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Iraqi parliamentarians hold first session
The Iraqi parliament meets for the first time Wednesday, but it is mainly a ceremonial event. The natural function of such a meeting, to elect a government, is absent. Ideally the parliament would elect a president and two vice presidents, who would appoint a prime minister and with him or her then approve a cabinet.
The parliament has to meet in the heavily fortified Green Zone, and one wonders whether the MPs and their families won't just have to move there permanently if they are to avoid being killed or kidnapped. As yet, I have seen no published list of the names of the elected members of parliament, which is quite extraordinary. What other election in modern history has been this anonymous?
Al-Hayat: Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani is said to be particularly vehement that any agreement with the Shiites would require that they cede to the Kurds Kirkuk and grant the Kurds the right to keep their paramilitary, the peshmerga, as a proxy in their areas for the Iraqi army. He rejected the idea of postponing the Kirkuk issue. (It would be a little as though the governor of Alabama insisted that Atlanta be joined to his state and that the Alabama national guard substitute for the US army in that state, so that the US army should never step foot on Alabaman soil). Barzani complained that some Shiite politicians were already speaking as though they were the Iraqi state, and the Kurds were an opposition party.
Demonstrations against Jordan by Shiite crowds continued in Najaf on Tuesday, with demands that all Jordanians be expelled from Iraq. Sistani's office denied that the Grand Ayatollah had issued a fatwa on the celebration held by the Jordanian family, whose son had detonated a bomb in Hilla last week. Sistani warned his aides against speaking about the issue of sectarian friction.
The father of the alleged bomber of Hilla denied Tuesday that his son had died in Hilla, specifying Mosul as the site of his death, and denied that the family held a celebration of his alleged "martyrdom." The family is said by ash-Sharq al-Awsat to have sent a letter to Ayatollah Sistani to this effect.
Ominously, Najaf police chief Ghalib al-Jaza'iri (who from all accounts is a little unbalanced) announced that they had finally apprehended the man who assassinated Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim, the Shiite clerical leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, on Aug. 29, 2003. They allege that the man, Ramzi Hashim, is a Kurd from Mosul, and that he intended to assassinate Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani as well, and to detonate bombs in the vicinity of the shrine of Imam Ali. This news will further inflame Kurdish-Shiite tensions. Is al-Jaza'iri, whom the government has tried without success to dismiss, attempting to influence the political negotiations with the Kurds by making this (somewhat implausible) charge public at this time?
In Kirkuk, a small crowd of 500 Turkmen and Arabs gathered to demand that the interim constitution be amended (Ash-Sharq al-Awsat) with regard to how the Kirkuk issue would be settled. (Currently, it specifies a referendum, which the Kurds are numerous enough to win.)
http://www.juancole.com/2005/03/parliament-meets-with-no-government.html
Iraq's new parliament has concluded its first meeting since the January election without reaching an agreement on a government line-up or electing a three-member presidential council and a speaker.
The parliament ended its session after 90 minutes on Wednesday, without giving a date for when it would reconvene as political parties are locked in hard negotiations over a coalition deal to form a government.
The Shia Islamic alliance that won 140 seats and the Kurdish coalition that came second with 75 seats are deadlocked over a government in negotiations that have dragged on for weeks.
But rival blocs say they expect to reach an agreement within the next few days.
The parliament's 275 members, elected during 30 January elections, convened in an auditorium amid tight security in the heavily guarded Green Zone, with US helicopter gunships hovering overhead.
Plea for unity
Several Baghdad streets were closed and traffic restricted to try to thwart anti-government attacks, but guerrillas fired a rocket or mortar barrage into the fortified Green Zone compound before the meeting began.
During the session, interim President Ghazi al-Yawar called on all Iraqis to unify their ranks.
"We have to know that there are no winners or losers among us. We either all win or we all lose," al-Yawar said. "Let's unify our goals, irrespective of the means."
The leader of the Shia-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, cleric Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, said his coalition hoped to "form a government whose motto is to serve the Iraqi people, a government of national unity and reconciliation".
Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader who will probably become Iraq's next president, said deputies "all have a duty to achieve real national unity".
