Iraqi lawmakers approved an agreement on Saturday that aims to bring all of Iraq’s feuding political blocs into a new government led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is Shiite, although deep disagreements remain about the role to be played by the country’s minority Sunnis.
The deal struck last week ended an eight-month impasse that had stalled the formation of a new government and threatened to re-ignite sectarian violence. However, the agreement appeared on the brink of collapse almost immediately after it was announced because of the deep-rooted distrust that pervades Iraq’s sectarian politics.
The Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc had threatened to boycott the session on Saturday to approve the deal after storming out of parliament on Thursday and raising fears the group would abstain from government altogether. Iraqiya lawmakers said they had been betrayed by al-Maliki’s Shiite coalition, who they fear is trying to deprive them of a significant role in the next government.
Leaders of the major parties met early on Saturday to try to iron out their differences and salvage the deal. When parliament convened later in the day, Iraqiya was present and took part in the parliament vote to approve the power-sharing agreement.
“There was a misunderstanding in the last session,” Iraqiya spokesman Haider al-Mulla told lawmakers. “We here stress that we will be an active part in producing a national unity government.”
There was no immediate tally of how many members attended or voted for the deal, which was described as a general outline for the new government, but with few specifics. Kurdish lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said it passed by a large margin.
Under the agreement, al-Maliki and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, keep their current posts. Iraqiya, meanwhile, gets the parliament speaker’s post as well as the top spot on a council intended to serve as a check on al-Maliki’s powers. That job is supposed to go to Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi.
However, in comments to CNN television late on Friday, Allawi said he would not take part in the al-Maliki government and described the power-sharing deal as dead. Allawi did not attend the parliament session and other lawmakers said he had already left the country.
While Allawi was absent, Iraqiya official Fattah al-Sheik said the majority of the bloc’s members were there.
The lawmakers also agreed on Saturday to lift a ban on three Iraqiya members who were prevented from taking seats in -parliament because of alleged ties to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s regime, said Hadi al-Ammari, a Shiite lawmaker aligned with al-Maliki. The issue of whether or not to lift the ban was the reason the Iraqiya lawmakers stormed out on Thursday.
A day after US President Barack Obama praised the power-sharing deal, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad voiced his support for it, calling the agreement “a great victory for the Iraqi people.”
Iran’s official IRNA news agency said Ahmadinejad spoke with al-Maliki and Talabani by telephone on Saturday to congratulate them.
Iran, also a Shiite majority country, has backed al-Maliki’s efforts to seek another term as a way to consolidate Shiite power in Baghdad. Iran had also lobbied heavily to sideline Sunnis in the new government.
The months of political jockeying after the inconclusive March 7 parliamentary elections have left Iraqis disillusioned and fearful that sidelining the minority Sunni community could fuel more violence. Iraqiya won 91 seats to 89 for al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition, but neither was near the 163-seat threshold necessary to govern.
Iraqiya argued it should form the government, but after months of negotiations it was al-Maliki who cobbled together enough support to keep the prime minister’s post. After intense negotiations and amid signs that al-Maliki would form the government with or without them, Iraqiya decided to join forces with him.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of