Iraq government plans reshuffle

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Media: Reuters
Byline: Alastair Macdonald
Date: 27 August 2006

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's prime minister plans to reshuffle his cabinet
just 100 days after it was formed because of frustrations with some
ministers' performance and disloyalty among others, Deputy Prime Minister
Barham Salih told Reuters.

In a weekend interview, he said Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki would make the
changes soon in an "important signal" of commitment to efficiency in his
national unity coalition and to his efforts to rally factions behind a
reconciliation plan to avert civil war.

Some changes will involve the movement of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada
al-Sadr, several political sources said on Sunday. A key player in the
government formed in May after months of wrangling, Sadr denies his Mehdi
Army militia runs some of the sectarian death squads behind much recent
violence.

"There will be a government reshuffle. There will be some changes in a
number of cabinet portfolios," Salih, the most senior Kurdish official in
the cabinet, said.

"It's only natural for the prime minister and the political leadership to
contemplate reshuffling and changing to improve the ability of the
government," he added.

He declined to elaborate on the changes but said some could involve a change
in the distribution of portfolios among the Shi'ite, Sunni, Kurdish and
secular blocs in government.

"Some people have a foot in the government and a foot outside," Salih said.
"They have to make a choice. Either they are part of the government and
abide by the policies of the government or be outside the government.

"My hope is that all elements of the Iraqi polity will be genuinely united
and committed to the government for national reconciliation. Those who are
committed to that, their role in government should be enhanced. And those
who undermine it, one should be looking at them in a different context."

SADR MOVEMENT

A senior official in Maliki's United Alliance, the Shi'ite Islamist bloc
that dominates parliament, said he expected some changes to be announced
before parliament reconvenes in a week after its summer recess. One minister
from the Sadr movement, the transport minister, has already resigned,
officials said.

The Alliance official, who asked not to be named, said aides to Sadr, who is
not himself in the cabinet, were seeking to put new people into ministries
controlled by his movement.

The faction has disowned some local leaders accused of militia violence and
government officials, keen not to antagonize the powerful cleric, have said
violence blamed on the Mehdi Army seems to be beyond Sadr's control.

Beyond the cabinet, there has also been speculation that the outspoken Sunni
speaker of parliament Mahmoud al-Mashhadani may be replaced soon.

Salih said the government was making progress in engaging with rebel groups
formerly opposed to the U.S.-sponsored political process and that it would
soon start implementing promises Maliki made in turn to promote
reconciliation, notably with the once dominant Sunni Arab minority of Saddam
Hussein.

Among such promises, were freeing insurgent suspects and promoting economic
growth in the Sunni west and north.

Salih said Iraq's political leadership must work together or face civil war:
"All say at least that civil war will be a catastrophe for all.

"But if we are not careful and if we do not ... walk back from the extreme
polarization ... we cannot be so sure about the future. It has reached a
stage where people understand that meaningful action needs to be
undertaken."
 
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