IRAQ: Iraqi leaders meet ahead of crisis summit to halt political stalemate

Iraqi political leaders are meeting ahead of a summit called in an attempt to halt the disintegration of his cabinet and resolve a political deadlock. Iraqi political leaders met at the presidential office on Tuesday (August 14) ahead of a summit of senior political leaders that the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called on August 12 in an attempt to halt the disintegration of his cabinet and resolve a political deadlock. U.S. officials have called the meeting a make-or-break moment for the government, which was formed in 2006 to reduce violence by including all groups, but has been paralysed by boycotts and infighting on ethnic and sectarian lines. The worst split occurred this month when the main Sunni Arab bloc, the Accordance Front, pulled its six members out. Maliki said that he hoped the front would return. But if not, he could replace them with others -- possibly tribal sheikhs who have emerged over the past year at the helm of the first Sunni Arab armed groups loyal to the government and its U.S. allies. U.S. officials have expressed mounting frustration with the stalled political process in Baghdad as Maliki's government has failed to agree on laws aimed at reconciliation. Nearly half of the cabinet is no longer participating in its meetings. In addition to the Sunni Arabs, supporters of powerful Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have also quit the government, while the secularist bloc of former interim prime minister Iyad Allawi is boycotting cabinet meetings. The political leaders at the summit are expected to include Maliki, Kurdish President Jalal Talabani, Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, Kurdish regional leader Masoud Barzani and powerful Shi'ite party leader Abul Aziz al-Hakim. All five are believed to be in Baghdad, with Maliki, Hashemi and Hakim having returned from trips abroad in the past few days and Barzani having arrived from Kurdish regional capital Arbil.

ITN Source | August 15, 2007

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