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| Iraq |
| Sahwa leader denies pressuring government into rejecting IAF candidates |
| 2008-05-29 |
| (VOI) – Well-known chieftain and leader of Anbar Salvation Council Ali Hatim Suleiman on Wednesday denied claims about pressurizing the government into rejecting candidates from the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF) in the new government. "The problem is between the front and the government. The Sahwa (Awakening) councils have no relationship whatsoever with the tension surrounding the choice of candidates. We did not put any pressure on the government…," the leader of al-Dulaim tribes said in response to a statement made by IAF member, Nadira Ayef al-Aani, in which she accused Sahwa councils of exerting pressure on the Iraqi government to accept council members into the cabinet. Earlier, al-Aani told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) that her front believes that Sahwa councils had pressured the government to include some of its members in the cabinet, which she said affected the front's quota of ministerial portfolios. Suleiman told VOI earlier that Sahwa councils informed the government in early May about its decision of not joining the new cabinet. The Anbar Salvation Council did not submit a slate because it does not want to participate in the government, Sulaiman said. Suleiman wondered about the nature of pressure that might be exerted by the councils, adding, "We depend on provincial council elections to show our real size." |
| Posted by:Fred |