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Iraqi leaders agree reconciliation deal
27.8.2007
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August 27, 2007
BAGHDAD, -- Iraq's top Shiite, Sunni and
Kurdish leaders vowed Monday to boost national
reconciliation by agreeing to resolve key disputed
issues that have thrown the war-ravaged country in a
political turmoil.
The leaders agreed to ease restrictions on former
members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to help them
join government ministries, to hold provincial
elections -- a key demand of Washington -- and help
security forces in stopping the bloodshed, President
Jalal Talabani's office said.
The latest effort to pull Iraq from the political
crisis comes amid intense pressure from American
leaders and two weeks before top US officials in
Iraq -- ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David
Petraeus, head of the coalition forces -- present
their much-awaited report on Iraq to the US
Congress.
Embattled Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shiite;
Talabani, a Kurd; Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi;
Shiite Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi; and Massud
Barzani, president of the semi-autonomous northern
Kurdistan region, made a rare television appearance
after Talabani's office released the statement.
"After a series of meetings by political leaders in
the circumstances that our country is passing
through, they have decided to make serious efforts
to find solutions to overcome the political and
security crisis in Iraq," the statement said.
It said the five leaders agreed to accept the
Reconciliation and Accountability Law "to guarantee
justice and transparency to all."
The law, yet to be approved by the parliament,
replaces the de-Baathification law and aims to
facilitate the former members of Saddam's Baath
party in joining government and military services.
The return of former Baathists who have no criminal
records to public life has been a strong demand of
Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc, the National
Concord Front.
The Front boycotted Maliki's Shiite-led government
on August 1, paralysing the country's political
progress.
The statement also said that leaders had decided to
encourage sharing of government jobs equally among
all the three communities.
"The leaders agreed to hold provincial elections and
to continue dialogue over other disputed issues such
as constitutional reforms and the oil law," the
statement said.
Washington has insisted that provincial elections
and passage of the oil law are among the key
cornerstones needed to achieve progress and
reconciliation in Iraq.
The oil law, which has been approved by the cabinet,
aims to distribute oil revenues among all the
provinces in a fair manner.
The leaders also agreed to stop the "deterioration
of security and to work with the multinational
forces in fighting terrorists and militias..." the
statement added.
The White House on Sunday hailed the pledges from
the Iraqi leaders as "an important symbol" of their
readiness to work on behalf of all Iraqis.
"We congratulate Iraq's leaders on the important
agreement reached today in Baghdad. Today's
agreement is an important symbol of their commitment
to work together for the benefit of all Iraqis," the
White House said in a statement from the Crawford,
Texas ranch where President George W. Bush is on
vacation.
Even as Hashemi appeared on television with Maliki
and other leaders, it was not immediately known
whether the Sunni Arab bloc of which he is one of
the main leaders had decided to join the Shiite-led
government.
Since the August 1 boycott by the Sunni Arab bloc, a
growing number of US politicians have spoken out
against Maliki, with some like presidential hopeful
Hillary Clinton and Senator Carl Levin even calling
for him to be replaced.
Last week, Clinton urged the Iraqi parliament to get
rid of Maliki after Levin, the chairman of the
Senate Armed Services Committee, said the premier
should go after paying a visit to the country.
"I share Senator Levin's hope that the Iraqi
parliament will replace Prime Minister Maliki with a
less divisive and more unifying figure when it
returns in a few weeks," Clinton said in a
statement.
An angry Maliki lashed out at the two leaders on
Sunday, just hours before the announcement of the
latest political initiative.
"They (Clinton and Levin) talk about Iraq as if Iraq
is their property," Maliki told reporters.
They "have not experienced in their political lives
the kind of differences we have in Iraq. When they
give their judgment, they have no knowledge of what
reconciliation means," he said.
AFP
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