Baathist-takfirist alliance to destroy political process – PM

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that Iraq is currently facing an internationally-supported Baathist- takfirist alliance to destroy the ongoing political process. This came during ceremonies attended by Maliki in Karbala to distribute plots of lands on families of political martyrs and prisoners under the former Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. The term takfirists refers to extremist Sunnis who consider Shiites as “infidels who should be killed”. “They (Baathists) will not come back to power, nor their dark days,” Maliki said. “We want our wounds caused by dictatorship to heal without having to cry over them,” he said. Maliki commented that some Iraqis forget what “the murderers have done in Iraq.” He said that Saddam’s wars were fueled by the best of Iraq’s people, and that the country was the biggest loser in these wars. “Force can be achieved when the people stand by the government,” he said. MH (S)/AmR 1