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Splits emerge between Kurds and Shiites in
Iraqi government
2.10.2005
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BAGHDAD, Iraq,
Oct 1 (AP) - Sharp divisions emerged Saturday
between Iraq's ruling Kurdish and Shiite Muslim
factions after Iraq's Kurdish president accused the
Shiite prime minister of breaking coalition promises
and overly dominating the government.
Kurdish officials warned they would consider pulling
out of the government if their demands aren't met.
That would cause the collapse of the government and
add a new layer of political instability and
fragmentation between Iraq's main communities.
The friction comes ahead of an Oct. 18 vote on a new
constitution, which both the Kurds and Shiites
support. But Iraq's Sunni Arab minority is trying to
defeat the charter at the polls, fearing it will
give too much power to the other two communities.
Kurdish leaders have complained to Shiite Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari that the coalition's
Shiite parties, known as the United Alliance, have
not upheld promises to start work on resettling
Kurds in the northern city of Kirkuk or to fairly
distribute government positions between the
coalition parties.
Earlier this month, the heads of the Kurdish
Alliance _ President Jalal Tabalani and Massoud
Barzani, president of the northern Kurdish region _
sent a letter to al-Jaafari outlining the Kurds'
complaints but received no reply. Talabani on
Saturday lashed out at the prime minister.
"One of the problems with the Prime Minister is that
he is violating the laws," Talabani told reporters.
He said al-Jaafari's office was acting unilaterally
without working with its Kurdish allies.
"The ministry is not the government _ the ministry
is the ministry," he said, referring to al-Jaafari's
office. "It is not right that the Ministry puts
itself before the government.
"There is an important agreement which is being
ignored," he said of deals over Kirkuk in the
coalition deals the formed the government. "The
agreement says that after one month from forming the
government, the government should begin to address
the issue of Kirkuk using the government committees
set-up to solve this issue. Five months passed have
now passed and despite our repeated calls, they
haven't taken a single step."
The Kurds are pushing for the return of Kurds forced
out of the oil-rich Kirkuk area during the rule of
ousted leader Saddam Hussein, who settled Sunni
Arabs there in a bid to ensure his hold. The Kurds'
return is sharply opposed by Sunni Arabs, who fear
Kurds want to join Kirkuk to the autonomous
Kurdistan region to the north.
Talabani's comments brought angry reaction from
Shiite legislators during a parliament session
Saturday. Lawmaker Mahmoud al-Radhi criticized
Talabani for going public with the differences just
before the Oct. 15 referendum.
"The country is passing through a very dangerous
phase, so what has happened is not reasonable," he
said.
The government was formed on Aug. 28 after months of
wrangling after January elections in which members
of Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority won a majority of
seats in parliament _ reflecting the Shiites'
ambitions to rule after decades of oppression under
Saddam's Baath Party. But they needed Kurdish
support to form the Cabinet.
Asked if the Kurds would pull out of the government
or call a vote of confidence, Kurdish lawmaker
Mahmoud Osman said that "if these issues are not
addressed" the Kurdish leadership would meet and
decide.
In the letter sent to al-Jaafari this month,
Talabani and Barzani made a veiled threat to pull
out of the government. We hope that we will not have
to take further steps, particularly what is allowed
in Article 6 of the coalition agreement," they
wrote, referring to an article allowing either party
to withdraw, according to a copy of the letter
received by The Associated Press.
The collapse of the government would cause more
political turmoil at a time of already great
uncertainly. If the constitution passes, national
elections are to be held in December to create a new
parliament to chose a government. If the
constitution fails, the elections will pick a new
transitional parliament tasked with drafting a new
document.
AP
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