Spoetnik
31-03-05, 09:50
Tensions Flare in Iraq over Assembly Impasse
Iraq’s lawmakers failed to choose a parliament speaker during their second-ever session, a long-awaited meeting marred by shouting and finger-pointing.
The impasse brought underlying tensions to the surface and sparked concerns about the future of the country’s new government, yet to be formed two months after Iraq’s historic elections.
After a chaotic session yesterday that was delayed for nearly three hours, then abruptly closed to the public, the Sunni Arab minority – dominant under former dictator Saddam Hussein and believed to be the backbone of the insurgency – was given until Sunday to come up with a candidate to serve as speaker.
The Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance, along with the Kurdish coalition, want an Arab Sunni to hold the position as a way of healing rifts with the Sunnis, many of whom boycotted the January 30 elections or simply feared attacks at the polls.
“We saw that things were confused today, so we gave (the Sunnis) a last chance,” said Hussein al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric and member of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s coalition. “We expect the Sunni Arab brothers to nominate their candidate. Otherwise, we will vote on a candidate on Sunday.”
Iraqis, already frustrated with drawn-out negotiations, were angered by the meeting.
“They haven’t been able to even name a parliament speaker, so how will they rule Iraq when they’re only after their personal interests and gains?” said 35-year-old Sunni Sahib Jassim, a college student. “They don’t care about the Iraqi people.”
Officials, eyeing the confusion as well as television cameras broadcasting the melee live, abruptly kicked out all media and closed the meeting to the public, a decision that was loudly protested by some angry members who said Iraqis needed to know what was going on.
Shiites make up 60% of the country’s 26 million people. The Kurds, who are largely Sunnis, make up 20 percent, and the Sunni Arabs are roughly 15 to 20%.
Violence continued in the rest of the country, with a car bombing in the northern city of Kirkuk that killed one person and injured more than a dozen others, police said. Another car bomb exploded east of Baghdad, targeting an Iraqi army patrol and injuring three soldiers, police said.
Also yesterday, a video surfaced on the Internet showing three drivers employed by a Jordanian trucking company being executed by a militant Islamic group in Iraq.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4325716
Zoals ik vorig jaar al zei, Bush's kruistocht onder het vaandel van de democratie was niet bedoeld democratie te verspreiden maar om het delegitimatiseren.
Iraq’s lawmakers failed to choose a parliament speaker during their second-ever session, a long-awaited meeting marred by shouting and finger-pointing.
The impasse brought underlying tensions to the surface and sparked concerns about the future of the country’s new government, yet to be formed two months after Iraq’s historic elections.
After a chaotic session yesterday that was delayed for nearly three hours, then abruptly closed to the public, the Sunni Arab minority – dominant under former dictator Saddam Hussein and believed to be the backbone of the insurgency – was given until Sunday to come up with a candidate to serve as speaker.
The Shiite-led United Iraqi Alliance, along with the Kurdish coalition, want an Arab Sunni to hold the position as a way of healing rifts with the Sunnis, many of whom boycotted the January 30 elections or simply feared attacks at the polls.
“We saw that things were confused today, so we gave (the Sunnis) a last chance,” said Hussein al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric and member of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s coalition. “We expect the Sunni Arab brothers to nominate their candidate. Otherwise, we will vote on a candidate on Sunday.”
Iraqis, already frustrated with drawn-out negotiations, were angered by the meeting.
“They haven’t been able to even name a parliament speaker, so how will they rule Iraq when they’re only after their personal interests and gains?” said 35-year-old Sunni Sahib Jassim, a college student. “They don’t care about the Iraqi people.”
Officials, eyeing the confusion as well as television cameras broadcasting the melee live, abruptly kicked out all media and closed the meeting to the public, a decision that was loudly protested by some angry members who said Iraqis needed to know what was going on.
Shiites make up 60% of the country’s 26 million people. The Kurds, who are largely Sunnis, make up 20 percent, and the Sunni Arabs are roughly 15 to 20%.
Violence continued in the rest of the country, with a car bombing in the northern city of Kirkuk that killed one person and injured more than a dozen others, police said. Another car bomb exploded east of Baghdad, targeting an Iraqi army patrol and injuring three soldiers, police said.
Also yesterday, a video surfaced on the Internet showing three drivers employed by a Jordanian trucking company being executed by a militant Islamic group in Iraq.
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4325716
Zoals ik vorig jaar al zei, Bush's kruistocht onder het vaandel van de democratie was niet bedoeld democratie te verspreiden maar om het delegitimatiseren.