Iraqi Factions Try to Undercut a Plan to Isolate Sadr

Nouri al-Maliki, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, Moqtada al-Sadr,
Harith al-Dhari and Massoud Barzani

BAGHDAD, Dec. 21 — Several Iraqi political groups on Thursday maneuvered to undercut an American-backed initiative that would create a multisectarian bloc intended to isolate extremists like the Shiite cleric and militia leader Moktada al-Sadr.

The bloc would consist of Sunni Arab, Shiite Arab and Kurdish parties in an alliance that would be novel in Iraq’s highly sectarian political environment. This week, Iraqi and Western officials said that Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, a highly influential Shiite cleric, had given a tentative go-ahead to the coalition.

But on Thursday, Saleem Abdullah, a Sunni Arab lawmaker who is a senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, said his party had set tough new conditions for its participation in the bloc.

And Mr. Sadr was considering a plan to announce that his militia, the Mahdi Army, would scale back its military activities in response to accusations that it was involved in sectarian violence, an official knowledgeable about the plan said.

The framers of the bloc seemed highly unlikely to be able to meet some of the Islamic party’s demands, like an insistence that more Sunni Arabs be installed in senior positions at Iraqi ministries and security forces now controlled by Shiites.

“Now the negotiations are stopped, and we are waiting for their response,” Mr. Abdullah said. “Honestly, I think an agreement will be very difficult.”

Read the rest at the NY Times

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