IRAQ: SUNNI ARABS SAY THEY WILL NOT BE STUMBLING BLOCK TO NEW GOVERNMENT, ATTACKS IN ARBIL AND BAGHDAD, LATEST.
Record ID:
647700
IRAQ: SUNNI ARABS SAY THEY WILL NOT BE STUMBLING BLOCK TO NEW GOVERNMENT, ATTACKS IN ARBIL AND BAGHDAD, LATEST.
- Title: IRAQ: SUNNI ARABS SAY THEY WILL NOT BE STUMBLING BLOCK TO NEW GOVERNMENT, ATTACKS IN ARBIL AND BAGHDAD, LATEST.
- Date: 4th May 2005
- Summary: (W3) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MAY 4, 2005)(REUTERS) 1. MEMBERS OF IRAQI NATIONAL DIALOGUE GIVING NEWS CONFERENCE; SUNNI ARABS ATTENDING NEWS CONFERENCE 2. (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic), SALEH AL-MUTLAQ, SPOKESMAN FOR IRAQI NATIONAL DIALOGUE, SAYING: "The Sunni Arabs have never been a hurdle in forming the government. Right from the start of the dialogue with the brothers in the (United Iraqi) Alliance or with the Kurdish brothers and they told everyone that they call for a political programme, which can achieve the security of the country and attain its national interests and lead to a credible, free and transparent election." 3. CAMERA OPERATORS FILMING 4. (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic), SALEH, SAYING: "We say to the brothers in the Alliance and to the Kurdish brothers and before that to our great people that we want this process to move forward because we expect something, which Iraqis do not want, to happen and therefore we want to unify our stands to build a democratic Iraq where Iraqis live in peace and fraternization." 5. BANNER WITH NAME OF IRAQI NATIONAL DIALOGUE IN ARABIC 6. (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) SALEH, SAYING; "We agreed with them (the United Iraqi Alliance) on all the names and we only objected when they said that one of the names has been refused by a foreign party. We told them that we reject intervention by any foreign party. Iraq is a great country, the country of civilizations. (Question: What is the name of the foreign party?) "They did not specify. We contacted the United States of America and they said that they are not concerned and we contacted other states and they also said that they are not concerned. Only one country remains, which is Iran, and we did not not know which party." 7. END OF NEWS CONFERENCE 2.07 (W2) ARBIL, IRAQ (MAY 4, 2005)(REUTERS) 8. GV/CU: BLOOD POOLS COVERING GROUND (2 SHOTS) 2.14 9. GV: EXTERIOR OF HEADQUARTERS OF KURDISTAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY (KDP) WHERE SUICIDE BOMBER BLEW HIMSELF UP 2.18 10. LV/GV/CU: PEOPLE GATHERING OUTSIDE HEADQUARTERS; KURDISH ARMY AND PEOPLE OUTSIDE KDP HEADQUARTERS; BLOOD POOLS (3 SHOTS) 2.36 11. GV/CU: CARS IN FRONT OF HEADQUARTERS; SIGN READING KDP (2 SHOTS) 2.44 12. GV/MV/GV: AMBULANCE ARRIVING AT HOSPITAL; POLICE AND SOLDIERS ON PICK-UP TRUCK NEAR HOSPITAL; AMBULANCES OUTSIDE HOSPITAL (3 SHOTS) 3.02 13. GV: PEOPLE GATHERING OUTSIDE HOSPITAL; PEOPLE GATHERING AT MAIN GATE OF HOSPITAL (2 SHOTS) 3.12 14. MV/MV/PAN: WOUNDED MAN IN BED; WOUNDED MAN ON TROLLEY BEING PUSHED INTO HOSPITAL (2 SHOTS) 3.31 15. GV: EXTERIOR OF HOSPITAL 3.37 (BN06) BAGHDAD, IRAQ (MAY 4, 2005) (REUTERS) 16. LV/GV: POLICE GATHERING NEAR BRIDGE WHERE BOMB EXPLODED (2 SHOTS) 3.48 17. GV: U.S. HUMVEES NEAR SITE OF BLAST; U.S. SOLDIERS NEAR SUSPECTS (2 SHOTS) 4.04 18. GV/CU/LV: SITE WHERE BOMB EXPLODED; BLOOD STAINS ON GROUND; POLICEMEN AT SITE OF BLAST AS U.S. HELICOPTERS OVERHEAD (4 SHOTS) 4.30 19. MV: U.S. SOLDIERS NEAR SITE OF BLAST 4.36 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 19th May 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ARBIL AND BAGHDAD, IRAQ
- Country: Iraq
- Reuters ID: LVA67D84RL85SCN1VOZVF08PABVA
- Story Text: Sunni Arabs said they will not be a stumbling block
to the formation of the government, as violence continues.
