|
Iraqi Vice President warns of civil war if US troops leave
Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim Jaafari, a senior Shiite leader, has warned that a civil war could erupt if US troops leave the country. Mr Jaafari, considered a candidate for the post of prime minister in the government that emerges from Sunday's historic elections, said there were too many dangers for Iraq to set a date on US-led foreign troops leaving. "Despite their presence here in Iraq, terrorism exists," Mr Jaafari told AFP. "Can you imagine what will happen if we ask them to leave? This could mean the beginning of a civil war." He added: "We are trying our best not to have a civil war but if the multinational forces leave now, certainly there will be more and more assassinations, bombings and victims." Mr Jaafari is head of the Hezb al-Dawa al-Islamiyya (Islamic Call Party), part of the fundamentalist United Iraqi Alliance that was supported in the election by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the spiritual leader of Iraqi Shiites. Mr Jaafari said the new government had to embrace Sunni Muslims even though many parties rejected the elections and the Sunni turnout was low in many areas. "It is true some Sunni powers boycotted the elections, but they did so without killing anyone or threatening anyone. Everybody is welcome and this is democracy. "We cannot fly with one wing. We have to reach out to them and accommodate them," said Mr Jaafari, who added he would be ready to take over from Iyad Allawi as prime minister if asked. "There must be a kind of balance between the three main posts: the president, the prime minister and the head of the parliament. "The next prime minister will probably be a Shiite, while the president and the head of the parliament are a Sunni and a Kurd," respectively. Posted by: trailing wife 2005-02-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=55305 |