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Shiite and Sunni blocs boycotted a
conference on Iraqi reconciliation
19.3.2008
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March 19, 2008
BAGHDAD,-- Shiite and Sunni blocs in
Parliament boycotted a conference on Iraqi
reconciliation Tuesday, as U.S. Vice President Dick
Cheney traveled north to meet with Kurdish leaders.
Members of the main Sunni Parliament coalition
Tawafuq refused to attend the two-day conference
because of complaints about the Shiite-dominated
government.
Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's bloc walked out of the
conference, saying they did not want a ceremonial
presence. The same went for Sheikh Ali Hatem
Sulaiman, a representative of Sunni tribes that rose
up against al-Qaida in Iraq.
The boycott was symptomatic of the rifts and enmity
among Iraqi parties, which are organized along
ethnic and religious lines and have delayed progress
in sharing power among the country's Shiite majority
and the formerly ruling Sunnis.
Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government has
dwindled since the summer to a core group of Shiite
and Kurdish politicians. The prime minister's
relationship, however, has become strained with the
Kurds on matters such as the future of the country's
oil law and the boundaries of northern Iraq.
Maliki's detractors describe him as hindered by an
inner circle that does not like to share power and
is fiercely sectarian. Maliki's supporters contend
the prime minister is trying to build a strong
national government and other parties are standing
in the way for selfish reasons.
Saad Yusuf Muttalibi, a conference organizer,
accused the Sunni bloc of deliberately trying to
sabotage Maliki.
The organizer noted that Sunni tribes,www.ekurd.net
who have revolted
against al-Qaida in Iraq, attended the conference.
One of their main leaders, Sheikh Sulaiman, decided
to lead his delegation out of the conference.
"I didn't stay any longer than it took me to smoke
my cigarette. It was a total failure, because the
Iraqi politicians are a failure," Sulaiman said.
Followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr quit the
conference early in protest of what they called its
lack of substance. "We don't want to attend some
conference where just speeches are made; we want
actual activities to be initiated between the
political powers," said Sadr Parliament member
Nassar Rubaie.
The Sadrists' Mahdi Army militia was accused of
fomenting sectarian violence before Sadr called a
cease-fire for his movement in August.
Maliki told reporters he was committed to
reconciliation.
He heralded the decline of sectarian violence, which
many others warn could erupt again. The conference
organizers said that former military officers and
ex-members of Saddam Hussein's ruling Baath party
attended the talks, which will conclude today.
Cheney, on the second day of a visit, looked to push
for a resolution to Iraq's political woes as he
headed to Kurdistan, where he met with the Kurdistan
regional government's president, Massoud Barzani.
"We are certainly counting on President Barzani's
leadership to help us conclude a new strategic
relationship between the United States and Iraq as
well as advance crucial pieces of national
legislation in the months ahead," Cheney said before
departing Iraq for Oman.
"We will continue to play our positive role, to be
part of the solution and not part of the problem,"
Barzani said.
Cheney's aides had told reporters on the way to Iraq
that the vice president wanted to see progress on
passing Iraq's oil law. The legislation is in limbo
amid a fight between Kurds and Arab nationalists
about whether the law will allow regional
governments to sign their own contracts with foreign
oil companies to develop fields.
Cheney and Barzani met after Turkey mounted a ground
and air assault last month against Turkish Kurds,
known as the Kurdistan Workers' Party, who had used
Iraqi Kurdistan as a sanctuary.
At least eight Iraqis were killed and dozens injured
Tuesday in bomb blasts in Baghdad and north of the
capital. In the day's worst attack, a car bomb
exploded outside an electronics store in the
northern city of Mosul, described by the U.S.
military as the last urban stronghold of Sunni Arab
militants loyal to al-Qaida in Iraq and its
affiliates. The blast destroyed the four-story
building, killing three people and injuring 40,
police and the U.S. military said.
latimes com
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