Dissenting voices in Iraq gov't rising
By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Sunni dissent is rising inside Iraq's Shiite-led ruling coalition, boding ill for a government already heavily criticized for its failure to curb sectarian violence, end a relentless Sunni-led insurgency and stem crime and unemployment.
The top two Sunni Arab members of Iraq's Shiite-led government painted a dire picture Tuesday of conditions in Iraq, with one saying the government was to blame for the country's "chaos" and the other saying Iraq was worse off than Lebanon during its civil war.
The grim assessments by parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi came on a day when the unity of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ruling coalition was dealt a fresh blow by followers of a radical Shiite cleric making good on their threat to boycott parliament.
The criticism came as Washington looked to al-Maliki's government to show strength in dealing with militias blamed for the sectarian violence and oversee preparations for Iraqi forces to take the lead on the battlefield from the U.S. military, allowing Washington to wind down its unpopular, 44-month-old military involvement in Iraq.
"There is a vacuum of authority resulting from the government's weakness and its inability to exercise its legitimate powers," said al-Mashhadani, the speaker, said in a prepared statement unusually harsh in its criticism of al-Maliki's government.
"This has produced so much chaos...experience shows that our real problem lies in the fact that we failed to create a strong state and a united government," he told lawmakers in an informal session. His comments were broadcast in full by the state-run Iraqiyah television.
He blamed sectarian politics, narrow interests and competition for domination by rival political groups for Iraq's problems and called for the creation of a "national Iraqi alliance" to deal with them. He did not provide details on the nature of that grouping or its mandate.
LinkHere
© 2006 The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Sunni dissent is rising inside Iraq's Shiite-led ruling coalition, boding ill for a government already heavily criticized for its failure to curb sectarian violence, end a relentless Sunni-led insurgency and stem crime and unemployment.
The top two Sunni Arab members of Iraq's Shiite-led government painted a dire picture Tuesday of conditions in Iraq, with one saying the government was to blame for the country's "chaos" and the other saying Iraq was worse off than Lebanon during its civil war.
The grim assessments by parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani and Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi came on a day when the unity of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's ruling coalition was dealt a fresh blow by followers of a radical Shiite cleric making good on their threat to boycott parliament.
The criticism came as Washington looked to al-Maliki's government to show strength in dealing with militias blamed for the sectarian violence and oversee preparations for Iraqi forces to take the lead on the battlefield from the U.S. military, allowing Washington to wind down its unpopular, 44-month-old military involvement in Iraq.
"There is a vacuum of authority resulting from the government's weakness and its inability to exercise its legitimate powers," said al-Mashhadani, the speaker, said in a prepared statement unusually harsh in its criticism of al-Maliki's government.
"This has produced so much chaos...experience shows that our real problem lies in the fact that we failed to create a strong state and a united government," he told lawmakers in an informal session. His comments were broadcast in full by the state-run Iraqiyah television.
He blamed sectarian politics, narrow interests and competition for domination by rival political groups for Iraq's problems and called for the creation of a "national Iraqi alliance" to deal with them. He did not provide details on the nature of that grouping or its mandate.
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 5:12 AM
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