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| Iraq |
| Allawi endorses PM, says will help win over Sunnis |
| 2014-09-15 |
| [ARABNEWS] Iraq's Vice President Iyad Allawi ... Iraqi politician, interim Prime Minister prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections. A former Ba'athist, Allawi helped found the Iraqi National Accord, which today is an active political party. He survived assassination attempts in 1978, in 2004, and on April 20, 2005. One of these days he won't... endorsed Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi on Sunday, a move that will be seen as a step toward reconciliation in a political system that desperately needs to rebuild to allow Baghdad to fight Islamic State. For years Allawi, a secular Shiite, has been an outspoken critic of former Premier Nuri Al-Maliki whom he has accused of acting like Saddam Hussein in trying to silence his opponents. His endorsement will lend political capital to Abadi, who comes from the same Dawa political party as Maliki but has been regarded as more inclusive. "I frankly believe very strongly that (Abadi) understands the problems and he means well. We hope to help him," Allawi said in a Rooters interview at his home in Baghdad. Allawi, a former prime minister, is also a key figure in reaching out to disaffected Iraqi Sunnis who Abadi hopes he can bring back to the government side to battle Islamic State. Maliki's use of force against protesters deepened Sunni hatred of Baghdad, militarized their communities, sparked an armed revolt and allowed Islamic State to exploit grievances. Until now, many Sunni tribal fighters and members of armed factions have sided with Islamic State, convinced the government is the greater of two evils. The extent of Allawi's influence on Sunnis was shown by the 2010 election in which his coalition, which included leading Sunnis, won every province where Islamic State is now fighting. Abadi has promised to offer amnesties and to stop the bombardment of cities, a move Allawi said convinced him of Abadi's resolve. "I told (Abadi) we will be with him all the way if he moves along the right road to recovery," Allawi said. "What we need to do is create a new political landscape where we don't discriminate against the people, we don't disenfranchise the people based on their sect, religion or beliefs," he said. |
| Posted by:Fred |