Agence France Presse, 11 January 2006
BAGHDAD - A political truce was being observed this week as
Iraq marked a four-day Muslim holiday and its president, Jalal Talabani, expressed confidence a new government could be up and running within a month.
But tensions remained high Wednesday as political groups prepared for a showdown next week once the electoral commission issues final results for the December 15 general elections.
US President George W. Bush urged Iraqi leaders to reach out across sectarian lines to form a broad coalition government in a bid to undermine Sunni Arab-backed insurgents.
He acknowledged however, in a speech in Washington on Tuesday, that talks on setting up a government would likely result in a tough political fight.
"Our top commander in the region, General John Abizaid, has said he expects the coming weeks to produce 'some of the hardest bare-knuckle politics ever in the Arab world'," Bush said.
The president however sought to put a positive spin on the tussle, saying "we should welcome this for what it is -- freedom in action."
Talabani, meanwhile, speaking to the nation on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim 'feast of the sacrifice', echoed Bush's calls for a unified government.
"The presence of Sunnis is necessary to the government," he said, speaking of the once-powerful minority Arab group whose members last month went to the elections in droves after boycotting another poll 11 months earlier.
Early results suggest however that Shiite-based religious parties and their Kurdish allies will be returned to power, an outcome which has prompted allegations of largescale electoral fraud by Sunni-based and secular parties.
The electoral commission is expected to publish final election results by Monday.
Talabani said all parties should agree to "a common programme of government ... with no one party seeking hegemony, but all respecting the results of the election".
The formation of a government will involve intensive talks among all the parties, but "if the Shiite coalition can quickly agree on its candidate (for the job of prime minister) within a month we'll have a government," Talabani suggested.
Bush, speaking to US military veterans, said the coming weeks would see a good deal of political turmoil as parties jockeyed for power.
But he urged Iraq's Shiite majority, the once-mighty Sunni Arab minority and the Kurds to find common ground.
In the southern Iraqi city of Najaf, a Shiite cleric close to the leading Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), warned against a return to power of former Baathist supporters of
Saddam Hussein.
"One must guard against the new Baathists dressed up like Islamists who kindle terrorism in Baghdad and certain provinces, and defeat their plans to return to centres of power," said Sadreddin al-Kubbanji, speaking at a prayer meeting, in a veiled reference to Sunni leaders.
He also called for the interior and defence ministries to be given a free hand in fighting terrorism, and urged US-led multinational forces not to intervene in the matter.
"The multinational force's flirting with terrorists has led to the recent worsening in the security situation," he told thousands of faithful gathered at the Husseiniyah Fatimiyah mosque.
SCIRI last week accused US-led forces of preventing the interior ministry from tracking down insurgents. The ministry is under pressure to put its house in order in the wake of allegations of prisoner abuse by Iraqi security forces.
Meanwhile, thousands of children in Baghdad ventured out onto the bomb-scarred streets of the capital and into a zoo Wednesday amid a lull in violence as Iraqis observed the Muslim feast.
Across the country, people were enjoying the four-day Eid Al-Adha holiday, but celebrations were subdued after almost three years of bloodshed.
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Citation: "Politics on hold as Iraq marks Muslim holiday," Agence France Presse, 11 January 2006.
Original URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060111/wl_afp/iraq
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