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Allawi's party threatens to quit Iraqi regime

Maliki Government accused of pursuing sectarian policies

— PHOTO: AP

SECURITY DRIVE: Iraqi army soldiers check motorists at a security post in Baghdad on Thursday.

BAGHDAD: The secular party led by former Iraqi interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, on Thursday threatened to quit the country's embattled Government of national unity, accusing its officials of sectarian bias.

Mr. Allawi's Iraqi National List is the only major political party in Iraq to include high-ranking members from both the Sunni and Shia community. It has five Ministers and 25 Members of Parliament.

If Mr. Allawi's supporters were to quit Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition, it would strike a blow to attempts to portray the Government as a moderate, non-sectarian force in an Iraq increasingly divided by violence and extremism.

"Sunnis ignored"

The List says Mr. Maliki's Shia-led Government has failed to honour promises to allow more Sunnis into public service and of persecuting its enemies under the guise of fighting corruption and terrorism.

``We strongly fear that the Government's announced security plan will suffer setbacks because of disagreements and clashes between senior officials,'' the List said, in a statement sent to reporters.

``In this context, the Iraqi List feels it will soon no longer be able to accept the responsibility of being in this Government, because of its sectarian domination and narrow-mindedness,'' it warned. ``We wouldn't have joined Government in the first place but for pressure on us to serve the national interest, but in the last few months the Government has done the opposite, and committed despicable acts against many citizens.''

The coalition that was formed in June last year, after Iraq's first election since the fall of Saddam Hussein, is a fractious collection of often feuding parties, many of them with links to militias engaged in sectarian violence.

The party did not set a deadline for its withdrawal, but party spokesman Ibrahim al-Janabi said the day would soon be at hand. ``This is a final ultimatum to withdraw from the Government.

Meet on March 10

"The decision has not been taken yet but it will be in the short run rather than the long run. We put forward a programme to build a national unity government without sectarian and party divides. Now we see that things are taking a completely different shape,'' he said.

Meanwhile, armed clashes broke out on Thursday between Iraqi police and gunmen in Iskandariya, south of Baghdad, killing at least five persons and injuring seven, including policemen, an Iraqi police source said.

Britain will take part in thea security conference in Baghdad this month featuring Iraq's neighbours and world powers, a Foreign Office spokesman said in London on Thursday. On Tuesday, London invited the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Iraq's neighbours to take part in the conference on March 10. The U.S., France and Syria have so far indicated that they will attend, while Iran has said it may. — Agencies

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