ws,
Edit I like to stick to the world stuff... Our internal politics is just as silly as yours... way too much he said she said...
Edit 2: I never realised how interesting this name was Iraqi President Jalal Talabani
Edit 3... Off to ski for a week... Hoping to keep up with the children and break nothing :O)
bloomberg.com
Iraq's Barzani Says Leadership Dispute at `Crisis' (Update1)
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- A dispute about who will lead Iraq's next government has reached a ``crisis point,'' Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said.
``Political negotiations have gotten bogged down, and there's no agreement on forming a government, or on who will lead it,'' Barzani, who is president of the northern Kurdistan Regional Government, said in a statement e-mailed from his office. ``Talks in Baghdad have reached what can only be described as a crisis point.''
Further lengthy negotiations could see an ``increase in violence and loss of trust by the Iraqi people in their elected representatives,'' Barzani said. At least 452 civilians have died in violence since the Feb. 22 bombing of the Golden Mosque in Samarra, U.S. Major General Rick Lynch said yesterday. The assault on the shrine, sacred to Shiite Muslims, triggered reprisal attacks on Sunni Muslims and concerns that a civil war was unfolding.
Iraq's Council of Representatives was elected almost three months ago in a Dec. 15 national ballot and results were confirmed Feb. 10. Its meeting was delayed over the second-term candidacy of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite Muslim who has been criticized for failing to unite Iraqis.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani issued a decree today ordering the country's new parliament to convene on March 19. Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar and Adel Abdel Mahdi, the two vice- presidents, both signed the order, Talabani's office said in a statement e-mailed from Baghdad.
Talabani previously asked deputies to gather on March 12, the date dictated by the constitution. He called for a delay after failing to obtain the signature of Abdel Mahdi, a member of the Shiite parliamentary bloc led by Abdel Aziz al-Hakim.
Khalilzad's Idea
Once the deputies meet, they will have 15 days to name a new president and two deputies, who in turn have 15 days to approve a prime minister.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, told Time magazine that he is trying to persuade Iraq's political leaders to hold a conference -- possibly outside Iraq -- to settle their differences.
The heads of Iraq's political parties would gather after a prime minister is chosen and would ``work together day and night until we've finished the job,'' Khalilzad said in the interview posted on Time's Web site.
Rumsfeld's Message
The military leadership of the U.S. was vocal yesterday about the importance of ending the political squabbling. ``We need to move quickly to a government of national unity,'' Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the Senate Appropriations Committee in Washington as the panel reviewed war spending. `I regard the current problem as more a problem of governance than security.''
Army General John Abizaid, who runs war operations in Iraq as head of U.S. Central Command, offered the same message in his remarks to the lawmakers.
As the largest bloc in the parliament, the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance may by law choose the premier. It named al-Jaafari on Feb. 15 after he beat Abdel Mahdi by a single vote in an internal ballot. Sunni, Kurdish and secular leaders last week asked the alliance to withdraw al-Jaafari's candidacy and find an alternative.
Barzani invited political leaders to the northern city of Arbil in an attempt to resolve the ``crisis,'' saying ``we need a new start, and to get everyone talking around one table again.''
To contact the reporter on this story:
Caroline Alexander in London at calexander1@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 10, 2006 12:34 EST |