Representatives of the Sunni Arabs affirmed on
Wednesday (May 4, 2005) that they would not be a hurdle to the
formation of the government, saying that they are still
waiting for a reply from the Shi'ites and Kurds on their
candidates for the defence and industry ministries.
"The Sunni Arabs have never been a hurdle in forming
the government. Right from the start of the dialogue with
the brothers in the (United Iraqi) Alliance or with the
Kurdish brothers and they told everyone that they call for
a political programme, which can achieve the security of
the country and attain its national interests and lead to a
credible, free and transparent election," Saleh al-Mutlaq,
spokesman of the Sunni party the Iraqi National Dialogue
told a news conference.
Iraq's new cabinet members were sworn into office
Tuesday (May 3), allowing the country's first freely
elected government to take power.
But in a striking display of the divisions that plague
the new government, at least six cabinet positions -
including the critical Defence Ministry - remained empty
after Iraq's political leaders failed, despite days of
difficult and polarized final negotiations, to agree on who
should fill them.
Saleh refuted reports on a rift between Sunni Arabs,
saying that Sunnis are ready to cooperate with the Shi'ites
and the Kurds, the two major parties of the parliament to
build a democratic Iraq.
"We say to the brothers in the Alliance and to the
Kurdish brothers and before that to our great people that
we want this process to move forward because we expect
something, which Iraqis do not want, to happen and
therefore we want to unify our stands to build a democratic
Iraq where Iraqis live in peace and fraternization," Saleh
warned.
Saleh, however, described members of the United Iraqi
Alliance as cooperative and positive during negotiations,
saying that the Sunni Arabs have put forward two candidates
for defence ministry posts and they've asked for a third
one. He indicated that their candidate for industry
ministry was rejected by the Kurds on the ground that he
took part in the military campaigns against the Kurds in
the north and their candidate for the defence post by
rejected by a foreign party.
"We agreed with them on all the names and we objected
when they said that one of the names has been refused by a
foreign party. We told them that we reject intervention by
any foreign party. Iraq is a great country, the country of
civilization," Saleh said, adding, "We contacted the United
States of America and they said that they are not concerned
and we contacted other states and they also said that they
are not concerned. Only one country remains, which is Iran,
and we did not know which party."
Speaking at a news conference after the ceremony on
Wednesday, Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said names had
been agreed on for three of the posts that remained empty
and would be made public Wednesday. Those include the oil
and electricity ministries and a deputy prime minister's
slot.
Still, the failure to finalize a cabinet appeared to be
a serious embarrassment for the effort to build a
government that would unify Iraq's fractious religious and
ethnic groups.
More than three months after the January elections,
Iraq's new government is still dominated by the two groups
that won the lion's share of assembly seats, the Shiite
alliance and the Kurdish alliance.
The government remains virtually without representation
by Sunni Arabs, the elite minority that dominated the
government under Saddam Hussein and largely boycotted the
elections.
Sunnis also dominate the insurgency, and U.S. officials
- and some Iraqis - have hoped that a credible Sunni
presence in the government would help to lure Sunnis out of
the resistance and dampen the violence here.
But the announcement of a new cabinet last week with
few Sunnis in its ranks was followed by four straight days
of heightened violence that left at least 150 iraqis dead
and around 200 others wounded.
A suicide bomber struck the offices of a Kurdish party
in northern Iraq on Wednesday, killing at least 60 people.
Security guards and witnesses said a crowd had gathered
in Arbil outside the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) office, which
also served as a police recruiting centre, when the bomber hit.
A health ministry official in Arbil said at least 60
died and 150 people were wounded. A defence ministry
statement said the suicide bombing killed 45 people and
wounded 16.
In Baghdad, police said a roadside bomb aimed at a U.S.
convoy, wounded three civilians on Wednesday.
The attack took place in Bayaa, a district in western
Baghdad, on the airport road, that has been plagued by
violence.
The police said the attack damaged a number of civilian
cars.
There was no immediate word on casualties among the
U.S. troops, which cordoned off the area, detaining a
number of people for investigation.
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