UAE: Iraqi vice President Abdul-Mahdi says Iraq government must work hard to keep majority

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi says the Iraqi government faces serious challenges but still has the ability to succeed. This depends on the backing of parliament, he adds. Abdul-Mahdi also warns that the bloc alliances in parliament might be shifting. There is no imminent plan for a no-confidence vote in Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki but his embattled government must work hard to avoid losing its majority in parliament, Iraq's vice president Adel Abdul-Mahdi said. "Today, we back this government and hope it succeeds. It has the opportunities for success but it must work hard and see the opportunities for success but it must work hard and see the hurdles before it. There are changes in a large number of parliamentary blocs and it must monitor this matter well,'' Adel Abdul-Mahdi told Reuters late on Tuesday (August 28) ahead of an Iraqi investment conference in Dubai. "There is a sort of splintering that it must monitor closely and seriously and it should not take lightly these withdrawals and the loss of a lot of the backing that it enjoyed at the beginning. If this decline continues, it is threatened with not being able to garner majority support in parliament and that is something it must pay attention to well," added Abdul-Mahdi. Maliki has come under growing U.S. pressure to show progress towards national reconciliation in a country increasingly riven by sectarian violence and a political crisis. Iraq's coalition government has been paralysed by infighting between political parties that distrust each other and are reluctant to make compromises. Nearly half of Maliki's government has walked out, accusing the Shi'ite prime minister of sectarianism. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who has just returned from a visit to Iraq, said in comments published on Newsweek's Web site, that many people believed Maliki should be replaced, possibly by Abdul-Mahdi, a fellow Shi'ite. Kouchner later apologised but Democratic Senator Carl Levin and Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate for U.S. president, have also called for Maliki to go. Abdul-Mahdi declined to say if he would be willing to take the role, saying he had no ambitions beyond the vice presidency though the issue was one for Iraq's parliament to decide. Abdul-Mahdi and Maliki are both among the top five Iraqi Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni leaders who announced on Sunday (August a new deal on some measures key to fostering national reconciliation. U.S. forces in Iraq have been boosted to 160,000 to give Maliki's government time to reach a political deal ahead of a report due to be presented by U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker, and U.S. military commander General David Petraeus on Sept. 15. The Iraqi agreement is one of the most significant political developments for months but sceptics are watching for action ahead of the U.S. report on Iraq's security and political progress that is expected to influence future U.S. policy. Abdul-Mahdi said he did not expect any U-turns in U.S. policy on Iraq but anticipated a gradual withdrawal as the Iraqi forces slowly gain the skills and weapons to take over. "The surge was useful in the end, after all the fuss. So, what will the American government decide? I do not think there will be a decision to change course entirely, 100 percent. There could be a gradual cut in troops in a way that allows the operation to be digested gradually, in terms of an increase in the number of Iraqi forces and in terms of gradually decreasing the number of American especially and multi-national forces. I don't expect sensational transformations in this process," he said. Abdul-Mahdi said the Iraqi police still had a long way to go but said there had been a marked improvement since early 2006. Speaking about Iraq's draft oil law, Abdul-Mahdi said it should pass by a comfortable majority when parliament meets to discuss it after the end of its summer break in September. "The oil law was completed in cabinet. The draft that was approved in cabinet is the one that will be presented to parliament. The parliament remains now in recess and will return at the start of September when we will reaffirm that the law will be presented to the parliament." The controversial federal oil law has been approved by the Iraqi government after months of talks but has yet to be debated by parliament, which must approve it if it is to pass into law. The law, which decides who controls the world's third-largest oil reserves, is now in limbo while Iraq's parliament takes its summer break. No date has been set to debate the law, which aims to provide a legal framework to attract foreign investment and sets up a new state oil firm to oversee the sector. The draft oil law aims to ease tension by ensuring Sunni Arabs share in oil profits though most of the reserves are in the Kurdish north and the Shi'ite Muslim south of the country. But there has been fierce debate over the shares and how much control regional governments will have over the existing and undiscovered oil reserves. On Wednesday (August 29), Iraqi government officials and hundreds of businessmen attended an investment conference in Dubai, discussing trade and investment opportunities in the south of Iraq. The conference organisers say the event has attracted companies from America, Asia, Europe and GCC states. Sectarian violence and an insurgency against the U.S.-backed Baghdad government has made it difficult for businesses and investment to develop in the war-torn country. However, Abdul-Mahdi argued that can sometimes be a catalyst for investment . "There are many cases of nations which had security (problems) or who were at war. Despite that, the security and war situations were an important force for investment and not the opposite. Wars are not necessarily a barrier against (having) investment. Of course, (war) does not provide the ideal environment for ideal investment but investment and capital are intelligent. In many cases in the past, (investment) was the cause of war but it was also a reason for ending war," he argued.

ITN Source | August 30, 2007

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