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Straw urges Iraq to build unified
government
21.2.2006
By Michael Georgy
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BAGHDAD (Reuters)
- British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw urged Iraqis
to build a national unity government on Tuesday as
sectarian violence raged more than two months after
parliamentary elections.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with President
Jalal Talabani, Straw said the elections showed that
no single group can dominate Iraq's new political
landscape.
"This is a crucial moment today for the people of
Iraq. We had the elections on December 15th. We've
now had the final accredited results. What they show
is that no party, no ethnic or religious grouping
can dominate government in Iraq," he said.
"This therefore gives further impetus to what Iraqis
tell us they want, which is a government of national
unity bringing together all the different elements
of Iraqi society."
Straw arrived on Monday, hours after U.S. ambassador
Zalmay Khalilzad issued a tough warning to Iraqi
leaders that Washington would not tolerate
sectarianism or militias in the new government. |
Iraqi
President : Jalal Talabani (L) British Foreign
Minster Jack Straw
Photo: Reuters |
While Arab Sunni participation in the polls raised
hopes that peaceful politics could defuse the Sunni
insurgency, voting patterns suggested ballots were
cast based on sect, not political and economic
programmes offered by candidates.
Rising sectarian tensions are increasingly evident
on the streets, where bodies are often dumped with
bullet holes to the head.
Sunni accusations that the Shi'ite-led government
sanctions militia death squads have also highlighted
the failure of democracy to ease fears of sectarian
civil war. The government denies the charges.
Straw, who was also due to meet Shi'ite Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, reiterated that Britain
was working to push democracy forward in Iraq.
"The international community, particularly those of
us who have played a part in liberating Iraq have an
interest in ... a prosperous, stable and democratic
Iraq.
"It is exploring these issues that will be the main
agenda for my meetings today with senior
representatives of the government and political
parties here in Baghdad.
Hours before he spoke, Iraqi Displacement and
Migration Minister Suhaila Abd Jaafar survived a
roadside bomb attack on her convoy, police sources
and an official in her office said.
Reuters
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