Tentative deal
Current Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and al-Yawar, both of whom will keep their jobs until a new government is agreed on, told the assembly the process had to be be inclusive and involve Sunni Arabs, who have little parliamentary representation after many of them stayed away from the polls.
There is tentative agreement that Ibrahim Jafari of the Shia Dawa party will be prime minister and Kurdish leader Talabani will be president, with al-Yawar, a Sunni Arab, as a probable candidate for the job of parliament speaker.
According to Iraq's interim constitution, parliament must agree on a president and two vice presidents by a two-thirds
majority. These officials will then appoint a prime minister.
This means there must be agreement between two-thirds of the 275 assembly members on the shape of the government.
As well as agreeing on a government, the assembly must
oversee the writing of a permanent constitution.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7256C523-473D-47D2-AC05-61AF4B8B230F.htm
Al-Hayat: Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani is said to be particularly vehement that any agreement with the Shiites would require that they cede to the Kurds Kirkuk and grant the Kurds the right to keep their paramilitary, the peshmerga, as a proxy in their areas for the Iraqi army. He rejected the idea of postponing the Kirkuk issue. (It would be a little as though the governor of Alabama insisted that Atlanta be joined to his state and that the Alabama national guard substitute for the US army in that state, so that the US army should never step foot on Alabaman soil). Barzani complained that some Shiite politicians were already speaking as though they were the Iraqi state, and the Kurds were an opposition party.
Demonstrations against Jordan by Shiite crowds continued in Najaf on Tuesday, with demands that all Jordanians be expelled from Iraq. Sistani's office denied that the Grand Ayatollah had issued a fatwa on the celebration held by the Jordanian family, whose son had detonated a bomb in Hilla last week. Sistani warned his aides against speaking about the issue of sectarian friction.
The father of the alleged bomber of Hilla denied Tuesday that his son had died in Hilla, specifying Mosul as the site of his death, and denied that the family held a celebration of his alleged "martyrdom." The family is said by ash-Sharq al-Awsat to have sent a letter to Ayatollah Sistani to this effect.
Ominously, Najaf police chief Ghalib al-Jaza'iri (who from all accounts is a little unbalanced) announced that they had finally apprehended the man who assassinated Muhammad Baqir al-Hakim, the Shiite clerical leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, on Aug. 29, 2003. They allege that the man, Ramzi Hashim, is a Kurd from Mosul, and that he intended to assassinate Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani as well, and to detonate bombs in the vicinity of the shrine of Imam Ali. This news will further inflame Kurdish-Shiite tensions. Is al-Jaza'iri, whom the government has tried without success to dismiss, attempting to influence the political negotiations with the Kurds by making this (somewhat implausible) charge public at this time?
In Kirkuk, a small crowd of 500 Turkmen and Arabs gathered to demand that the interim constitution be amended (Ash-Sharq al-Awsat) with regard to how the Kirkuk issue would be settled. (Currently, it specifies a referendum, which the Kurds are numerous enough to win.)
http://www.juancole.com/2005/03/parliament-meets-with-no-government.html
Iraq's new parliament has concluded its first meeting since the January election without reaching an agreement on a government line-up or electing a three-member presidential council and a speaker.
The parliament ended its session after 90 minutes on Wednesday, without giving a date for when it would reconvene as political parties are locked in hard negotiations over a coalition deal to form a government.
The Shia Islamic alliance that won 140 seats and the Kurdish coalition that came second with 75 seats are deadlocked over a government in negotiations that have dragged on for weeks.
But rival blocs say they expect to reach an agreement within the next few days.
The parliament's 275 members, elected during 30 January elections, convened in an auditorium amid tight security in the heavily guarded Green Zone, with US helicopter gunships hovering overhead.
Plea for unity
Several Baghdad streets were closed and traffic restricted to try to thwart anti-government attacks, but guerrillas fired a rocket or mortar barrage into the fortified Green Zone compound before the meeting began.
During the session, interim President Ghazi al-Yawar called on all Iraqis to unify their ranks.
"We have to know that there are no winners or losers among us. We either all win or we all lose," al-Yawar said. "Let's unify our goals, irrespective of the means."
The leader of the Shia-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, cleric Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim, said his coalition hoped to "form a government whose motto is to serve the Iraqi people, a government of national unity and reconciliation".
Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader who will probably become Iraq's next president, said deputies "all have a duty to achieve real national unity".
Tentative deal
Current Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and al-Yawar, both of whom will keep their jobs until a new government is agreed on, told the assembly the process had to be be inclusive and involve Sunni Arabs, who have little parliamentary representation after many of them stayed away from the polls.
There is tentative agreement that Ibrahim Jafari of the Shia Dawa party will be prime minister and Kurdish leader Talabani will be president, with al-Yawar, a Sunni Arab, as a probable candidate for the job of parliament speaker.
According to Iraq's interim constitution, parliament must agree on a president and two vice presidents by a two-thirds
majority. These officials will then appoint a prime minister.
This means there must be agreement between two-thirds of the 275 assembly members on the shape of the government.
As well as agreeing on a government, the assembly must
oversee the writing of a permanent constitution.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7256C523-473D-47D2-AC05-61AF4B8B230F.htm
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RAWYA RAGEH
Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq's first freely elected parliament in half a century began its opening session Wednesday after a series of explosions targeted the gathering. President Bush called the session a "bright moment" for Iraq, but added there was no timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.
The parliament's 275 members, elected during Jan. 30 balloting, convened in an auditorium amid tight security in the heavily guarded Green Zone with U.S. helicopter gunships hovering overhead.
"I congratulate the Iraqis for their assembly," Bush said in Washington. "We've always said this is a process and today was a step in that process. It's a hopeful moment."
Minutes before the assembly convened, at least a half-dozen explosions detonated a few hundred yards away. The U.S. military said two mortar rounds landed inside the zone but caused no injuries.
After Wednesday's session ended, another mortar shell hit an empty building in central Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood, setting the two-story structure on fire, police and witnesses said. There were no reports of injuries.
The lawmakers opened with a reading of verses from the Quran. Iraqi Chief Justice Medhat al Mahmoud then administered the oath to the assembled deputies.
"It is a great day in Iraqi history that its elected representatives meet," said Fuad Masoum, a Kurdish delegate. "This day coincides with a painful memory that has many meanings. ... Today, on this occasion, we celebrate the inauguration of parliament after the fall of this regime."
Wednesday marked the anniversary of the Saddam Hussein-ordered chemical attack in 1988 on the northern Kurdish town of Halabja, an attack that killed 5,000 people.
Iraqi leaders have not yet agreed on a coalition government, and the leader of the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, cleric Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, said his alliance hoped to "form a government whose motto is to serve the Iraqi people, a government of national unity and reconciliation."
"A government that can root out violence and set a trial for Saddam and the elements of his regime," Hakim said in a speech that wove in and out of prayer. He said a government led by the alliance would also try "to achieve the independence of Iraq and put an end to the role of multinational forces in Iraq."
Jalal Talabani, the Kurdish leader who will probably become Iraq's next president, said deputies "all have a duty to achieve real national unity."
"Iraq is facing tough times due to the continuation of criminal terror crimes," he said. "Al-Qaida is waging a war of extermination on Kurds and Shiites."
The alliance and a Kurdish coalition agreed last week to form a coalition government with Shiite politician Ibrahim al-Jaafari as prime minister. In return, Talabani will become Iraq's first Kurdish president, though the presidency is a largely ceremonial post.
To prevent suicide car bomb attacks against Iraq's new lawmakers, authorities stepped up security around the Green Zone. Two bridges leading to the zone were shut down Tuesday, and roadblocks were erected on other streets leading to the area.
The U.S.-led coalition came under pressure as Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi announced plans to withdraw the country's 3,000 troops in September as the Iraqis slowly take control, a move that could complicate efforts to keep the peace.
Bush said Wednesday he spoke with Berlusconi and understood his concerns, and he denied that what the administration has called the "coalition of the willing" was crumbling.
