August 02, 2007 12:00am
Article from: Reuters
THE main Sunni Arab political bloc quit the Iraqi cabinet, plunging the
government into crisis on a day when suicide bombers killed more than 70 people
with massive strikes in the capital.
The Sunni Accordance Front said its five cabinet members and Deputy Prime
Minister Salam al-Zobaie would resign from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's
government.
"This is probably the most serious political crisis we have faced since the
passage of the constitution. If unresolved the implications are grave," the
remaining deputy prime minister, Barhim Salih, a Kurd, told Reuters.
Maliki spoke to U.S. President George W. Bush by video link and reassured him
"dialogue with our brothers in the Accordance Front will not stop" despite the
boycott, Maliki's office said.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said after the call:
"The president emphasized that the Iraqi people and the American people need to
see action, not just words ... on the political front," Snow told reporters in
Washington.
The Iraqi government said 1,653 civilians were killed in July, a third more
than the previous month, despite a fall in the number of deaths among U.S.
troops.
Fifty of Wednesday's dead were killed when a suicide bomber in a fuel truck
packed with explosives targeted motorists at a petrol station, police said.
Another suicide bomber killed 20 people outside a popular ice cream shop across
town. Another bomber killed three in southern Doura district.
The Accordance Front said it was quitting Maliki's coalition because he had
failed to meet about a dozen demands, including granting the Sunni bloc a
greater say in security matters. Those standing down include the ministers of
culture, women, planning, and higher education, and the junior foreign affairs
minister.
Their withdrawal may have little practical effect on a government already
paralyzed by infighting. The Shi'ite bloc of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr
withdrew in April.
But the withdrawal was a blow to reconciliation efforts: luring the large Sunni
bloc into government had been hailed as a major achievement when Maliki took
power last year.
The United States had hoped the inclusion of Sunni Arabs in the
Shi'ite-dominated government would reduce sectarian violence. But laws aimed at
reconciliation have not been passed.
Washington acknowledged the setback. "Democracy is hard," said U.S. embassy
spokesman Phil Reeker. "Is it frustrating? Yes. It's frustrating for us, it's
frustrating for them, it's frustrating for the Iraqi people."
Haidar al-Ibadi, a parliamentarian close to Maliki, told Reuters the Front was
trying to persuade the Americans to withdraw support for the prime minister.
"They are sending a message to Washington that Nuri al-Maliki is no longer
accepted, and trying to bring the political process to square one. They will
not be successful."
The Sunni Front's deputy president, Tareq al-Hashemi, will remain in office for
now, as will Sunni Arab Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim. The Front's 44
members also remain in the 275-seat parliament, which is on recess until
September.
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
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