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Sunni Arab bloc quits Iraqi government
2.8.2007
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August 2, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- The main Sunni Arab political
bloc quit the Iraqi cabinet on Wednesday, plunging
the government into crisis on a day when suicide
bombers killed more than 70 people with massive
strikes in the capital.
The Sunni Accordance Front said its five cabinet
members and Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zobaie
would resign from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's
government.
"This is probably the most serious political crisis
we have faced since the passage of the constitution.
If unresolved the implications are grave," the
remaining deputy prime minister, Barhim Salih, a
Kurd, said.
Maliki spoke to U.S. President George W. Bush by
video link and reassured him "dialogue with our
brothers in the Accordance Front will not stop"
despite the boycott, Maliki's office said. |
Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, left,
and other Sunni leaders wait for the start of a
press conference in Baghdad, on Wednesday. All six
ministers from Iraq's largest Sunni bloc tendered
their resignation from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's
Shiite-led coalition government on Wednesday,
following a month-long row. AP |
White House spokesman Tony Snow said after the call:
"The president emphasized that the Iraqi people and
the American people need to see action, not just
words ... on the political front," Snow told
reporters in Washington.
The Iraqi government said 1,653 civilians were
killed in July, a third more than the previous
month, despite a fall in the number of deaths among
U.S. troops.
Fifty of Wednesday's dead were killed when a suicide
bomber in a fuel truck packed with explosives
targeted motorists at a petrol station, police said.
Another suicide bomber killed 20 people outside a
popular ice cream shop across town. Another bomber
killed three in southern Doura district.
The Accordance Front said it was quitting Maliki's
coalition because he had failed to meet about a
dozen demands, including granting the Sunni bloc a
greater say in security matters. Those standing down
include the ministers of culture, women, planning,
and higher education, and the junior foreign affairs
minister.
Their withdrawal may have little practical effect on
a government already paralysed by infighting. The
Shi'ite bloc of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
withdrew in April.
But the withdrawal was a blow to reconciliation
efforts: luring the large Sunni bloc into government
had been hailed as a major achievement when Maliki
took power last year.
The United States had hoped the inclusion of Sunni
Arabs in the Shi'ite-dominated government would
reduce sectarian violence. But laws aimed at
reconciliation have not been passed.
Washington acknowledged the setback. "Democracy is
hard," said U.S. embassy spokesman Phil Reeker. "Is
it frustrating? Yes. It's frustrating for us, it's
frustrating for them, it's frustrating for the Iraqi
people."
Haidar al-Ibadi, a parliamentarian close to Maliki,
told Reuters the Front was trying to persuade the
Americans to withdraw support for the prime
minister.
"They are sending a message to Washington that Nuri
al-Maliki is no longer accepted, and trying to bring
the political process to square one. They will not
be successful."
The Sunni Front's deputy president, Tareq al-Hashemi,
will remain in office for now, as will Sunni Arab
Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim. The Front's 44
members also remain in the 275-seat parliament,
which is on recess until September.
TALKS PLANNED
Salih, the Kurdish deputy prime minister, said plans
were under way for a summit of Iraq's main factions
in the next few days, seeking a new, more stable
accord.
"The crisis is grave and its implications should not
be underestimated, but I hope it offers an
opportunity to address the causes of political
instability afflicting this country."
Hashemi told reporters the Front was still open to
talks and could return to government "if they
introduce reforms".
Political setbacks in Iraq could also hurt Bush, who
faces a showdown in Congress next month when his
Iraq commander reports on progress after sending
30,000 extra troops this year.
The military reported that four more soldiers had
been killed on Tuesday, July's last day, taking the
month's toll to 78, the lowest since last November.
"The surge has done what we wanted it to do in terms
of bringing down the violence," said the U.S.
embassy's Reeker.
"The hardest part is taking advantage of these
security gains to move the political process
forward."
But deaths among Iraqi civilians, which had fallen
by more than a third in June, rose back to the level
of previous months.
Reuters
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