"Countries will be willing, anxious to get out when Iraqis have got the capacity to defend themselves," he said. "And that's the position of the United States: Our troops will come home when Iraq is capable of defending herself."
He said Berlusconi "wanted me to know that there was no change in his policy, that, in fact, any withdrawals would be done in consultation with allies and would be done depending upon the ability of Iraqis to defend themselves."
A suicide car bomb exploded near at Iraqi army checkpoint in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killing four Iraqi soldiers and wounding 15, said U.S. Maj. Neil Harper. The bomber also died.
On Tuesday, Shiite Muslim officials said they failed to reach final agreement in talks with the Kurds - who are mostly Sunni Muslim but secular - and the Sunni Arabs.
Ali al-Dabagh, a member of the Shiite clergy-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, which won the most seats in the elections, said Tuesday that Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab politicians would meet after the deputies are sworn in "to finalize things. We need two to three days to announce an agreement."
The Shiite alliance won 140 seats in the National Assembly but needs the Kurds' 75 seats to assemble the two-thirds majority required to elect a president, who will then nominate the prime minister.
Shiite talks with Sunni Arabs focused on naming a parliament speaker, and it remained unclear if they would present a candidate Wednesday. Although the speaker's role is mostly restricted to presiding over the assembly and moderating discussions, the job has a great deal of visibility.
Sunni Arabs are believed to make up the core of the insurgency, and including them in the political process is seen as a way to isolate the militants.
"The Kurds want to make some amendments on the deal, and we are going to finish soon, Thursday to be exact. We do not want to impose any name from our side regarding the post of the parliament speaker. We want the Sunnis to nominate some people for this post, but until now they have not done this," al-Dabagh said.
Sunni Arab negotiators at Tuesday's meeting included interim President Ghazi al-Yawer - a possible choice for parliament speaker - the Iraqi Islamic Party and Iraqi nationalist leader Adnan Pachachi.
Sunni Arabs, who make up only about 20 percent of the population but were the dominant group under Saddam's regime, largely stayed away from the elections - either to honor a boycott call or because they feared being attacked at the polls by insurgents.
Mohammad Bashar al-Faidhi, a spokesman for the influential Sunni group, the Association of Muslim Scholars, dismissed the assembly session.
"We hope that this government will abide by the fact that it was not elected by the majority," al-Faidhi said in an interview broadcast on the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite channel. "It does not represent all Iraq."
Yawer praised the election that preceded Wednesday's parliament session.
"These elections have proven that the Iraqi people truly deserve to be described as courageous and highly responsible," he said. "These elections made others respect us."
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/politics/11143925.htm
Shiite officials said they failed to reach final agreement in talks with the Kurds and the Sunni Arabs on forming new government. But those failures were not enough to prevent the 275-member National Assembly from preparing to meet Wednesday for the first time since the Jan. 30 elections.
"It will be a historic event because the Iraqi people will witness an elected parliament for the first time in their lives," said ahead of the meeting Ali al-Dabagh, a member of the Shiite clergy-dominated United Iraqi Alliance, which won the most seats in the elections.
According to The AP, Al-Dabagh added that Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab politicians would meet after the deputies are sworn in "to finalize things. We need two to three days to announce an agreement." Outgoing foreign minister Kurd Hoshyar al-Zebari said he expected a deal to be reached soon.
Meanwhile, a car bomb exploded Wednesday near an army checkpoint in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad. The blast killed five Iraqi soldiers and wounded 15 other people. US forces in Iraq after blastThe bomber also died.
Elsewhere, a car bomb targeting a US military convoy blew up in the southern Baghdad district of Dura, killing one civilian and wounding a dozen others, security sources said, according to AFP.
The Iraqi parliament convened one day after Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi announced plans to withdraw his country's 3, 000troops. "Starting with the month of September, we would like to proceed with a gradual reduction of our soldiers," Berlusconi said on a state TV talk show that lasted into early Wednesday.
Withdrawing Italian troops "will depend on the capability of the Iraqi government to equip itself with adequate police and security forces" to establish "acceptable" security levels, the Italian leader said.
http://www.albawaba.com/en/news/181410