.Iraq's Sunnis want Jaafari to rein in militias
BAGHDAD, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni leaders expressed disappointment on Monday at a decision by the ruling Shi'ite bloc to keep Ibrahim Jaafari as prime minister, but said they were committed to talks if demands to rein in death squads were met.
Jaafari, a soft-spoken doctor who critics say has failed to ease Iraq's sectarian violence, was nominated on Sunday by the United Iraqi Alliance to lead the first full-term government since the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Minority Sunni Arabs said Jaafari, the head of the Dawa party, needed to crack down on Shi'ite militias linked to his partners in the ruling alliance as a condition to open negotiations to form a government of national unity.
The government denies accusations it condones militias.
"We have legitimate reservations about the performance of the previous government," Zafir Al Ani, spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, Iraq's biggest Sunni bloc, told Reuters.
"We are looking forward to be part of a national government that includes all Iraqi parties. As it is well known, we have a clear stand against these militias. Dismantling the militias has to be real, not only a matter of decoration," Al Ani said.
The United States, encouraged that Sunnis voted in December's election after boycotting polls 11 months earlier, wants the majority Shi'ites to form a government that includes minority Sunnis. It hopes an inclusive coalition will undermine the persistent threat from the Sunni Arab insurgency.
The Shi'ite alliance won 128 of the 275 seats in parliament and as the biggest bloc will be asked by the next president to name a prime minister, who then has to be approved by a simple parliamentary majority.
That means that Jaafari, who became interim prime minister in April 2005, is almost certain to remain in office.
But talks on the formation of a government have yet to start, and judging by negotiations after last January's polls, they could take months, particularly as Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted January's election, now have 58 seats in parliament.
CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION
Sunni hard-liner Saleh al Mutlak, head of the National Dialogue Front, said Jaafari should show he was capable of taking tough decisions as Iraq's prime minister.
"If he adopts the same policy as he did we will not support him. He was controlled by the Shi'ite alliance and his government did nothing for Iraqis," Mutlak said.
"If Jaafari can ... prove that he is a prime minister for all Iraqis we are ready to work with him. We want him to form an Iraqi national government that includes all parties."
Sunni political leaders also said they intend to hold Jaafari to a promise made by Shi'ites and Kurds, extracted under U.S. pressure, to review the constitution, which was approved in a referendum last October.
Many Sunnis, who dominated Iraqi politics under Saddam and before, fear the constitution's provisions for regional autonomy will give Shi'ites and Kurds control over Iraq's vast oil reserves, and could eventually break the country apart.
"There are some principles that are not negotiable such as the unity of Iraq and the need to reconsider some articles of the constitution," Al Ani said.
Reuters
Jaafari, a soft-spoken doctor who critics say has failed to ease Iraq's sectarian violence, was nominated on Sunday by the United Iraqi Alliance to lead the first full-term government since the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
Minority Sunni Arabs said Jaafari, the head of the Dawa party, needed to crack down on Shi'ite militias linked to his partners in the ruling alliance as a condition to open negotiations to form a government of national unity.
The government denies accusations it condones militias.
"We have legitimate reservations about the performance of the previous government," Zafir Al Ani, spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front, Iraq's biggest Sunni bloc, told Reuters.
"We are looking forward to be part of a national government that includes all Iraqi parties. As it is well known, we have a clear stand against these militias. Dismantling the militias has to be real, not only a matter of decoration," Al Ani said.
The United States, encouraged that Sunnis voted in December's election after boycotting polls 11 months earlier, wants the majority Shi'ites to form a government that includes minority Sunnis. It hopes an inclusive coalition will undermine the persistent threat from the Sunni Arab insurgency.
The Shi'ite alliance won 128 of the 275 seats in parliament and as the biggest bloc will be asked by the next president to name a prime minister, who then has to be approved by a simple parliamentary majority.
That means that Jaafari, who became interim prime minister in April 2005, is almost certain to remain in office.
But talks on the formation of a government have yet to start, and judging by negotiations after last January's polls, they could take months, particularly as Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted January's election, now have 58 seats in parliament.
CHANGES TO THE CONSTITUTION
Sunni hard-liner Saleh al Mutlak, head of the National Dialogue Front, said Jaafari should show he was capable of taking tough decisions as Iraq's prime minister.
"If he adopts the same policy as he did we will not support him. He was controlled by the Shi'ite alliance and his government did nothing for Iraqis," Mutlak said.
"If Jaafari can ... prove that he is a prime minister for all Iraqis we are ready to work with him. We want him to form an Iraqi national government that includes all parties."
Sunni political leaders also said they intend to hold Jaafari to a promise made by Shi'ites and Kurds, extracted under U.S. pressure, to review the constitution, which was approved in a referendum last October.
Many Sunnis, who dominated Iraqi politics under Saddam and before, fear the constitution's provisions for regional autonomy will give Shi'ites and Kurds control over Iraq's vast oil reserves, and could eventually break the country apart.
"There are some principles that are not negotiable such as the unity of Iraq and the need to reconsider some articles of the constitution," Al Ani said.
Reuters
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