PM Courts Anbari Tribes to Take Over IAF's Ministerial Seats
By Amer Mohsen
IraqSlogger, 06 August 2007
Az-Zaman headlined today: “Talabani to Maliki: You misunderstand Bush’s messages.” The newspaper claimed that the Iraqi President, Jalal al-Talabani, received a message from the US President that included criticism to Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. The paper attributed the information to “close sources” in Baghdad.
According to the newspaper, Bush told Talabani in a phone call that “(Maliki’s performance is) weak, and (Maliki) does not understand (Bush’s) messages concerning (Bush’s) support for the political process in Iraq. Furthermore, Az-Zaman alleged that Bush qualified his statements of support for the political process in Iraq as being a support “not for the person of Maliki, but for the process as a whole.” The “sources” added that Bush insisted upon Talabani that he transmits the message “word for word” to the Prime Minister.
On a related front, Arab papers reported that the Prime Minister refused to accept the resignation of the Sunni ministers belonging to the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF). The Sunni coalition had announced its withdrawal from the government last Wednesday. Az-Zaman also claimed, quoting a Kurdish Parliamentarian, that Maliki’s rejection of the resignations came “under US pressure.”
Az-Zaman, which has been following a staunch anti-Maliki line for some time, stated that ex-Prime Minister Iyad 'Allawi, who controls a sizeable bloc in the parliament, has ordered his four ministers in Maliki’s cabinet to abstain from attending government meetings, and to desist from following Maliki’s directives. The move, the paper insinuated, comes while several Iraqi politicians, including 'Allawi, are holding meetings in Baghdad in an attempt to design a “post-Maliki” government. Assuming that the report is valid, 'Allawi may have also been acting in support of his IAF allies, whose support represents his only realistic chance at acceding to a position of power anew.
Meanwhile, pan-Arab al-Hayat reported that Maliki may be trying to circumvent the IAF, which regards itself as the “legitimate” representative of Sunni Arabs in Iraq, by courting his allies among the clans of Anbar. According to the paper, Maliki will be attempting to name new ministers to replace the departing Sunnis. “Sources close to the government” told al-Hayat that the Prime Minister may offer the vacant seats to the pro-government “Anbar Salvation Council.”
The Council, headed by a tribal Sheikh, 'Abd al-Sattar Abu Risha, is a tribal coalition that was armed and supplied by the government to combat al-Qa'ida in Anbar, and to garner the political support of Sunni Arab tribes in an area that was considered to be the most rebellious in Iraq. Abu Risha told al-Hayat that they would not accept such an offer, adding that, while the IAF does not represent all Iraqi Sunnis, his Council does not either.
On the other hand, another member of the Anbar Salvation Council contacted by al-Hayat, Hameed al-Hayes, expressed his readiness to fill the vacant IAF seats.
On the same theme, London-based al-Quds al-'Arabi quoted a parliamentarian from the “Iraqi front for National Dialogue” (the second-largest Sunni bloc in the House of Representatives) as saying that Maliki “has become a Prime Minister for the Da'wa Party,” In an snipe at the shrinking representativity of Maliki’s cabinet. Faced with multiple withdrawals from Sunni and Shi'a parties, Maliki will no doubt attempt to regain an appearance of legitimacy to his government, and the idea of contacting Anbari tribes (who are not represented in the parliament) to fill up the IAF seats may not be that far-fetched after all.
In other news, al-Quds al-'Arabi said that a cleric affiliated with al-Hakeem’s Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) accused Saudi Arabia of “bearing the responsibility for the Takfiri (literally: individuals who excommunicate others - a term used in Iraq to refer to extreme Sunni groups that denounce Shi'as as “unbelievers.) ”
Sadr al-Din al-Qabanji, a SIIC leader and cleric, said in Najaf that the Saudi government should apply more pressure to Wahhabi clerics who excommunicate Shi'as. Al-Qabanji also made a veiled criticism against Iran, which is believed by some to supply arms to Shi'a insurgents, and added that “if you wanted (by supplying arms) to render the Shi'a victorious, this is (causing) the slaughter of Shi'a.” Adding that arms smuggled into Iraq are being used “to kill us and bomb our shrines.”
Lastly, Al-Sharq al-Awsat reported that “a large number of Iraqi and foreign experts” are in the process of designing a five-year-plan for the development of Baghdad, “for the first time in (the city’s) history.” The prospective plan, which was dubbed “strategic” by the paper, is headed by Mazin Makiya. In the 1980s, Saddam Husain launched a large-scale plan for the modernization and development of Baghdad. Saddam’s designs remained unfinished, but large parts of old Baghdad were demolished by the state and several new neighborhoods erected or re-organized. Following the 2003 US-led invasion, several unofficial masterplans for Baghdad, or parts of Baghdad, were circulated by Iraqi and foreign architects.
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Citation: Amer Mohsen. "Iraqi Papers Mon: Maliki's Last Dance?," IraqSlogger, 06 August 2007.
Original URL: http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/3821/Iraqi_Papers_Mon_Malikis_Last_Dance
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