Barbara Surk
Associated Press
BAGHDAD: The Iraqi prime minister’s Shiite-dominated coalition rebuffed Sunday an initiative by Saudi Arabia aimed at breaking Baghdad’s political deadlock, saying it complicates efforts to form a new government.
A Sunni-backed political coalition led by Iyad Allawi narrowly edged Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law bloc in March 7 elections. But no single list won enough seats to control Parliament or pick new leaders, touching off an eight-month scramble for allies that has brought Iraq’s government to a virtual standstill.
Saudi King Abdullah invited Iraq’s political leaders Saturday to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for talks aimed at resolving the political impasse.
The Saudi monarch did not provide a specific date for the meeting, but suggested that it could take place after the hajj pilgrimage in November.
But a senior official with Maliki’s State of Law bloc, Hassan al-Suneid, brushed aside the Saudi offer, saying it “complicates the political situation in Iraq” and will further delay the formation of a new government because the discussions would only take place in the second half of November.
Suneid said Iraq’s political blocs were “working to end the crisis within the next few days,” and that “Iraqi politicians should be able to reach an agreement without external interference.”
Since the March elections, Iraqi politicians – including Maliki – have shuttled to and from neighboring countries such as Iran, Syria, Turkey and Jordan in an attempt to win support for their re-election efforts.
Suneid did not say outright whether Maliki would refuse to take part in the Riyadh meeting.
The response of Maliki’s coalition to the Saudi initiative reflects the strained relations between the Shiite prime minister and the Sunni Arab power.
The Iraqi prime minister’s relations with neighboring Iran, the region’s Shiite force, make him unpalatable to many Sunni Arab states – including Saudi Arabia – that are attempting to curb the Islamic Republic’s influence in the region.
The Saudis have never invited Maliki to visit in his capacity as prime minister, which is a sore point for the Iraqi leader.
In contrast, many of Allawi’s Sunni and Shiite supporters point to the ease with which Allawi, a secular Shiite, is accepted in such places as Saudi Arabia and Jordan as an indication that he’ll be able to improve Iraq’s relations in the Arab world.
Allawi’s winning Iraqiya list, which drew much of its support from Iraq’s Sunni minority, welcomed the initiative by Saudi Arabia Saturday, saying that it was aimed at preventing the security situation in Iraq from deteriorating amid the prolonged political impasse.
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