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BAGHDAD - A
political conflict threatened to further exacerbate
Iraq's sectarian and ethnic divisions Thursday as
Kurdish and Sunni Arab leaders issued a letter
demanding that the leading Shiite Muslim coalition
withdraw its nomination of interim Prime Minister
Ibrahim Jafari to head the next government.
The dispute came as a top Sunni politician narrowly
escaped assassination and the government announced a
one-day ban on daytime vehicle traffic effective
this morning in Baghdad in an effort to rein in
continued violence.
"We had many conflicts with the past government, and
for it to continue for the next four years is just
unacceptable to us," said Faraj Haydary of the
Kurdish Alliance, which has gotten other political
blocs to sign off on the formal letter delivered
Thursday.
Politicians with the lead United Iraqi Alliance,
which holds a plurality of seats in the new
parliament, warned that efforts to form a national
unity government, a major goal of U.S. officials,
might collapse if the Kurds and Sunnis don't back
down.
"Jafari is the nominee, and the UIA will not be
provoked in this way," said Fadhil Shara, a
political representative of Shiite cleric Muqtada
Sadr's office in Baghdad.
The political maneuvering threatened to further
destabilize the country after a spasm of sectarian
clashes that left hundreds dead over the last week.
The violence continued Thursday, with police
reporting that more than 30 people were killed in
attacks across the country.
Adnan Dulaimi, a leader of the Iraqi Accordance
Front party and among the country's top Sunni
politicians, had just stepped out of his car to have
a flat tire repaired when gunmen opened fire on his
convoy in southern Baghdad on Thursday afternoon.
One security guard was killed and five others were
wounded in the attack, according to a statement
released by the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni
grouping.
On the political front, political leaders opposed to
Jafari said they could gather enough support in the
new parliament to block his nomination and offer up
their own candidate.
"We want someone that will rule the country in a
neutral way, not in a sectarian way," said Saleh
Mutlak, head of the National Dialogue Front, a Sunni
political group in parliament.
Haydary, of the Kurdish Alliance, said the letter
issued Thursday was a Kurdish initiative.
"Our ministers and the president had bad
experiences" with Jafari, he said. "The next
government head will be the prime minister of all
Iraq and not only the Shiite alliance, so his
actions will hurt us all." Jalal Talabani, a Kurd,
is Iraq's president.
Shiites reacted angrily. They have previously
denounced Sunni and Kurdish discontent over Jafari
as part of a plot by Americans to control the
political process.
"How can we work with others when they want to stall
your movement at every corner," said Haider Abadi, a
Jafari advisor and member of parliament. The
alliance reconfirmed its support for the interim
prime minister during a meeting Thursday night,
Abadi said.
"The Kurds have no right to agree or disagree
upon our nominee for prime minister; they should not
interfere with our internal affairs [but] accept our
wishes," said Abbas Bayati, a Shiite member of the
team negotiating a new government. "Jafari was
nominated based on voting and open democratic
practice within the alliance slate. If anyone would
veto our choice, likewise we will stand against
their nominee, and the whole thing will collapse."
In the new 275-seat parliament, Kurds control 53
seats and a Sunni alliance controls 44. By
exploiting dissension within the Shiite bloc and
with the help of various secular parties, they could
derail Jafari's candidacy. The parliament will
select a three-member presidential council, which
must be approved by a two-thirds majority, and that
group will approve the new prime minister and
Cabinet.
Jafari is operating from a weak base, having
narrowly won his own coalition's nomination for
prime minister. The softspoken theologian also has
come under criticism for his handling of the
security situation after the Feb. 22 bombing of the
Golden Mosque in Samarra, viewed by Shiites as a key
holy site, which triggered the recent wave of
sectarian violence.
Jafari compounded Sunni anger Thursday by
transferring control of the shrine from a Sunni
religious foundation to Shiites.
"Any attempt to change its administration is an
invitation for sectarian sedition with unpredictable
consequences," said the head of the Sunni endowment,
Abed Gaffour Samarai.
The near-destruction of the shrine last week spurred
a wave of sectarian killings and attacks on mosques
around the country. The government imposed emergency
security measures, enforcing daytime curfews and
canceling all leave for Iraqi security forces.
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