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| Iraq |
| Sunnis ready to return to cabinet |
| 2008-04-20 |
| IRAQ'S main Sunni political bloc, which quit Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's cabinet last year, is ready to return and has put forward a list of candidates, President Jalal Talabani said today. "The main obstacles have been removed," Talabani said after holding talks with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "The National Concord Front has submitted to the prime minister the names of its candidates for the ministries," he said. "Two names for each ministry." The National Concord Front, the main Sunni Arab bloc in the 275-member parliament, pulled its six ministers out of government in early August, accusing Mr Maliki of failing to rein in Shiite militias and of the arbitrary arrest and detention of Sunnis. The group also called for greater Sunni representation in the government and security forces. Planning Minister Ali Baban returned to the cabinet in September and was expelled from the Front. Mr Maliki is currently running government with about half of his 40 ministers, while his Shiite coalition can now count on the support of only 136 MPs. Shiite radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr's political movement had earlier last year pulled its five ministers out of the cabinet, saying Baghdad had failed to provide basic services to the people. Two of those ministers were subsequently replaced by Mr Maliki. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 This probably explains the amnesty of Bilal Hussein |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2008-04-20 16:43 |