Friday, June 18, 2010Top cleric warns Iraq leader on coalition talks - Iraq leaders puncture US hopes of new govt soon
Najaf, IRAQ/BAGHDAD (Agencies)
Iraq's revered Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani threatened on Friday to intervene in protracted coalition talks if they do not produce a new government soon, as Iraq's two main contenders to head a new government remained at odds over any compromise.
The reclusive cleric, who has personally stepped in on political affairs only twice previously since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, warned that the protracted deadlock between rival blocs since a March 7 general election might require "the intervention of the authority (Sistani) to solve it."
Sistani's spokesman Hamed al-Khaffaf stressed that the top cleric was not seeking to favor any one political party, but merely wanted to expedite the formation of a new government.
" The authority will not support any of the candidates for the premiership nor will it reject any of them "
Hamed al-Khaffaf, spokesman of Iraqi Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani "The authority hopes an efficient government able to solve the country's problems will be formed in the shortest time possible to avoid the sort of large political problem that requires the intervention of the authority to solve it," Khaffaf told reporters in the central shrine city of Najaf.
"The authority will not support any of the candidates for the premiership nor will it reject any of them," he said.
Former premier Iyad al-Allawi, whose Iraqiya list won the largest number of seats in the election, and incumbent Nuri al-Maliki, whose bloc came second, have been at loggerheads over who should lead the new government. So far, they have rejected all attempts at forging a compromise.
"Sistani confirmed to all his political visitors, including Iraqiya with which he had a very good meeting, that the formation of the government is subject to dialogue between political blocs according to the mechanism set by the constitution," Khaffaf said.
No intervention
"The spokesman rejected reports that Sistani had had a hand in the formation of an alliance between Maliki's Shiite-led State of Law list and the main Shiite religious bloc that now has more seats in parliament than does Allawi, a secular Shiite with extensive Sunni support.
"The religious authority did not have any role in this alliance, and never spoke about this issue," he said.
Sistani has often used his representatives in Iraq's major cities to encourage the faithful to vote in elections and to refrain from revenge attacks against Sunnis.
But he has only intervened personally twice since 2003.
The first time, at the end of that year, he demanded that a convention of Iraqis draw up a new constitution and that a transitional government be directly elected by the people.
The U.S.-led occupation authority was only able to resist Sistani's demands through the mediation of U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
The following year, Sistani intervened again when an uprising against the occupation by the Mahdi Army militia of Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr triggered fighting with U.S. troops in the heart of the shrine cities of Najaf and Karbala.
No compromise
Sistani's message that it was past time for a new government to be formed was rammed home by his representatives in sermons around the country at the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday.
In an interview with The Times of London, Maliki, meanwhile, rejected any compromise involving a collegiate premiership with a prime minister and deputy prime ministers sharing powers.
"Some people want a traffic cop for this job, one whom nobody obeys," Maliki told daily.
"A state cannot be run like that," said the incumbent premier who has made his political reputation out of taking a strong hand to both Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias.
"A feeble government would take Iraq back into sectarian war... Without a powerful state, militias and gangs will reappear."
But asked by CNN whether he was prepared to step aside to pave the way for a deal with Maliki, Allawi said: "The issue is much more complex than this. It is very unfortunate that people are trying to simplify things."
Asked what that meant for the prospects of an agreement, he told CNN: "I think we are still far away from this."
For Washington the urgency is now becoming pressing as it prepares to reduce its forces by 38,000 combat troops in little more than two and a half months, leaving just 50,000 soldiers behind.
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2010/06/18/111684.html
