Major Sunni Cabinet Member Ends Boycott
Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Tuesday , 11 /09 /2007 Time 11:10:16
Baghdad, Sept 11, (VOI)- Iraqi Minister of Planning and Development Cooperation Ali Baban decided to return to the government and end his boycott, a source from the Iraqi cabinet said on Tuesday.
“Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki hailed Baban’s decision and appreciated his “courageous step” to return to undertake his job for the good of the Iraqi people,” the source, whole asked not to be named, told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI).
The source did not give further details on the minister’s surprising decision.
Baban is a member of the Sunni Arab-majority Iraqi Islamic Party, headed by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi.
The party is one of the main Sunni components of the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF).
The IAF, the third largest bloc in Iraqi parliament with 44 out of a total 275 seats, had announced last month that its five ministers and deputy premier, Sallam al-Zawbaie, have quit the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki because “the government slammed the door shut to any reforms that would help rescue Iraq.”
The IAF is composed of three main Sunni political organizations: the Iraqi Islamic Party, the Congress of the People of Iraq and the National Dialogue Council.
Baban himself had threatened to withdraw from the government before his bloc’s decision last month if the oil and gas law approved without making “fundamental amendments”.
He asserted that the law has “negative effects” on Iraqi oil wealth, calling for holding a referendum on that law.
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Kinda sort like watching our politicians: Dumb and Dumber, but you have to work together…
September 11th, 2007 at 5:43 pmIt always amazes me that the dhimmis in Congress are demanding a unified and functioning government in Iraq … when ours is divided, and crime and murder and violence is happening in our own streets.
Utopia in Iraq is the only thing the dhims will accept as victory in a country that has been at each other’s throats for centuries … I’d say the progress made, with our help, in the last few years has been quite a jump for these folks.
September 11th, 2007 at 5:45 pmI agree 58,000 murders in the United States last year. It’s so bad in New Orleans, they have (or did have) the National Guard there. Oh yes, as a society, we are so perfect so why can’t the Iraqis be.
September 11th, 2007 at 5:56 pmThis is good news. Could the miserable poll ratings of Congress and General Petraeus’ “hit it out of the park” testimony to Congress have influenced Ali Baban’s decision somewhat?
September 11th, 2007 at 6:12 pmBet that report whizzes by the thickheads in the Dhimoratz Party.
September 11th, 2007 at 6:17 pmGood to see the MSM has covered the return of the Sunni block to parliament in detail, on the front cover, with a big headline.
September 11th, 2007 at 7:14 pmIt probably finally sank in to him that the 100 bn bbl now reported in Anbar make the Sunnis 3X oil-richer per capita than other Iraqis. Local control must make a whole lot more sense to him now.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:28 pm