August 24. 2010
Syria helps to break deadlock in Baghdad
DAMASCUS, Long accused by its critics of playing a spoiling role in Iraq, Syria is working to break the deadlock over forming a new government in Baghdad, according to Iraqi political leaders in Damascus.
Much of the effort has taken place behind the scenes, with delegations from across Iraq’s fractured political landscape holding talks with senior Syrian figures.
But there have been public manifestations of the diplomacy, most notably when Ayad Allawi and Muqtada al Sadr met in Damascus last month.
It was the first time the two men, both highly influential as leaders of major Iraqi political factions, had ever met face to face. Previously they had been in a state of open war, their forces clashing in 2004 and 2005.
The Allawi-Sadr Damascus summit almost did not happen, coming to pass at the 11th hour after a high level Syrian intervention that persuaded Mr Allawi to make the trip, according to officials in his Iraqiyya bloc.
“Syria did a remarkable thing by breaking the ice and arranging those meetings,” said Mohammad al Gharawi, Syria office director for the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), which is allied with the Sadr movement. “In the past the Sadrists attitude had been to see Allawi as a red line, they would not meet him, so that is a significant shift.”
Mr Gharawi said ISCI had long urged its coalition partner to hold leadership level talks with Iraqiyya but that it had required painstaking Syrian mediation to make it happen.
On a street near the park, Mendoza could be seen throughout the day standing at the door of the bus. On its windows he posted signs that spelt out his demands. “Big mistake to correct a big wrong decision,” said one. “Big deal will start after 3.00 pm today,” said another.
The road was sealed off and police sharpshooters immobilised the bus by shooting its tyres. Nine of the passengers were released during the day: two women, three children, a diabetic man and three Filipinos.
Mendoza was once a model officer who was honoured in 1986 as one of the Philippines’ 10 outstanding policemen. But two years ago a hotel manager accused him and four other officers of planting drugs as part of a blackmail and extortion plot shortly before he was due to retire, and Mendoza was dismissed from the force in disgrace.
“For a country trying to improve its international tourist reputation this will be a major setback,” said Pete Troilo, director of business intelligence for Pacific Strategies and Assessments, a risk-management consultancy in Manila.
“With tourism being such a high-priority item for the new government, this does not bode well.”
Manila was the scene of another bus hostage incident in 2007 when a civil engineer, Jun Ducat, a day-care centre owner, held more than 30 children and teachers captive in 2007.
The standoff, which Ducat used to denounce corruption and demand better lives for impoverished children, lasted about 10 hours. He was convicted on 32 charges of illegal detention and abduction, illegal possession of explosives and illegal possession of firearms, and jailed for 20 years.
Syria helps to break deadlock in Baghdad
DAMASCUS, Long accused by its critics of playing a spoiling role in Iraq, Syria is working to break the deadlock over forming a new government in Baghdad, according to Iraqi political leaders in Damascus.
Much of the effort has taken place behind the scenes, with delegations from across Iraq’s fractured political landscape holding talks with senior Syrian figures.
But there have been public manifestations of the diplomacy, most notably when Ayad Allawi and Muqtada al Sadr met in Damascus last month.
It was the first time the two men, both highly influential as leaders of major Iraqi political factions, had ever met face to face. Previously they had been in a state of open war, their forces clashing in 2004 and 2005.
The Allawi-Sadr Damascus summit almost did not happen, coming to pass at the 11th hour after a high level Syrian intervention that persuaded Mr Allawi to make the trip, according to officials in his Iraqiyya bloc.
“Syria did a remarkable thing by breaking the ice and arranging those meetings,” said Mohammad al Gharawi, Syria office director for the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), which is allied with the Sadr movement. “In the past the Sadrists attitude had been to see Allawi as a red line, they would not meet him, so that is a significant shift.”
Mr Gharawi said ISCI had long urged its coalition partner to hold leadership level talks with Iraqiyya but that it had required painstaking Syrian mediation to make it happen.
On a street near the park, Mendoza could be seen throughout the day standing at the door of the bus. On its windows he posted signs that spelt out his demands. “Big mistake to correct a big wrong decision,” said one. “Big deal will start after 3.00 pm today,” said another.
The road was sealed off and police sharpshooters immobilised the bus by shooting its tyres. Nine of the passengers were released during the day: two women, three children, a diabetic man and three Filipinos.
Mendoza was once a model officer who was honoured in 1986 as one of the Philippines’ 10 outstanding policemen. But two years ago a hotel manager accused him and four other officers of planting drugs as part of a blackmail and extortion plot shortly before he was due to retire, and Mendoza was dismissed from the force in disgrace.
“For a country trying to improve its international tourist reputation this will be a major setback,” said Pete Troilo, director of business intelligence for Pacific Strategies and Assessments, a risk-management consultancy in Manila.
“With tourism being such a high-priority item for the new government, this does not bode well.”
Manila was the scene of another bus hostage incident in 2007 when a civil engineer, Jun Ducat, a day-care centre owner, held more than 30 children and teachers captive in 2007.
The standoff, which Ducat used to denounce corruption and demand better lives for impoverished children, lasted about 10 hours. He was convicted on 32 charges of illegal detention and abduction, illegal possession of explosives and illegal possession of firearms, and jailed for 20 years.
