Jaafari: formation of government is internal decision
Iraq-UK, Politics, 2/22/2006

The Iraqi prime minister whose term of office is expired, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, refused (the unprecedented) statements by the American ambassador in Baghdad Zalmay Khalilzad in which Khalilzad warned against forming the next Iraqi government on sectarian bases.

Jaafar said in a press conference after talks with the British foreign office secretary Jack Straw that Iraq knows its own interest and is not in need of any one to remind how to form its government, noting that "this is a mere internal matter decided by the Iraqi political sides."

Asked that Ambassador Khalilzad yesterday said that "the U.S. is not going to invest the resources of the American people to build forces run by people who are sectarian, et cetera, et cetera.  A couple of times he said, you know, we have to make our own decisions .. of their decisions.  This is sounding almost like the Hamas money.  What did Khalilzad mean and is the U.S. really basing their continued support on what kind of government the Iraqis put in place?"

US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said "Ambassador Khalilzad is stating our longstanding position, one that I think he articulated very well in an editorial submitted to the Los Angeles Times earlier this month.  What the United States is looking for in Iraq is a national unity government.  The fact is we're coming out of these elections and a long period of campaigning and political processes that in some respects emphasized sectarianism over unity; different parties, different groups appealing to their constituents to get votes.  Well, on the upside, that campaigning, that political dynamic produced unprecedented turnout in the January 15th -- I'm sorry, in the December 15th elections.  And we saw groups from all of Iraq's political factions come out and express their preferences for an elected government.  That's important, it's positive and the Iraqi people deserve praise and congratulations for that kind of commitment to democracy.

"Now the challenge before us and before the international community and the Iraqis is to, in forming the government, put aside some of the sectarian differences that came out during the campaign and put together a government that, number one, includes representatives of all the political factions so that nobody feels excluded, even though they've got significant representation in parliament.  And number two, that once meeting that composition criteria that they act in ways that serve the welfare of all Iraqis as opposed to favoring one community over another community.  And that's the task before, first and foremost, the Iraqis as they move towards forming this government.  And as Prime Minister Jaafari stated today, that remains their goal and the purpose to which they are committed.  And second of all, as Ambassador Khalilzad is asked to be involved, asked to provide views, asked to provide advice and counsel and suggestions, that's the direction that he's going to take as well. 

"So I think that, frankly, it's stating the obvious to say that American help for Iraq is designed to help all Iraqis, regardless of their political affiliation, regardless of their tribal affiliation.  And what we are trying to do in providing them that support is to generate the kind of cooperation, dialogue, compromise and seeing this interaction that can help create the kind of Iraq that Iraqis are looking for. ... U.S. assistance is not designed to favor one group or another group, it's designed to help all Iraqis promote the national goals.  The goals of a representative government that includes all Iraq's political factions and is not intended to support one group or another and agendas that are different than the agendas of the elected Government of Iraq."

For his part, the British foreign office secretary Jack Straw called on the Iraqis to form a national unity government that is not controlled by a religious group. He added after his meeting with the interim Iraqi President Jalal al-Talibani that the results of the elections show that "it is not in the ability of any party or sect to dominate the government in Iraq."

In another attempt to bring closer the Iraqi sides, the special delegate of the Arab League to Iraq, the Sudanese former foreign minister Mustafa Othman Ismael, said that the Iraqi forces agreed to convene the plenary national reconciliation conference in Baghdad by the beginning of June. In November 2005, the Arab league supervised a reconciliation meeting among the Iraqi sides in Cairo.

Previous Stories:
  Straw in Iraq to deal with youngsters beating   (2/21/2006)
  US ambassador in Iraq warns against two sects handling security missions in Iraq   (2/21/2006)
  US ambassador in Iraq warns against two sects handling security missions in Iraq   (2/21/2006)
  Iran calls Britain to withdraw forces from Basra immediately   (2/18/2006)
  US on Abu Ghraib prison photographs; Guantanamo detainee report   (2/16/2006)
  US commander says infiltration routes into Iraq have been disrupted   (2/13/2006)
  London: withdrawal from Iraq is approaching   (2/8/2006)
  British soldier killed in Iraq   (1/31/2006)

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