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Iraq Shiite party faces choice: Iran or America
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 | No comments posted.
BAGHDAD (AP) — The fate of an agreement that would keep U.S. troops here for three more years rests with Iraq’s largest Shiite party, which must choose between its two main partners: the United States and Iran.
Most lawmakers are waiting for that party, the Supreme Islamic Iraq Council, to take a position on the agreement, which parliament must approve by the end of the year. Only then will smaller groups, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s own Shiite party, commit to the deal or oppose it.
For the moment, all the parties are off the hook. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Monday that the government is still not satisfied and wants more talks on specifics.
But once both the Iraqi and American governments declare a draft final, it will be the moment of truth for the Supreme Council.
It will have to choose between the Shiite-dominated neighbor that nurtured it during Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime and a superpower that helped it spearhead the Shiite rise to power after ousting the dictator in 2003.
Most lawmakers are waiting for that party, the Supreme Islamic Iraq Council, to take a position on the agreement, which parliament must approve by the end of the year. Only then will smaller groups, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s own Shiite party, commit to the deal or oppose it.
For the moment, all the parties are off the hook. Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Monday that the government is still not satisfied and wants more talks on specifics.
But once both the Iraqi and American governments declare a draft final, it will be the moment of truth for the Supreme Council.
It will have to choose between the Shiite-dominated neighbor that nurtured it during Saddam Hussein’s Sunni-dominated regime and a superpower that helped it spearhead the Shiite rise to power after ousting the dictator in 2003.
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