BAGHDAD,
January 29, 2006 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iraqi Sunni
Arab and secular groups have agreed to form a single bloc in talks
with Kurds and Shiites on a new coalition government, in a bid to
strengthen their negotiating position, officials said on Saturday,
January 28.
The
main Sunni Arab political grouping, the Iraqi Concord Front (ICF), and
the Iraqi Unified Front of Sunni politician Salih Mutlaq have joined
the Iraqi National list (INL) led by secular former Prime Minister
Iyad Allawi, Reuters reported.
"Basically
it is to face the Kurdish and Shiite coalition," Zubeidi said ICF
member Abdul Hadi Al-Zubeidi.
"They
have the same ideas, such as forming a technocrat government, opposing
federalism in the south and the centre, and they all agree that the
Interior Ministry should not be in the hands of people related to
political parties," Zubeidi added.
Sunnis
and seculars want to amend the constitution, fearing that its
provisions for federalism will give Kurds and Shiites control over
Iraq's vast oil reserves in the north and the south and eventually
break the country apart.
Sunnis
also complain that police, controlled by the Shiite-led Interior
Ministry, unfairly target their community.
Second-Biggest
Bloc
Zubeidi
said that by negotiating together, both political powers will have a
“better chance” to curb Shiite-Kurdish dominance over parliament.
By
joining forces, the Sunni and secular parties would have a total of 80
seats in the 275-seat parliament, making them the second-biggest bloc
in the assembly.
The
Shiite Islamist Alliance won 128 seats in the December 15
parliamentary poll, while the Kurdish Alliance, with whom they formed
a coalition government after elections in January 2005, won 53 seats.
Sunni
leaders are angry over the results of the polls, claiming they were
rigged, but they have committed themselves to talks on a new coalition
government.
One
of their demands, which they say is negotiable, is for a Sunni to
become the new president.
Experts
said that would set up a clash with the Kurds, who now hold the post.
Informal
talks between the Shiite Alliance and the ICF began last week over a
coalition government.
