Region | Iraq
Shiite bloc's support for Al Maliki rife with discord
Shiite politicians have been doubting the Iraqi prime minister's support base among the Shiite political parties and whether the Shiite bloc will eventually topple him.
- By Basil Adas, Correspondent
- Published: 23:33 June 28, 2007
- Image Credit: AP
- Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer (left) and Nouri Al Maliki met in the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.
Baghdad: Shiite politicians have been doubting the Iraqi prime minister's support base among the Shiite political parties and whether the Shiite bloc will eventually topple him.
Information released by an official in Moqtada Al Sadr's faction, revealed that Nouri Al Maliki poses a threat to the group.
Haidar Hussain, a leader in Al Sadr's military wing, the Mahdi Army, told Gulf News: "We are certain that all American and British military campaigns are conducted with Al Maliki's knowledge and support.
"We thought the opposite, that is why leader Moqtada Al Sadr sent him a letter advising him to step down as long as he cannot stand against America's dominance on security and military resolutions in Iraq."
Kidnapping
Gazi Al Darraji, an Iraqi analyst, told Gulf News: "Since the kidnapping of five Britons from the Iraqi Finance Ministry a month ago, the relationship between Al Maliki and Al Sadr is not well because the kidnapping is considered a serious blow to Al Maliki's power."
Karbala, the second holiest city in Iraq, was home to a Shiite religious front opposed to Al Maliki's government. The front figures include Shiite clergymen Mohammad Al Yacoubi, Mahmoud Al Hasani and Mohammad Al Baghdadi, who called for Al Maliki to leave office.
The Shiite opposition against the Iraqi prime minister comes along with other pressures on him to quit heading the Iraqi Ministers' council.
Buthaina Al Haydari, an Iraqi political researcher at Baghdad University, told Gulf News: "I believe that Al Maliki tried to please both Americans and Al Sadr, and that is impossible to achieve because two of them are fighting fierce rounds in Najaf, Diwaniyah, Nasiriyah and Al Sadr neighbourhood in Baghdad. Besides, some demands from Washington clashed with Al Maliki's opinions ... especially on the national reconciliation and dissolving of militia."
There are also rumours about differences between Al Maliki and Adel Abdul Mahdi, a member of the Shiite coalition.
Discord sprang between the two after Abdul Mahdi hinted in a coalition meeting that Al Maliki's survival may end the unity of the Shiite coalition and it may withdraw the paper of selecting the new Prime Minister.
Pressure to quit
A source in Dawa Party, which Al Maliki belongs to, told Gulf News: "Abdul Mahdi went to the religious authorities in Najaf and asked them to put pressure on Al Maliki to step out and that is the reason for the discord between them."
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