|
Baghdad: Iraq's new parliament will hold its
first session in 10 days, more than a month after
the country's historic vote, top officials in the
Kurdish and Shiite blocs negotiating a governing
coalition said on Sunday.
Iraqi forces backed by US soldiers meanwhile stepped
up operations in and around Samarra, north of
Baghdad, as they tracked leads that number one
fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be in the area, a
senior Iraqi security official said.
"We agreed that the first session of parliament will
take place on March 16, the anniversary of the
chemical bombing of the Kurdish town of Halabja by
the former regime of Saddam Hussein," outgoing
Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh told AFP.
The national assembly's first order of business will
be to elect a speaker and vote on a presidential
council, including a president and two deputies, who
in turn will choose a prime minister to form the
next government.
Saleh, a leading figure in the Kurdish alliance
which holds 77 of the 275 seats in parliament, said
talks with the first-place Shiite list will continue
until then.
An official with the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA)
confirmed the date of the first session, adding that
the two sides had agreed to share the top posts of
the presidency, vice presidency and premiership.
"We decided to set that date because all the signs
indicate that an agreement will be ready before the
first session," said Jawad Maliky, second in command
in the Dawa party of prime minister candidate
Ibrahim Jaafari.
Kurds are expected to get the presidency with senior
leader Jalal Talabani being a favourite.
Talks over the next days will focus on sharing the
cabinet posts and bringing in the Sunnis, who
largely boycotted the elections but are now seeking
a role in the government, according to Maliky.
"We have agreed on the principals," added Maliky,
who also served as deputy speaker in the previous
interim assembly.
Kurds, who have played the role of kingmaker in the
process of forming the next government, have
received assurances from the UIA list about the
secular nature of the next government and its
respect for Iraq's multi-ethnic and
multi-confessional character.
Both sides have agreed that the interim laws, passed
under the previous US-led occupation, will be the
basis of the permanent constitution that will be put
to a referendum in October.
As for Kurdish claims over the oil-rich city of
Kirkuk, both sides appear for now to have agreed to
make the thorny issue part of the next legislative
debate.
"Kurds have not climbed down from their hardline
position on Kirkuk, but we agreed that it will be
dealt with in the context of the interim laws which
will form the basis of the new constitution," said
Maliky.
Article 58 of the laws signed by former US
administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer defers the
resolution of Kirkuk until after property claims are
looked into, a new constitution is drafted and a new
census conducted.
Kurds regard Kirkuk as their Jerusalem and say its
true character was forcibly altered when Saddam
settled Arabs there.
Their grievances against Saddam include his alleged
order of atrocities such as the gassing of an
estimated 5,000 people in Halabja in the Kurdistan
region in March 1988. The empowered Kurds have ruled
their semi-autonomous region since the early 1990s.
As Iraqis focused on moving forward the political
process, a controversy brewed over the fatal
shooting by US troops at a convoy carrying liberated
Italian hostage Guiliana Sgrena.
The 56-year-old journalist, who returned to Italy on
Saturday, wrote in an article published Sunday in
her paper Il Manifesto that her kidnappers, who
treated her well, warned her that the Americans did
not want her to be released.
"They said they were committed to releasing me, but
that I had to be careful 'because there are
Americans who don't want you to go back'," she said
in her first account of her month in captivity.
Sgrena's convoy was shot at by US troops while
travelling on Baghdad's airport road, wounding her
and killing Italian intelligence officer Nicola
Calipari.
A senior spokesman for multinational forces in
Baghdad refused to comment on Sgrena's claims,
saying an internal inquiry was underway.
The military has previously said it shot at the
vehicle because it was speeding towards the
checkpoint and failed to stop after soldiers flashed
lights and fired several warning shots.
On the ground, Iraqi and US security forces were
pursuing leads on Jordanian-born Zarqawi, the man
responsible for the worst hostage killings and car
bomb attacks. He has a 25-million-dollar bounty on
his head.
Samarra's entrances were sealed since Saturday and
66 suspects arrested.
AP
Top |
® 