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Iraq: Contacts to form new alliance
29.12.2007
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December
29, 2007
Baghdad, -- MP from the Iraqi National List (INL)
unveiled on Friday contacts made with some political
blocs to form a new alliance "the Iraqi national
project".
"There are contacts made by the Iraqi National List
with some political blocs to form a new alliance
"the Iraqi national project" that gathers some
political forces," Usama al-Negefi told VOI.
The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Iraqi
Islamic Party signed last Monday a trilateral
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the city of
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan's cultural capital.
The three parties said that the MoU was signed to
boost ties among them and to foster Iraq's unity.
"The contacts include the national dialogue front,
Islamic Fadila (virtue) party, the Sadrists, the
Independent Arab List as well as some independists
from the Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC)," al-Negefi
explained.
The INL, which is of secularist orientation, is the
fifth largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament, holding
22 out of the total 275 seats.
He asserted that the aim of the new alliance is "to
reform the political process."
For his part, the head of the Sadrist bloc in the
parliament Nassar al-Rubaei said "the Sadrists make
contacts with some political forces to unified
visions on some important issues."
The Sadrist bloc withdrew its six ministers from the
government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki a few
months ago, protesting against al-Maliki's failure
to set a timetable for U.S. withdrawal. The bloc
holds 30 seats in the 275-member parliament.
However, al-Rubaei said, "it is too early to speak
about alliance between these forces." "These
contacts do exist and we will activate them after
the parliament's recess," the Sadrist leader
continued, noting that the "idea came in response to
the Congress's dividing plan."
The Senate, three months ago, approved, with 75
votes for and 23 against, a "non-binding" draft
resolution envisaging the division of Iraq into
three Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni entities, with a
federal government in Baghdad undertaking border
security and oil proceed management.
The Islamic Daawa Party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi
Council (SIIC) and the two main Kurdish parties
formed a four-way alliance in mid-August that they
claim aims at backing the current Iraqi government
following the withdrawal of some political blocs
from the cabinet.
Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi then signed,
in his capacity as vice president, a quintuple deal
with the four-way alliance's leaders to accelerate
the national reconciliation through adopting a
number of legislations to tackle problems facing the
reconciliation.
Iraqi Kurds deal-making over oil, Kirkuk
Iraq's Kurdish leaders, tired of arguments with
Shiite Arab counterparts over issues such as oil
deals and oil-rich Kirkuk, are forging a pact with
Sunnis.
Iraqi media report an agreement has been reached,
potentially forming a loose political deal between
the two main Kurdish parties and the Sunni Iraqi
Islamic Party, which has opposed the
Shiite-dominated coalition government.
The Kurdish coalition, a key part of the current
coalition government in Baghdad, has faced off
recently over the Kurdistan Regional Government's
oil deals and the status of Kirkuk, which Kurds
claim to be historically theirs.
The Voices of Iraq news agency reports the deal was
signed earlier this week, though few details have
emerged and media are left with unanswered
questions.
In an editorial, the al-Dustour newspaper asked,
"Will the tripartite alliance compliment the already
existing four-way agreement between the great
leaderships?" referring to an agreement reached
between the two Kurdish parties and the two main
Shiite parties in August. The editorial claimed the
Kurds are strengthening their hand, threatening to
align with an opposing group if their demands are
not met.
"Fears remain over the possibility of turning the
new agreement into a reality on the ground to solve
all disputed issues: the constitution, Kirkuk, the
oil and gas law and national reconciliation," the
al-Muwatin newspaper wrote in an article titled
"Will the three-way MoU push forward the political
process?"
The KRG, a semiautonomous region, wants the rights
to develop its oil sector without direct control
from Baghdad. The KRG passed its own regional oil
law instead and has signed dozens of
production-sharing contracts with foreign oil firms.
The leadership in Baghdad, as well as Sunnis, wants
a centrally controlled oil regime and has called the
KRG deals illegal.
The Oil Ministry has started contacting some of the
firms, vowing to block any sales of Iraqi oil if
they move forward on the Kurd contract.
In Kirkuk, a last-minute deal was reached to delay a
vote on the future of the disputed territory. It
contains between 11 billion and 15 billion barrels
of oil. The Kurds want it to be part of the KRG, but
Iraq's Arabs and minority groups are against it.
VOI | UPI
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