General conference necessary for national accord – MP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A State of Law MP regarded the coming national conference as necessary in order to find a new national accord for the coming stage, stressing that his alliance is keen for all political leaders to attend it, including Kurdish region’s president Masoud Barzani. MP Ali al-Alaq told IraqiNews.com that “it is necessary to find new accord among the political leaders”. “The reason behind holding the conference in Baghdad is to show its sovereign role following US forces withdrawal and as an emblem for national unity”, he confirmed. Kurdish Divan disclosed today that President Barzani will not participate in the conference if it is held in Baghdad, and stressed it should be made in a place where all parties can attend, but extended the invitation to hold it in Kurdistan. President Jalal Talabani and parliament speaker Usama Nujaifi called to hold a general national conference to “avoid a collapse in the political process in the country”. Kurdish region president Barzani called on 19 December last to convene a general national conference to “avoid political collapse in Iraq”. Iraq is moving into a severe political crisis after accusing vice-president Tariq al-Hashimi with terrorism and issuing an arrest warrant against him, in addition to Premier Nouri al-Maliki’s decision to demote his deputy Saleh al-Mutlaq, who are both leading members in the Iraqiya bloc. Added to all that previous differences on security posts, internal differences between Iraqiya and State of Law blocs for Erbil agreements and charges that Premier Maliki is governing the country unilaterally. RM (TR)/SR2633