BAGHDAD - Iraq will hold a two-day conference of all political groups starting on Tuesday to promote national unity and help defuse sectarian tensions, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Saturday.The conference, which begins just two days before the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion, will be organised by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to achieve “security, reconstruction and complete sovereignty,” Dabbagh said. “Different political leaders will be present and the conference will aim to activate the role of different groups in the political process for positive contribution and national reconciliation,” he said in a statement.
The gathering will be MalikiÂ’s second attempt to bring together members of IraqÂ’s warring factions to resolve their differences. On December 16, 2006, he presided over a similar gathering, calling on the members of Saddam HusseinÂ’s former Baath Party to re-join the political process. He also urged officers and soldiers from SaddamÂ’s defeated army to join IraqÂ’s new security forces to fight insurgent groups.
Since then, the government claims to have brought hundreds of former Baathists back into public life and, last month, parliament approved a law that would offer government jobs to them.
Dabbagh said on Saturday that next week’s meeting is an attempt to offer every group participation in the political process. “The government believes political participation is an equal right for every citizen and group, to allow them to contribute to a democratic regime and prevent any (single) party or group from controlling the process,” he said.