| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"PagCal" |
| Date: |
09 May 2007 07:23:06 AM |
| Object: |
Sunnis give al-Maliki one week to rein in Shiite militias |
The al-Maliki government is about to collapse.
Haw, haw, I guess it's back to elections for the US.
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Sunnis give al-Maliki one week to rein in Shiite militias
By Scott Canon and Mohammed al Dulaimy
McClatchy Newspapers
BAGHDAD, Iraq - 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.
U.S. officials have cited the decline of bodies as evidence that the
surge of U.S. troops into Baghdad was succeeding in calming violence.
U.S. officials have said easing violence would help Maliki's government
reach a political solution to the tensions.
But a weaker Maliki government would make that outcome less likely.
The threat to Maliki's government from the Sunnis - who could find
themselves shut out of the government should Maliki call their bluff -
surfaced in a meeting between the prime minister and Vice President
Tariq al-Hashemi on Monday night.
Hashemi later told CNN that unless crucial changes are made to the
constitution in the next week and Maliki clamps down on Shiite militia
violence against Sunnis, he'll leave the vice presidency and yank 44
Sunni politicians from the 275-member parliament.
"I will tell my constituency frankly that I have made the mistake of my
life when I put my endorsement to that national accord," Hashemi said,
referring to the agreement that led to Maliki's ascension to the prime
minister's post.
Hashemi said that particularly important to his faction are
constitutional guarantees that bar partitioning of the country into
federal states that would split territory among Sunni, Shiite and
Kurdish areas - a move widely seen to put Sunnis at a disadvantage.
Although Sunnis flourished under the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein,
today they hold sway only in areas of the country where the promise of
oil reserves is poorest.
Hashemi is also calling on Maliki to disarm Shiite militias, which are
seen as responsible for sectarian killings and displacement of Sunnis.
Without the Sunni vice president active in the government, the hope of
bridging the increasingly violent split between majority Shiites and
minority Sunnis becomes dimmer. And pressure is only increasing on the
prime minister to broaden his government to all sects.
On Monday, Maliki and President Bush talked via video conference. The
White House said Bush urged the Iraqi leader to share government
authority with the country's Sunnis. Bush has refused to set a timetable
on withdrawing troops from Iraq, saying that such decisions must be
driven by the nurturing of a solid government that can rule without
overwhelming sectarian violence.
The Maliki-Bush conversation came on the heels of a regional conference
in Egypt last week where Iraq's neighbors, fearful that Iraqi unrest
could spill over to their borders, similarly pushed Maliki to broaden
his government.
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.
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