Region | Iraq
Presidential council publicly criticises Al Maliki
Iraq's presidential council has taken the unusual step of publicly criticising the Shiite prime minister after he berated them for their opposition to councils of loyal tribesmen in several Iraqi provinces.
- AP
- Published: 19:56 November 22, 2008
Baghdad: Iraq's presidential council has taken the unusual step of publicly criticising the Shiite prime minister after he berated them for their opposition to councils of loyal tribesmen in several Iraqi provinces.
The quarrel is the latest in a series of political setbacks that underline enduring rivalries between Iraq's political factions as the country struggles to find its footing after years of brutal violence.
At the centre of the new dispute between Al Maliki and President Jalal Talabani are the "support councils" made up of pro-government tribesmen that began to spring up earlier this year when the prime minister took charge of military operations against Shiite militias.
The councils were seen by many as an attempt by the prime minister ahead of January 31 provincial elections to create a support base in areas where his Shiite rivals dominate or, in Sunni areas, to counter the weight of US-backed groups made up of tribesmen and former insurgents.
Al Maliki has said the councils are needed as a backup for official security forces - similar to the Sunni groups that joined forces with the Americans against Al Qaida in Iraq.
But Talabani's office disagrees. In a letter to Al Maliki dated November 18 and issued late on Friday after Al Maliki made their quarrel public, the presidential council said the resources being funnelled to the councils would be better used to bolster Iraq's security forces.
Al Maliki did not specifically mention that letter in his televised news conference on Thursday. But he said Talabani and his two deputies were picking on the support councils while ignoring what he said was a long list of constitutional violations by the self-rule Kurdish region government in northern Iraq.
Public airing
In response, Talabani, a Sunni Kurd, and his two deputies - vice presidents Tariq Al Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, and Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite - issued a statement on Friday criticising Al Maliki for airing their differences in public.
The statement said the presidential council had decided to publicise its letter to Al Maliki "to avoid misunderstandings among members of the public about an issue (the support councils) on which it is exercising its right, indeed its duty, to supervise the workings of the state and its concern that the constitution and the law must be implemented."
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