FRANCE: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says he thinks key bloc encompassing Sunni political opinion will be part of a new government

Record ID: 560952

  • Title: FRANCE: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani says he thinks key bloc encompassing Sunni political opinion will be part of a new government
  • Date: 17th November 2010
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (NOVEMBER 16, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) INTERIOR OF OECD (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) IRAQI PRESIDENT, JALAL TALABANI, ARRIVING AT INTERNATIONAL SOCIALISTS MEETING TALABANI ADDRESSING MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRAQI PRESIDENT, JALAL TALABANI, SAYING: "Dear Friends and comrades, I bring you greetings from Iraq." PARTICIPANTS LISTENING TALABANI COMING OUT OF CONFERENCE ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRAQI PRESIDENT, JALAL TALABANI, SAYING: "We have nominated him to be chief of the National Security Political Council. So if he agrees, he will be welcomed." TALABANI TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (French) IRAQI PRESIDENT, JALAL TALABANI, SAYING: "Oil is an Iraqi national revenue. If they want to have an oil minister, we will have an oil minister." TALABANI GOING UP ESCALATOR, ACCOMPANIED BY IRAQI DELEGATES
  • Embargoed: 2nd December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: International Relations,Science / Technology
  • Reuters ID: LVACSYLHWYLNN64DGSNJ5VMCGWU8
  • Story Text: An Iraqi government supported by the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc will be set up but it is unclear whether its leader will be part of the new Shi'ite-led coalition administration, President Jalal Talabani said on Tuesday (November 16) Iraqiya's leader, former prime minister Iyad Allawi, skipped a parliamentary session earlier in the week and headed to London for family engagements after telling CNN in an interview that power-sharing between Iraq's Shi'ite, Kurdish and Sunni factions was "dead."
    Despite Allawi's comments, which followed his being proposed as the head of a yet-to-be created national policy council, his party has said it would remain in the government.
    "We have nominated him to be chief of the National Security Political Council. So if he agrees, he will be welcomed," Talabani told Reuters after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Paris.
    Talabani, a Kurd, said Iraqiya's leadership had now "assured" him it would participate in the political process after months of rancourous bargaining which had heightened fears of renewed sectarian violence.
    Iraq needs a stable government to rebuild infrastructure and exploit its vast oil wealth while violence ebbs seven years after the U.S.-led invasion that ousted dictator Saddam Hussein.
    Under the power-sharing deal reached three days ago, politicians divided the three top posts -- prime minister, president and speaker of parliament -- among the main ethnic and sectarian political blocs.
    When asked if the Kurds had cut a deal to join the government by possibly gaining the oil ministry or sealing an agreement on oil exports from the Kurdish region, Talabani reiterated the country's oil was a national resource.
    "Oil is an Iraqi national revenue. If they want to have an oil minister, we will have an oil minister," he said.
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