Maliki Announces Shiite-Kurd Alliance
BAGHDAD (AP) - The Iraqi prime minister and president announced a new alliance of moderate Shiites and Kurds in a push to save the crumbing government Thursday, saying a key Sunni bloc 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.
But the announcement after three days of intense negotiations was disappointing because it did not include Iraq’s Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and his moderate Iraqi Islamic Party.
Al-Maliki has been criticized for having a Shiite bias and failing to stop Iraq’s sectarian violence, which persists despite the presence of tens of thousands of extra U.S. troops.
At the news conference announcing the political accord, President Jalal Talabani and al-Maliki were flanked by the leader of the northern autonomous Kurdish region, Massoud Barzani, and Shiite Vice President Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi.
The four men signed a three-page agreement they said ensures them a majority in the 275-member parliament that would allow action on legislation demanded by the U.S.
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 and heal a rift that opened when the bloc’s five Cabinet ministers quit the government.
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.
“We have relegated efforts to topple the government to the past. We are now in a new stage,” said al-Maliki’s adviser, Yassin Majeed. “We will keep working to bring the Accordance Front back, but if they insist we will have a majority in parliament and bring in new ministers.”
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Maliki is an empty briefcase. Bring back his predecessor.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:08 amYep get rid of this guy now..Its bullshit that the military is doing so much over there and yet he isnt get shit done..I say its time to can him and bring in a new one
August 16th, 2007 at 7:15 amI have an idea, how about they outlaw islam.
August 16th, 2007 at 12:00 pmHow many pundits - of all shades of the political spectrum - have been predicting this?
August 16th, 2007 at 10:41 pm