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Barzani calls for urgent national congress
12/20/2011
Barzani calls for urgent national congress
20/12/2011 12:16
ERBIL, Dec. 20 (AKnews) - To bypass the threats to Iraq posed by it's politicians, Kurdistan Regional President Massoud Barzani has called for a crisis summit - a national congress.
In a statement yesterday the President voiced his concerns over "the irresponsible and inappropriate" treatment of Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi and other senior politicians at Baghdad International Airport.
Yesterday, coinciding with a visit to Kurdistan Region, al-Hashemi was issued with an arrest warrant on charges of "supporting terror."
Al-Hashemi, a leader of the Iraqiya List, Khuzair al-Khuzayee, the other Vice President, Saleh Mutlag, Deputy Prime Minister, and Rafee Isawi, both also from Iraqiya List, were barred from traveling for several hours.
"It can never be accepted that this was for security concerns," Barzani said in reference to the treatment.
Barzani said, after consulting the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, in order to "redirect the country on the path of cooperation and partnership, to rescue it from collapse and avoid mishaps, I call for an urgent national congress."
"It is very unfortunate that the situation is leaning towards a severe crisis and power sharing is threatened." The Regional President continued: "Therefore I call on all the parties to move forwards with good intentions and reconciliation, to reconsider their positions and return to those agreements, above all the partnership that we based last year's initiative on."
Barzani offered an agreement in 2010 which eventually reinstated Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Ayad Allawi, Iraqiya leader and al-Maliki's rival, was also promised the leadership of a National Council for Strategic Polices for reconciling him with losing the P.M. post under Barzani's initiative. Failure to create this new council has been the source of various issues and incrimination between al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition and Allawi's Iraqiya List.
By Fuad Rahim
LH/JS/AKnews
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