Home
Sunnis in Iraq pull back in crisis
• Article by: TIM ARANGO , New York Times
• Updated: January 29, 2012 - 6:25 PM
Boycott of parliament will be ended to pave the way for national summit.
BAGHDAD - In the first sign that Iraq's leaders may halt a sectarian political crisis that has raised fears of civil war, Iraq's Sunni leaders said on Sunday that they would end their boycott of parliament.
The Iraqiya coalition, a largely Sunni-backed group of lawmakers that won the most seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections but was unable to build a governing coalition, will return to the legislature, a spokeswoman said in a statement.
Just days after the United States completed its withdrawal of combat forces last month, Iraqiya announced its boycott to protest what it saw as moves by the Shiite-dominated government to sideline Sunnis from power.
The group's decision to return to parliament paves the way for the political leadership to hold a national summit meeting to discuss reconciliation among Iraq's three main ethnic factions -- Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
"As a goodwill gesture, Iraqiya announces its return to parliament meetings to create a healthy atmosphere ... and defuse the political crisis," the Iraqiya spokeswoman, Maysoon al-Damluji, said at a news conference.
Iraqiya said that a separate boycott of Cabinet meetings, which has paralyzed the government, was still in place.
The parliamentary concession came a day after Vice President Joe Biden made another round of calls to Iraqiya leaders, urging them to return to parliament so the leadership could hold a national conference that President Jalal Talabani has been trying to arrange.
Biden, according to a White House statement, spoke to Iraqiya's leader, Ayad Allawi, and the speaker of parliament, Osama Nujaifi. "The two Iraqi leaders described deliberations underway among all Iraqi political factions and parties in the run-up to a proposed national conference" led by Talabani, the statement said.
Al-Damluji said that ending the boycott did not mean the end of the standoff -- which escalated shortly after the boycott was announced because the government issued an arrest warrant for the Sunni vice president -- nor was it a signal that the bloc's demands for a meaningful role in the government had been met.
"We'll work through the national conference to achieve the demands of the Iraqi people," she said.
The crisis flared in December just as U.S. troops were leaving the country after nearly nine years of war and occupation and represented an embarrassing turn of events for the Obama administration, which emphasized Iraq's democratic progress in trumpeting the troop withdrawal. The drama has laid bare the unfinished business of the war, which upended generations of rule by a Sunni-dominated authoritarian regime.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
• Article by: TIM ARANGO , New York Times
• Updated: January 29, 2012 - 6:25 PM
Boycott of parliament will be ended to pave the way for national summit.
BAGHDAD - In the first sign that Iraq's leaders may halt a sectarian political crisis that has raised fears of civil war, Iraq's Sunni leaders said on Sunday that they would end their boycott of parliament.
The Iraqiya coalition, a largely Sunni-backed group of lawmakers that won the most seats in the 2010 parliamentary elections but was unable to build a governing coalition, will return to the legislature, a spokeswoman said in a statement.
Just days after the United States completed its withdrawal of combat forces last month, Iraqiya announced its boycott to protest what it saw as moves by the Shiite-dominated government to sideline Sunnis from power.
The group's decision to return to parliament paves the way for the political leadership to hold a national summit meeting to discuss reconciliation among Iraq's three main ethnic factions -- Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
"As a goodwill gesture, Iraqiya announces its return to parliament meetings to create a healthy atmosphere ... and defuse the political crisis," the Iraqiya spokeswoman, Maysoon al-Damluji, said at a news conference.
Iraqiya said that a separate boycott of Cabinet meetings, which has paralyzed the government, was still in place.
The parliamentary concession came a day after Vice President Joe Biden made another round of calls to Iraqiya leaders, urging them to return to parliament so the leadership could hold a national conference that President Jalal Talabani has been trying to arrange.
Biden, according to a White House statement, spoke to Iraqiya's leader, Ayad Allawi, and the speaker of parliament, Osama Nujaifi. "The two Iraqi leaders described deliberations underway among all Iraqi political factions and parties in the run-up to a proposed national conference" led by Talabani, the statement said.
Al-Damluji said that ending the boycott did not mean the end of the standoff -- which escalated shortly after the boycott was announced because the government issued an arrest warrant for the Sunni vice president -- nor was it a signal that the bloc's demands for a meaningful role in the government had been met.
"We'll work through the national conference to achieve the demands of the Iraqi people," she said.
The crisis flared in December just as U.S. troops were leaving the country after nearly nine years of war and occupation and represented an embarrassing turn of events for the Obama administration, which emphasized Iraq's democratic progress in trumpeting the troop withdrawal. The drama has laid bare the unfinished business of the war, which upended generations of rule by a Sunni-dominated authoritarian regime.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
