maliki on several key issues, Allawi said in an interview with USA TODAY. The two largest Sunni groups in Iraq's parliament joined Allawi's coalition this week. A leading Kurdish politician and some moderate Shiites also have shown interest.
"We cannot see national reconciliation and national unity … thriving in a state of chaos and institutions riddled with militias," Allawi said Tuesday. "We feel our country has really been taken apart." Al-Maliki's ruling coalition includes lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who runs the Mahdi Army militia. The prime minister has given U.S. and Iraqi troops permission to crack down on the Mahdi Army in recent weeks under the new Baghdad security plan, but Allawi voiced frustration with the pace of change.
Allawi said that if he can form a legislative majority, he plans to:
"We cannot see national reconciliation and national unity … thriving in a state of chaos and institutions riddled with militias," Allawi said Tuesday. "We feel our country has really been taken apart." Al-Maliki's ruling coalition includes lawmakers loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who runs the Mahdi Army militia. The prime minister has given U.S. and Iraqi troops permission to crack down on the Mahdi Army in recent weeks under the new Baghdad security plan, but Allawi voiced frustration with the pace of change.
Allawi said that if he can form a legislative majority, he plans to:
- Replace police under control of the Interior Ministry with Iraqi army troops until the ministry can be thoroughly investigated and purged of militia loyalists.
Impose two years of martial law with rigorously enforced curfews and added checkpoints.
Remove a ban that keeps former members of the Baath Party, which ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein, from holding government jobs.
While prime minister, Allawi ordered Iraqi security forces into large-scale attacks against the Mahdi Army in Najaf and Sunni militants in Fallujah. Allawi's coalition, then known as the Iraqi List, placed a distant third in the elections in January 2005. Allawi said he does not want to force a change in government. "What we're doing, from within the parliament, is to create a group that … will put pressure on the government … to move the country toward peace and stability," he said.
To pose a major challenge, Allawi probably would need the support of Kurdish parties that support al-Maliki. The Kurds, who account for about 50 seats in the 275-member parliament, are waiting to see whether Allawi can build support, said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish lawmaker. "If we see his front is making change and is really better than what's happening now, of course the Kurds will go for it," Othman said. He said the Kurds have good relations with the Shiite bloc but have more in common with Allawi's secular philosophy.
Wednesday, the Al-Fadhila Party, a moderate Shiite group, broke ranks with the ruling Shiite coalition, but it stopped short of pledging loyalty to Allawi. Sami Alaskary, a Shiite lawmaker, said he was not concerned about the potential challenge until recently, when Allawi traveled to Kurdistan alongside Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador, to meet with Kurdish leaders.
Labels: al-Maliki, government, INF, Iraqi National Front, Iyad Allawi
