Middle East NewsBy Ziad Haris and Pakinam Amer
Aug 14, 2007, 15:27 GMT
Baghdad - A 'defining' crisis summit meeting of Iraq's main political factions which was scheduled to begin Tuesday afternoon in Baghdad was postponed amid speculation about the reasons for the move.
The meeting was to be held in an effort to save al-Maliki's coalition from collapsing after Sunni leaders walked out and others boycotted his government.
Disagreement between participants over the meeting's agenda is said to be the reason behind putting off the meeting, said observers. Some political blocs are also said to be awaiting their leaders' decision on whether or not to participate.
Hours before the meeting, members of different political factions voiced their anger, with some claiming that they had been elbowed out of the parley which should ideally be representative of Iraq's political forces. Turkmen leaders said they were not invited and decried what they called 'a conspiracy against Turkmen's interests.'
'Any decision that the meeting reaches will be considered fraud in the eyes of the Turkmen,' said Fawzi Akram Tarzi, a Turkmen policymaker shortly before the set time for the meeting.
Hossam al-Azzawi, a member of the Iraqi National List, which has 25 seats in parliament, said that his bloc was also overlooked.
Meanwhile, five of the nation's leaders - including al-Maliki and President Jalal Talibani - were holding a preparatory session on Tuesday to set an outline for the upcoming conference whose precise date has yet to be set.
The parley was called for last Sunday by al-Maliki, whose cabinet meetings currently have 17 empty seats. Five ministers and Deputy Prime Minister Salam al-Zubaie of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front announced their withdrawal from government earlier this month.
In April, six ministers of the movement led by the radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr resigned in protest at al-Maliki's failure to provide a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
Others from the Iraqi National List have boycotted the government. These moves have left al-Maliki's cabinet with mainly Shiites and Kurds.
The political standoff and the demands of the various blocs were said to be priorities on the meeting's agena, at least officially. The summit was also expected to take up the issue of political reforms and the establishment of a moderate front.
Observers insist, however, that these are all mere side issues - the main goal of the summit remains to be naming new substitute ministers from al-Maliki's governing coalition instead of those who quit from the Sadr bloc.
Tough negotiations are predicted by many, including al-Maliki himself.
Naming new Sunni ministers to replace the Accord ministers is still a tricky issue, as Sunnis decry discrimination against them.
Ahead of the conference, Adnan al-Duleimi, the head of the Sunni Accord, claimed in statements to the press that Sunnis are experiencing an 'annihilation campaign' of sorts that aims at giving pro-Iranian Muslims a tight grip on Baghdad.
In Tuesday statements to Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera, al-Duleimi reiterated some of his claims saying that the government was 'ignoring' the demands of the Sunni representatives.
However, according to the BBC, Selim Gabouri, spokesman for the Accord, said that his bloc had no objection to participating in the meeting, in principle.
But the party has no plans to return to the unity government under the current conditions, Gabouri added. It is not clear yet whether the meeting will feature Sunni participation or not.
Still, it is expected by many observers that the outcome of the meeting would be 'defining.' In a statement to Deutsche Presse- Agentur dpa, Selim Abdullah, a member of the Accord, described the parley as 'decisive for all political blocs.'
Regarding the Sunni issue, al-Maliki seemed to have been treading cautiously so far. He did not promise that Sunni ministers would be immediately substituted. Instead, he said that he hoped that the crisis will end and the Accord ministers be back to the cabinet.
'But if they refused to do so we will find ourselves obliged to replace them,' he was quoted by the Voices of Iraq news agency as saying, arguably placing the ball in their court.
He dismissed speculation that his government could fall apart. 'It is a wish by some but it is far the day when people would see the government in its countdown.'
On the streets of Baghdad, amongst some Iraqis there was anger at their leaders. Tamim Nasry, a 27-year-old man, said that the Iraqis have given their political leaders many chances, but 'they failed every time.'
'The problem with Iraq is the problem of its leaders. They plant terror and fear in the country because of their failure to manage the affairs of the nation.
'We expect what will happen. The leaders will appear at a press conference(after the meeting has taken place) to announce the problems of Iraq solved; (they will say) all is well, peace and security are near. But the reality is that all will remain as it is. We have been used to this for years now,' added Nasry.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
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