Sunnis Drop Demand for Iraq's New Cabinet
Sunnis Drop Demand to Include Former Members of Saddam Hussein's Party in Iraq's New Cabinet
By JAMIE TARABAY Associated Press Writer
Evidently there is good reason for the delay in announcing the cabinet membership for the new Iraqi government. And good on them! They are standing firm, and will not be strong armed by Ba'athists and Saddam's henchmen.
Sunni Muslim politicians dropped their demand Monday to include former members of Saddam Hussein's party in Iraq's new Cabinet in a bid to get more ministries. Iraq's Sunni minority is believed to be the backbone of the insurgency and many here blame the months-long impasse in forming a new government for a resurgence in violence.
As leaders of Iraq's main Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factors continued their backroom wheeling and dealing, Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari again put off his long-promised Cabinet announcement.
The National Dialogue Council, a coalition of 10 different Sunni factions, initially requested 16 Cabinet seats. It submitted a list of candidates Sunday that includes former members of Saddam's Baath party, said Jawad al-Maliki, a senior member of al-Jaafari's United Iraqi Alliance. But when that was rejected, they dropped the demand, he told reporters.
Alliance members, who control 148 seats in the 275-member National Assembly, refuse to give any top posts to members of the party that carried out Saddam's brutal suppression of the majority Shiites and Kurds.
Continue reading at link above, and be of good cheer. The fight for Iraqi democracy is one to be admired.
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