Al Iraqiya demands Iraq’s Prime Minister to stop detentions

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Al-Iraqiya Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, has called on Iraq‘s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to stop the current detention campaign and the sacking of university professors, according to its statement on Wednesday. “Al-Iraqiya has met at the office of (one of its leaders,) Dr.Saleh al-Mutlag, to discuss the recent detentions campaign and the lists of discharges against leading Iraqi professors by the Ministry of Higher Education,” the statement reported. The statement quoted al-Iraqiya as “calling for the achievement of justice, the practicing of policy of pardoning, balancing and partnership, as well as rejecting policies of revenge, narrow-sectarianism,  calls on all political forces to shoulder their responsibilities to respect freedoms and rights, confirmed by the Constitution, demanding the Prime Minister to stop hostile measures immediately.” “Such measures are taking place at a time when the Americans are planning to withdraw from Iraq, thing that puts us in front of a crossroad and an important historic moment, either to push Iraq towards stability, unity and playing an important role in the Region and the whole world, or to get involved in the current regional changes that would push the country towards anarchy and division,” the statement said. “We also call on the Iraqi Judiciary and the security bodies not to lean to the pressures of certain political forces and to safeguard its independence and specialization, assigned by the Constitution and current laws,” it added. The statement stressed that “al-Iraqiya calls upon its masses in different parts of our beloved Iraq to announce their commitment towards Iraq‘s unity and to express protest towards passive measures and to undermine the opportunity by those, who want to revise anger and instability, aimed at justifying individual policies.” Al-Iraqiya concluded its statement by confirming its “defense for the rights of all Iraqis, without any discrimination, stemming from its national project, keeping its meetings to continue in order to study and evaluate the developments and to take necessary decisions to avoid any crisis that might hamper the foreign withdrawal from Iraq and the achievement of its complete sovereignty.” SKH (TF) 28