Shiite, Kurdish political parties are in accord
were in accord Jaafari will be PM, Talabani will be
president.
BAGHDAD - The Kurdish and Shiite political
blocs announced on Thursday they were close to
signing a principle of understanding that the Kurds
had insisted on before joining any government.
The news came as an official statement by the
outgoing parliament said the first session of Iraq's
new national assembly would meet on March 16 inside
Baghdad's fortress-like Green Zone, home to Iraqi
institutions and the US embassy.
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Jaafari and Talabani- Photo
Middle East Online |
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The
three-page principle of understanding that will
formalise their alliance has been completed and will
be signed by Sunday after a final review, the Shiite
side said.
For their part, the Kurds said the sides had agreed
on several points and expected to sign the deal
within two or three days. The news put Iraq one step
closer to having a government after its historic
election almost six weeks ago.
"The two sides have drafted their principle of
understanding. Both sides agree. Most likely it will
be signed Sunday," said Adnan Ali, an aide to
Ibrahim Jaafari, the Shiite frontrunner for post of
prime minister.
The document reaffirms Iraq's commitment to the
transitional law (TAL), passed under the US
occupation, that will govern Iraq until a permanent
constitution is completed and ratified by the end of
2005.
"We all agree that the TAL is the constitution for
this government," Adnan said, adding it would govern
the handling of the disputed northern oil city of
Kirkuk.
The document also pledges all Iraqi ministers to
work for Iraq's national interest and commits the
government to restoring security, fighting
unemployment and improving basic services, he said.
He said the sides were in accord that Jaafari would
be prime minister and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani
would be president.
"There is a general agreement that Jalal Talabani
will be president," Ali said.
Adnan said the Shiites were committed to the TAL's
provisions on Kirkuk, perhaps the most important
issue of all for the Kurds.
"The TAL in article 58 says what to do on Kirkuk."
Indicating the Kurds' happiness on the current
talks, Kurdish negotiator Fuad Kamel said his
long-oppressed ethnic group had accepted the
commitment from the Shiites on Kirkuk.
"Concerning Kirkuk, we have decided to apply the
terms of the TAL," he said. The Kurds, whose 77
seats give them the second-largest share in the new
275-member national assembly, have insisted on a
written pledge from the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance
(UIA), which swept the polls with 146 seats.
The Kurds had wanted guarantees that more steps
would be taken on Kirkuk in line with the TAL's
article 58.
The article pledges that the coming government will
redress the mass expulsion of Kurds from Kirkuk
under Saddam Hussein who wanted the region's
lucrative oil reserves under Arab control.
It also calls for the government to examine Saddam's
redrawing of provinces in the name of Arabisation,
the jailed dictator's policy of ridding ethnic
minorities like the Kurds from strategic areas.
Senior members of Jaafari's Dawa party had
previously balked over Kurdish insistence on a
formal pact before they joined the next government.
When the TAL was passed last year, revered Shiite
spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani made
clear his displeasure with the document, which
granted Kurds greater freedom in the north.
The Shiite majority's antipathy for the TAL had
raised fears in the Kurdish community, long
oppressed under the old regime, that their hard-won
autonomy would be eroded in the post-Saddam Iraq.
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