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Muqtada al sadr is prime minister maliki key backer Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/0820a670d84559d127f125234f3601d9.htmhttp://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/0820a670d84559d127f125234f3601d9.htm
IRAQ: New initiative brings no hope for Iraqis
19 Dec 2006 15:29:59 GMT
Source: IRIN
BAGHDAD, 19 December (IRIN) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's new olive branch to reinstate former army officers and soldiers was "too little, too late" and more steps should be taken to ensure peace for this war-ravaged country, an analyst said.
"This is too little, too late as there are a lot of problems which need tough measures to bring back peace, like the disbanding of militias and fighting corruption," said Dr Sabah al-Mashhadani, a Baghdad-based analyst at the University of Mosul.
The Iraqi government held a two-day national reconciliation conference starting on 16 December in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone which was attended by representatives of insurgent groups and former outlawed Ba'ath party members.
In a bid to reach out to Iraq's Sunni Arabs, who are seen as the core of the insurgency in Iraq, al-Maliki, who is a Shi'ite, urged officers of the regime of former President Saddam Hussein to join the new army and said there would be a review of the government ban against members of the outlawed Ba'ath party.
"The new Iraqi army has opened its doors to members of the former army, officers and soldiers, and the national unity government is prepared to absorb those who have the desire to serve the nation," al-Maliki told the conference on 16 December.
He also said the size of the army, which so far has about 300,000 soldiers, might limit the number accepted but those unable to join would be pensioned off.
Shortly after US forces invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam's government in April 2003, Paul Bremer, the former US administrator in Iraq, dissolved the country's 400,000-strong army and formed a governmental committee to purge Ba'athists from the government.
The decision is widely seen as a mistake by critics, especially Sunni Arabs, who feel that they have lost power to the Shi'ites in the new Iraq. Many of the Sunni Arabs have been driven into opposition, according to al-Mashhadani.
"The outreach and pension offer [to those army soldiers who can't join the army again] were apparent concessions to a long-standing demand by Sunni Arab politicians who argue that the neglect of former army soldiers was pushing them into the arms of the insurgency," said al-Mashhadani.
Saving a full-blown civil war
Ordinary Iraqis are also holding out little hope that al-Maliki's new initiative can put an end to the country's communal violence and save it from sliding into a full-blown civil war.
"The solution for this bloodletting is not by holding conferences, giving speeches and forming follow-up committees," said Ali Muhsin Jawad, a 55-year-old mathematics teacher at a secondary school in Baghdad.
"Tens of innocent [people] are being killed everyday due to the foolishness of the politicians. Once they abandon their personal interests, we will be fine," Muhsin added.
One of al-Maliki's key political backers, the radical Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, refused to attend the meeting, as did a major Sunni group and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shi'ite.
The Sadrist group doesn't want Ba'athists to be involved again in the political process while Allawi wants the government to approach all insurgents except al-Qa'ida followers in Iraq.
Al-Maliki also called on parliament to review the "de-Baathification" clauses in the constitution adopted last year to ensure "the rights of the families of those fired from government jobs for their membership in the party".
"We can't shake hands with Ba'athists and Sunni extremists and there is no point in holding these conferences because the situation is getting worse day after day because of these people," said Falah Hassan Shanshal, a Shi'ite lawmaker with the Sadrist Group, a political bloc which holds 30 seats in the 275-member parliament.
Al-Maliki also reiterated his plans to disband Shi'ite militias which are said to be behind much of the sectarian violence. Foremost among these is al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, whose militiamen fought US troops for much of 2004.
Four governmental committees were formed to compile a string of recommendations and present them to the cabinet. One recommendation would see Iraq reinstate compulsory military service; another suggests independent deputy ministers to be appointed alongside political appointees; and a third wants the Iraqi constitution reviewed.
"We have asked for an international follow-up to the promises which were taken by all parties to ensure their implementation," said Hashim al-Taie, a Sunni lawmaker with the largest Sunni parliamentary group, Iraqi Accordance Front.
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