In a major reconciliatory gesture, a leader from IraqÂ’s largest Shiite party has paid a rare visit to the Sunni Anbar province, delivering a message of unity to tribal sheikhs who have staged a US-backed revolt against Al-Qaeda militants.
The leader of Parliament’s largest Sunni Arab bloc, Adnan Al-Dulaimi, welcomed Ammar Al-Hakim’s visit to Anbar on Sunday as a “good initiative, saying Shiite-Sunni reconciliation was a goal cherished by his once-dominant Sunni Arab minority. “This is what we hope, and we pray to Allah for,” Al-Dulaimi, whose three-party alliance has 44 of parliament’s 275 seats, told The Associated Press yesterday. “We pray to God to make our Shiite brothers ... give us our due rights and not monopolize power.”
HakimÂ’s visit to Anbar was the latest sign that key Iraqi politicians may be working toward reconciliation independently of Prime Minister Nuri Al-MalikiÂ’s government, which has faced criticism for doing little to bring together IraqÂ’s Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis.
Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq Al-Hashemi visited Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, IraqÂ’s top Shiite cleric, last month at the holy city of Najaf south of Baghdad. The visit amounted to an unprecedented Sunni Arab endorsement of SistaniÂ’s role as the nationÂ’s guardian.
HashemiÂ’s Iraqi Islamic Party also has been distancing itself from militant Sunni Arab groups and has in recent months forged closer ties with HakimÂ’s Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the countryÂ’s largest Shiite party, and the two major Kurdish parties. |