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| Iraq |
| Iraq: Sunni leader Tariq al-Hashemi meets Sistani amid calls for unity |
| 2007-09-27 |
| Baghdad, 27 Sept. (AKI) - Iraqi vice-president and Sunni leader Tariq al-Hashemi had a rare meeting with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the nation's most senior Shiite cleric in Baghdad on Thursday. The meeting came a day after Hashemi released detailed proposals designed to achieve reconciliation and end sectarianism in Iraq. The Sunni alliance - which includes al-Hashemi - recently withdrew from the Shiite-led government in protest at the lack of progress, but Ayatollah Sistani has no formal role in the Iraqi government. Meanwhile in Rome, an Iraqi government official said the creation of a united government in Iraq would depend on the ability of the country's squabbling leaders to bury their differences and work for the common good. "What unites us is the hope of achieving this type of government, which would rescue the country from its current state, also because it would help boost the delivery of services", Ali al-Dabbagh told Adnkronos International (AKI) in Rome. Dabbagh was in the Italian capital to attend a conference on the role of federalism in decentralised democracies. "Technocratic cabinet ministers would be more active and dynamic, because they would not have the political protection of any group and what they accomplish will be open to scrutiny", al-Dabbagh told AKI. As a new wave of violence swept Iraq this week, the government spokesman was also asked about reports that weapons smuggled in from Iran had been seized in Iraq. He replied that the US-led multinational force in Iraq was the source of these reports and that the government "does not have the information". "We believe that our cooperation with Iran can contribute to reduce such risks and remove the need for such concerns", he said, adding however that "we have to always remind our brothers in Iran of the promises they made not to pass on weapons to the militant groups in Iraq". |
| Posted by:mrp |