Posted on 07/19/2008 1:53:48 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab bloc rejoined the Shi'ite-led government on Saturday in a breakthrough for national reconciliation after parliament approved its candidates for several vacant ministerial posts.
Getting the Accordance Front to return after it quit a year ago in a row over power sharing has been seen as key to healing divisions between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.
Sunni Arabs have little voice in the current cabinet, which is dominated by Shi'ites and ethnic Kurds.
"Today, parliament voted to accept our candidates ... This means the Accordance Front has officially returned to the government," a senior lawmaker in the bloc, Salim al-Jubouri, told Reuters after the vote.
"It is a real step forward for political reform."
Jubouri, who is also the bloc's spokesman, said the Front's approved candidates would attend the next cabinet meeting.
Parliament questioned candidates for 10 vacant cabinet jobs, including five ministries and a deputy prime ministerial post that had previously been allocated to the Accordance Front.
--snip--
The Front pulled out of Maliki's cabinet in August last year, demanding a greater say in security policies as well as the release of mainly Sunni Arab detainees. Most of its cabinet seats were never filled at the time.
An amnesty law passed in February has begun the process of releasing many prisoners from the Sunni Arab community. Sunni Arabs form the bulk of inmates after security forces detained thousands in sweeps at the height of a Sunni Arab insurgency.
The Front has been on the verge of rejoining the government several times in the past, only for obstacles to suddenly emerge.
But government crackdowns against Shi'ite militias in the southern city of Basra in late March and then in Baghdad were welcomed by the Front and helped spur its return.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
File photo shows US President George W. Bush (right) shaking hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in New York. US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have agreed to set a "time horizon" for US troop withdrawals as part of a long-term security pact (AFP/File/Jim Watson)
That sound you hear is more Democrat talking points being deleted from web pages.
Tom Daschle is deeply saddened.
Oops. Obama just made a speech today claiming they had not reconciled.
Excellent
Thanks Fred....
Sunnah made the mistake of boycotting the last election, the same mistake the Shi’a made in the 1920’s. Shi’a paid dearly for that.
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