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| Iraq |
| Shia and Sunni MPs sign new unity pact |
| 2008-01-14 |
| BAGHDAD - Parliamentary blocs representing Sunnis, Shias and independents on Sunday signed on to a common platform stressing the need for national unity and central control over oil reserves. The blocs, should they come together as is expected as a new political alliance, would be a dominant force in the 275-member parliament, with a total of more than 100 seats. Among those who signed the statement of common understanding are the political wing of radical Shia cleric Moqtada Al Sadr, the secular Iraqi National List of former prime minister Iyad Allawi and the Sunni leader Salah Al Mutlaks National Dialogue Front, a joint statement said. The statement said the pact was signed for the sake of the higher national interest, to maintain a united Iraq free of sectarian divisions ... and to support national reconciliation. The parties demanded that oil and gas and other natural resources should remain Iraqi treasures and not be allowed to be signed away by regional powers. The statement expressed deep concern at individual acts without reference to central government, such as the signing of contracts with foreign companies - a reference to Iraqs oil-rich autonomous Kurdish region, which has signed 15 crude oil contracts with 20 foreign concerns. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 RIAN > TURKEY TO CONTINUE INDEFINITELY OPERATIONS AGZ KURDISH REBELS, versus TURKEY WILL NOT ATTACK THE KURDS??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-01-14 20:25 |
| #5 See also STRATEGYPAGE> KURDISH WAR[IRAQ]: ARABS UNITE TO FIGHT. Sunni and Shia Arab/Muslim Pols collude to resist KURDISH CLAIMS OF SOVEREIGNTY, etc. over the city of KIRKUK. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-01-14 19:53 |
| #4 "dissolve the powers that the KRG exercising and cut back the Kurdish rights" Not gonna happen. 100,000 Peshmerga say the Kurds are going to continue what they are doing. Al |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2008-01-14 12:21 |
| #3 Surprise meter? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-01-14 05:28 |
| #2 Damn. The Kurds deserve better. >:-( |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2008-01-14 02:00 |
| #1 London (KurdishMedia.com) 13 January 2008: Ten Sunni and Shiia Arab political groups united against Kurds, which includes Ayad Allawiâs group, an old friend of Kurds, reported Kurdish website sbeiy.com on Sunday. The Arab groups signed an anti Kurdish agreement, called âNational Understanding Projectâ to dissolve the powers that the KRG exercising and cut back the Kurdish rights. Sbeiy.com stated that all the points of this Understanding is against Kurds. The Arabs united to reduce the KRGâs budged from 17 to 12.5 percent of the Iraqi budget; annual the Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution regarding normalization of areas outside the current Kurdistan Region; bringing the Kurdistanâs natural resources under the central government of Iraq; paying the KRG security forces from the KRG budget. If these are implemented, the KRG would dissolve. Mahmud Osman, a Kurdish MP in Baghdad, told sbeiy.com that the Kurdish position is weak; it was stronger a year and two back. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2008-01-14 01:40 |