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QALA
CHWALAN, Iraq (AP) The Kurdish leader who hopes
to become Iraq's next president pledged to try to
bring the country's disaffected Sunni Arabs into the
political process even though many of them stayed
away from the polls in landmark elections.
Jalal Talabani, a Sunni nominated last week by
Kurdish leaders to be their candidate for one of
Iraq's two top posts, said he would urge Sunni Arabs
to take part in drafting a constitution one of the
key tasks of the new government that will soon take
office.
As president, Talabani said he could play a
mediating role between Sunni Arabs and Shiite
Muslims, who apparently scored a landslide victory
in the Jan. 30 national elections.
''I expect when in Baghdad I will play a role for
reconciliation and will try to bring Sunni Arabs
into the process of democracy,'' Talabani told The
Associated Press in an interview Saturday night at
his headquarters in Qala Chwalan near Sulaimaniyah.
''We will try to convince them to participate in the
committee responsible for the drafting of the
constitution.''
Talabani, who leads the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan, said he would put national priorities
ahead of those of the northern autonomous region of
Kurdistan if he was elected president, a largely
ceremonial post.
In particular, he would work to bring security to
the country, eradicate the insurgency and take steps
toward a national reconciliation among Iraq's
various ethnic and religious groups, which have
suffered strained ties in the violent aftermath of
Saddam Hussein's ouster.
The elections themselves have added to divisions.
Some Sunni political parties boycotted last week's
voting for a National Assembly because of objections
to holding elections under the shadow of foreign
occupation. Turnout was low in Sunni areas after
insurgents threatened violence on election day,
raising concerns that the lack of a strong Sunni
voice in the new government could further alienate
the group.
Sunni Arabs enjoyed exclusive power for nearly a
century here, until the fall of Saddam. Since then,
they have formed the core of the insurgency.
Their religious rivals, the Shiites, are on the
verge of reversing nearly a century of oppression.
Shiites turned out in huge numbers to vote and their
leaders are expected to dominate the new government.
Talabani rejected concerns that putting a Kurd at
the helm of Iraq's presidency instead of a Sunni
Arab would disrupt the delicate power balance
between the country's two dominant groups.
Kurds, who are also mostly Sunni Muslims, are one of
the country's main ethnic groups and deserve their
share in any national government, Talabani said.
And if the Kurds get the presidency and the Shiites
the premiership, a Sunni could be made speaker of
parliament, the third top job, he said.
Talabani said Sunnis made ''a historic mistake by
not fighting against terrorism and not ridding their
areas of terrorist activity.''
''This terrorist activity prevented them from using
their right to vote,'' he said. ''They made the area
unsafe.''
Though Kurdish officials have said they will not
accept anything less than one of the two top
government posts, Talabani said the Kurds will not
make a fuss if they do not get it.
''We're not going to revolt,'' he said.
But he added: ''I think we have a good chance
because many people from various parties and groups
are supporting the Kurds to be president,''
including Shiites and Sunnis.
The president and two vice presidents will be chosen
by the 275-seat National Assembly. The three-member
presidential council will then choose a prime
minister, who will have to be approved by the
assembly.
The chamber and the new executive will serve for 11
months, after which new elections are to be held for
a full-term government.
Talabani said he was not worried about a religious
Shiite group backed by clerics coming to power.
''They don't want to dominate the country. They want
to have their share and they want to respect the
share of the Kurds, respect the share of the
Turkomen and the Sunni Arabs,'' Talabani said.
He said his Kurdish rival, Massoud Barzani, leader
of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, suggested that
Talabani hold Iraq's presidency while he became
Kurdistan's president.
''He personally prefers that I be in Baghdad and he
be in Kurdistan,'' Talabani said.
He said he had no fears that Barzani would try to
establish control over the region in his absence
from Kurdistan.
''We are on the same team, the same leadership,''
said Talabani, whose party fought a bloody civil war
in the 1990s with the KDP.
''I will do nothing without conversation and
cooperation and coordination with Mr. Barzani and
the Kurdish leadership here. And they also will not
do anything without speaking with us.''
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