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Iraq PM, president announce new Shiite-Kurd Alliance, but
no Sunnis |
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Iraq PM, president announce new
Shiite-Kurd Alliance, but no Sunnis
16.8.2007
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August 16, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- The Iraqi prime minister and
president on Thursday announced a new alliance of
moderate Shiites and Kurds, saying Sunni moderates
refused to join but the door remained open to them.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the agreement
was the first step to unblock political stagnation
that has gripped his Shiite-led government since it
first took power in May 2006.
The announcement after three days of intense
political negotiations in the capital was
disappointing because it did not include Iraq's
Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and his
moderate Iraqi Islamic Party.
President Jalal Talabani and al-Maliki were flanked
by the leader of the northern autonomous Kurdistan
region, Massoud Barzani, and Shiite Vice President
Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi.
The four men signed a three-page agreement, which
they said ensures them a majority in the 275-member
parliament that would allow movement of critical
U.S.-demanded legislation. |
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (2nd L) talks
to President Jalal Talabani (2nd R) while Massoud
Barzani, President of autonomous Kurdstan region
(L), shakes hands with Adel Abdul-Mahdi, Shiite Vice
President (R), after signing an agreement for a new
alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds, in Baghdad
August 16, 2007 |
Talabani, a Kurd, said al-Hashemi refused the
invitation to join in the new political grouping but
"the door is still open to them and they are welcome
at any time."
Al-Maliki also called on the Sunni Accordance Front,
which includes al-Hashemi's party, to return to the
government, to heal a rift that opened when the
bloc's five Cabinet minister quit the government.
Lawmaker Mahmud Othman, a Kurd, said the new power
structure had been under consideration for a "long
time and would form a government of majority."
The alliance would "bring together like minded
people who want to work for a common goal," Othman
told AFP, adding that attempts to lure Hashemi back
into the fold had so far failed.
"But, from what I understand, the doors are open for
anybody to join," he said.
Othman said the former national unity coalition had
suffered from the bitter differences between its
leaders, which prevented them from coming to
agreement on any of the issues dogging Iraq after
four long years of war.
The four-party agreement was unveiled four weeks
before the top U.S. commander in Iraq Gen. David
Petraeus and U.S.
Ambassador Ryan Crocker are to deliver a progress
report on Iraq to Congress..
AP | AFP
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