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BAGHDAD -- A powerful political bloc led by the anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called Monday to dissolve the Iraqi Parliament and to hold early elections, a potentially fatal blow to a power-sharing government that has teetered near collapse since U.S. troops withdrew a little more than a week ago.
In a statement posted on its website, the Sadrists said scrapping the current government was the only way to steer Iraq out of a deepening political crisis that has put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, at odds with leaders representing the country's Sunni minority. The statement constitutes the first challenge to Mr. Maliki from within his Shiite coalition, a sign that even if his government survives, he has been weakened.
"We have a lot of problems," said Baha al-Araji, a leading lawmaker with the bloc. "The Americans, when they came to Iraq, they gave power to some blocs and some leaders. And they had power." He added: "We need new elections."
The move by the Sadrists is not enough to quickly bring down the government but does represent the first crack in the ranks of the country's Shiite politicians, who have largely supported Mr. Maliki's government as it has accused Sunni leaders of conspiring with terrorists.
It was unclear whether their gambit would go anywhere. The calls for a new election won support from a leading member of the predominately Sunni Iraqiya coalition, one of the prime minister's main antagonists. But members of other powerful Shiite groups quickly dismissed the calls for a new vote as hollow gamesmanship.
"This is ridiculous," said Hassoun al-Fatlawi, a member of the Shiite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. "The problems we have can be solved, but not this way. Let them sit down together if they really want to solve it."
Even if the Sadrist proposal won over a majority of Iraqi lawmakers, the group said it would take at least six months to plan another round of elections.
The Sadrist movement provided crucial support to help Mr. Maliki seal a second term after last year's indecisive elections. Canny populist political operators, the Sadrists sensed that there was opportunity in Iraq's political upheaval and may simply be trying to exploit the recent turmoil to extend the group's power, analysts said.
The Sadrists' calls for new elections came as violence continued to roil Baghdad. Around 7:30 a.m. Monday, a car packed with explosives attacked a checkpoint in front of the Ministry of Interior, killing five, including two officers. That attack occurred just hours after two improvised explosive devices were detonated Sunday night in the predominately Sunni area of Abu Ghraib, which is policed mainly by Shiite security officers. Four officers were killed in that attack, and four others were wounded, officials said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Amid the political turmoil and violence, Iraq appeared to be moving closer to unwinding a standoff between the government and 3,400 Iranian dissidents living at a camp in eastern Iraq. Under the deal announced late Sunday night by the U.N. office in Baghdad, the members of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran would leave Camp Ashraf, in Diyala province in eastern Iraq, and move to a former U.S. military base near Baghdad's international airport.
The exiles are members of a paramilitary group that has tried to topple Iran's government and is listed as a terrorist group by the United States. They were given refuge by Saddam Hussein during his war with Iran, but the current Iraqi government, with closer ties to Iran, has vowed to dismantle the Camp Ashraf outpost by the end of the year.
The United Nations said it had spoken extensively with the camp's residents about the relocation, but it was unclear whether they would accept the deal. A camp spokesman said in a phone interview Monday that its residents had yet to see the terms of the formal agreement signed by the Iraqi government and United Nations, and did not know whether it would offer adequate security guarantees.
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In a statement posted on its website, the Sadrists said scrapping the current government was the only way to steer Iraq out of a deepening political crisis that has put Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, at odds with leaders representing the country's Sunni minority. The statement constitutes the first challenge to Mr. Maliki from within his Shiite coalition, a sign that even if his government survives, he has been weakened.
"We have a lot of problems," said Baha al-Araji, a leading lawmaker with the bloc. "The Americans, when they came to Iraq, they gave power to some blocs and some leaders. And they had power." He added: "We need new elections."
The move by the Sadrists is not enough to quickly bring down the government but does represent the first crack in the ranks of the country's Shiite politicians, who have largely supported Mr. Maliki's government as it has accused Sunni leaders of conspiring with terrorists.
It was unclear whether their gambit would go anywhere. The calls for a new election won support from a leading member of the predominately Sunni Iraqiya coalition, one of the prime minister's main antagonists. But members of other powerful Shiite groups quickly dismissed the calls for a new vote as hollow gamesmanship.
"This is ridiculous," said Hassoun al-Fatlawi, a member of the Shiite Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq. "The problems we have can be solved, but not this way. Let them sit down together if they really want to solve it."
Even if the Sadrist proposal won over a majority of Iraqi lawmakers, the group said it would take at least six months to plan another round of elections.
The Sadrist movement provided crucial support to help Mr. Maliki seal a second term after last year's indecisive elections. Canny populist political operators, the Sadrists sensed that there was opportunity in Iraq's political upheaval and may simply be trying to exploit the recent turmoil to extend the group's power, analysts said.
The Sadrists' calls for new elections came as violence continued to roil Baghdad. Around 7:30 a.m. Monday, a car packed with explosives attacked a checkpoint in front of the Ministry of Interior, killing five, including two officers. That attack occurred just hours after two improvised explosive devices were detonated Sunday night in the predominately Sunni area of Abu Ghraib, which is policed mainly by Shiite security officers. Four officers were killed in that attack, and four others were wounded, officials said.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Amid the political turmoil and violence, Iraq appeared to be moving closer to unwinding a standoff between the government and 3,400 Iranian dissidents living at a camp in eastern Iraq. Under the deal announced late Sunday night by the U.N. office in Baghdad, the members of the People's Mujahedeen of Iran would leave Camp Ashraf, in Diyala province in eastern Iraq, and move to a former U.S. military base near Baghdad's international airport.
The exiles are members of a paramilitary group that has tried to topple Iran's government and is listed as a terrorist group by the United States. They were given refuge by Saddam Hussein during his war with Iran, but the current Iraqi government, with closer ties to Iran, has vowed to dismantle the Camp Ashraf outpost by the end of the year.
The United Nations said it had spoken extensively with the camp's residents about the relocation, but it was unclear whether they would accept the deal. A camp spokesman said in a phone interview Monday that its residents had yet to see the terms of the formal agreement signed by the Iraqi government and United Nations, and did not know whether it would offer adequate security guarantees.
Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
