Report: Iraqi Sunni bloc to return to Maliki´s gov´t

Source: Xinhua | 04-17-2008 08:15

BAGHDAD, April 16 (Xinhua) -- The major Sunni Arab political bloc, Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), agreed to return to the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi news agency Voice of Iraq (VOI) reported on Wednesday.

"The IAF has decided to return to the cabinet, but it is too early to name the bloc's ministries or the candidates for those ministries," Dhafir al-Aani, a lawmaker with the IAF bloc, was quoted as saying.

Ali al-Dabbagh, the official spokesman of Iraqi government, told VOI that the IAF agreed on Tuesday evening to return to al-Maliki's government and presented the names of its candidates.

"The Sunni bloc agreed to return to the government and presented its candidates' names to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to select those who will be appointed as ministers," the agency quoted al-Dabbagh as saying.

Aani said that the IAF's decision to return to al-Maliki's cabinet came after the government showed " true and positive willingness to meet our demands that we submitted as conditions to return to the government."

Last August, the IAF withdrew its five ministers and a deputy prime minister from al-Maliki's government, accusing the government of failing to crack down on Shiite militia and of arbitrary arrest and detention of Sunni citizens, charges that the government has denied.

The IAF is the third largest political bloc with 35 seats out of the 275-seated Iraqi parliament. The IAF originally held 44 seats after the 2005 election, but nine independent lawmakers withdrew from the bloc in February and joined another Arab Bloc for National Dialogue, which holds now 20 seats and is led by Saleh al-Motlak.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei