DAMASCUS: Pro-Western Iraqi politician Iyad Allawi sought support on Monday to form a government from Iranian-backed cleric Sayyed Moqtada al-Sadr, in the first meeting between the once bitter rivals.
Sadr, an anti-US figure who has emerged as a kingmaker in Iraqi politics, did not endorse Allawi but said Allawi had shown more willingness to compromise than Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is trying to cling to power after an inconclusive election in March.
Sadr and Allawi met at a hotel in the Syrian capital after they had separately been received by Syrian President Bashar Assad. They later met Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who was on a brief visit to Syria.
Davutoglu flew in to Damascus and held talks with Assad, agreeing on the need “to speed up the formation of a government” in Iraq, their countries’ common neighbor, SANA said.
Iraq has been gripped by violence and political intrigue since the election, which failed to produce an outright winner. A bloc supported by Sunni politicians and headed by Allawi narrowly won the most seats.
Allawi was Iraq’s prime minister in 2004 when US forces surrounded Sadr and his followers at the Imam Ali shrine in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf before Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, an Iranian-born cleric, intervened and ensured Sadr safe passage, avoiding a bloodbath inside the grand mosque.
Allawi has had uneasy ties with the Najaf seminary and with Islamists in general. He has also criticized the role of Iraqi clergy in politics.
“If there were past differences, I am forgetting them so that the political process proceeds,” Sadr told reporters
“I don’t back specific names, but programs and mechanisms to arrive at the next premier,” he added, saying Allawi had promised him to draft a political program he would adopt if he became prime minister.
Allawi said Sadr’s views were “positive, showing care to preserve Iraq and accelerate forming a government”.
“Something I am sure of is that the Sayyed [Sadr] will honor his word,” Allawi said.
An aide to Allawi said he could become prime minister if he secured the support of Sadr and the two main Kurdish blocs. Allawi has good ties with key Arab rulers and the US, and has been trying to exploit discord between Iraq’s main Shiite factions over Maliki’s attempt to win a second term.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=117228#ixzz0uEG52dfG
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
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