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Arbil, Iraq (AFP) Nov 7, 2010 Turkey's foreign minister called Sunday for a meeting of all Iraqi political groups on forming a government, as he visited the Kurdish north exactly eight months since Iraq's inconclusive election. "We hope to soon see all Iraqi ethnic and political groups gathered around a table to pave the way for the formation of a government in this country," Ahmet Davutoglu said in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan. Turkey was "very interested in the initiative" by Iraqi Kurdistan's regional president, Massud Barzani, Davutoglu said ahead of meetings with Barzani and the autonomous region's prime minister Barham Saleh. Barzani has invited all political blocs to meet in Arbil, the Iraqi Kurdish capital, on Monday in a bid to resolve the crisis that has left the country without a new government since its March 7 legislative election. MPs are due to meet in Baghdad next Thursday to elect a speaker, the first step before the appointment of a president and premier, although parliamentary groups would need to agree in advance on the allocation of portfolios. "I'm in Arbil to discuss and possibly give advice to Baghdad and Arbil on the issue of forming a government, which we hope will happen soon," said Davutoglu. Iraq's second general election since the 2003 US-led invasion ended in deadlock after none of the main parties won enough of the 325 seats in parliament to form a majority government. Parliament has since March remained in hiatus, except for a 20-minute oath-taking ceremony and another brief meeting at which acting speaker Fuad Massum declared an indefinite "open" session.
earlier related report Police had also found a car-bomb workshop. The bomb that killed the anti-Qaeda fighters went off near a checkpoint at Qadissiyah, close to Samarra, 110 kilometres (70 miles) from Baghdad, a police officer said, adding that three other militiamen were wounded. Separately, gunmen equipped with silencers killed two soldiers in an attack on a military checkpoint in an eastern district of Mosul, police in northern Iraq's main city said. In Baiji, also north of Baghdad, police said they discovered a workshop for manufacturing car bombs before arresting 11 suspects, including two women, and seizing a large amount of explosives. The find comes after Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a dozen booby-trapped vehicles that exploded simultaneously Tuesday in Shiite districts of Baghdad, killing 64 people, according to interior ministry figures. US Brigadier General Jeffrey Buchanan said on Saturday that the anti-Shiite explosions in war-battered Iraq demonstrated that Al-Qaeda remained "determined and dangerous." Violence has plunged since its peak in 2006 and 2007, but kidnappings and casualties from insurgent attacks remain a constant threat.
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US commander says Qaeda still a threat in IraqBaghdad (AFP) Nov 6, 2010 A senior US commander said on Saturday that Al-Qaeda's ability to infiltrate foreign fighters into Iraq had been severely restricted, but that it was still a threat and would remain so. Brigadier General Jeffrey Buchanan said that a deadly attack in Baghdad targeting Christians and explosions in Shiite neighbourhoods across the capital over the past week demonstrated that Al-Qaeda remained d ... read more |
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