Tentative Deal to End Iraq Impasse Keeps Maliki in Power

[cal04]

Source: NY Times

Iraq’s leaders reached a tentative agreement late Wednesday night to create a unity government embracing the country’s major ethnic and religious factions, ending an eight-month political impasse and returning Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to power for a second term as prime minister.

The impasse had stoked fears of a return to sectarian violence. Yet the composition of the new government remained murky, and seemed to hold out the potential for more of the infighting, instability and vulnerability to insurgents that have hampered the country’s politics for years.

The agreement assured, for now at least, the participation of Sunni Arabs, who supported the bloc led by Mr. Maliki’s chief rival, Ayad Allawi, which narrowly won the most seats in the March election. The deal was struck when Mr. Allawi’s group relented and agreed to join the new government, said Jaber al-Jaberi, one of Mr. Allawi’s chief allies, despite months of adamantly insisting it would never do so.

In exchange, Mr. Allawi’s bloc, called Iraqiya, was given the position of speaker of the Parliament as well as leadership of a newly created committee overseeing national security, officials from three factions said. The creation of the committee was a compromise pushed by the Obama administration to ensure the participation of Sunnis, Iraq’s former rulers, who have been underrepresented in the Iraqi government since the American invasion.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/world/middleeast/11iraq.html?_r=1&hp

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U.S. praises Iraq for breaking political stalemate
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N10210923.htm

[pampango]

1. BBC: Iraq parties reach deal on government, negotiator says

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11732158

Iraq's main parties have agreed to form a government, ending eight months of deadlock since elections in March, says the official brokering the talks.

Kurdish regional president Masoud Barzani called the deal a "national partnership". He said Nouri Maliki, a Shia, would remain as prime minister, while the main Sunni faction get the Speaker's post. Its leader, Iyad Allawi, will head a council for national strategy.

The Kurds will get the presidency. Mr Allawi's bloc will also get the foreign ministry. The presidency of the republic is expected to be retained by the current incumbent, Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani.

The agreement is said to provide checks and balances against the abuse of power by any one group, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad. The US said the reported deal was a "big step forward".

[JawJaw]

2. oops!

BBC's rolling news channel just run through the news headlines, and somebody mixed up the captions (or did they!?)

Behind the caption of "Iraq's New Government" was footage of the G20 summit leaders in Seoul!

[bemildred]

3. Sunnis' walkout mars political talks in Iraq

BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament achieved an important milestone Thursday, agreeing on who would hold the country's top leadership spots after more than eight months of acrimonious negotiations. But a dramatic walkout by members of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc marred the nearly five-hour session and underscored the deep divisions and distrust that dominate the country's political system.

The day's events, which appeared to catch U.S. officials off guard, followed a deal late Wednesday on a power-sharing arrangement among Iraq's biggest political factions, and they were a vivid illustration of both the dysfunction that remains here and the small glimmers of hope about the future.

Iraqiya's move also raised the prospect that some Sunni Arabs, disaffected by the political process, could take up arms again, just as the United States moves toward a planned withdrawal of forces by the end of 2011.

U.S. hopes for leaving behind a stable Iraq rest heavily on the establishment of a fully representative government that all of the country's major factions can support. But Thursday's chaotic session reflects how challenging that will be.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/11/AR2010111107276.html