Interviews 10:10 02/07/2014

Iraq trying to open door to unity government – analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Sa’ad al-Muttalibi, with the State of Law Coalition, in Baghdad, about Iraq failing to select a new Parliamentary speaker amid the terrorism crisis in the country.

Press TV: Before we move on to the military aspect of the conflict in Iraq we’re starting with the political face of all this – Do you think Mr. Maliki should agree to have someone else replace him for the political situation or the political atmosphere at least to calm down a bit? Who do you blame for this political impasse?

al-Muttalibi: I don’t see why he should step down and I don’t understand how this will assist in reducing the violence.

The problem isn’t a political issue. We have war on terror. We have war against ISIL and ISIL have come to Iraq from Syria where it joined forces with the Baath Party and the old al-Qaeda that is operating in Iraq plus some other insurgent groups that were fighting the United States.

So, the real power of ISIL is the collection or the collective power of those who have the greatest experience in fighting the military; from the experience they gained fighting the Americans and fighting the Iraqi government.

So the issue isn’t a political issue to understand that Maliki stepping down will resolve any matter. Assuming that Maliki step down, who should replace Maliki with the ready available experience to ace ISIL at this very, very critical time in Iraq’s history?

I think this is a very weak argument that was presented by some of the opposition that Maliki is part of the problem where actually those politicians who created this fertile ground in Iraq for regional and internal conflict to rise… Those politicians should be charged, should be questioned and maybe should be asked to leave political life.

Press TV: What can you tell us about the Sunni population in Iraq? We’re hearing a lot of reports talking about – as our guest in London was putting it – the disenchanted part of the population who at least initially say they gave support to these groups. Do you see this as part of the problem, the sectarian part of this?

al-Muttalibi: No I can assure you there isn’t a sectarian issue as such because if there were we would have witnessed already the start of a civil war and particularly here in Baghdad where there is a large number of Sunni population living in Baghdad in quarters that are quite vulnerable to attack or reprisal attacks if there were such a civil war.
Yes it’s true, I’d like to come back to the point, that Maliki has the largest bloc in the parliament, but it isn’t sufficient to form the government. We have already understandings with the major Sunni blocs to form (unity). We actually do have now a majority of the parliament, we have more than 55 percent of the parliament; we can go and form majority government, but we are trying to open the door for a unity government where we can include as much of the political entities as possible: to add the Kurds and more Sunnis and more Shias in forming the government.

I must say this is all political. The Hakim group and the Sadera’s group they’re just basically bargaining for their extra benefits in the government. They don’t really care what happens they just want their fat ministries and they will be very happy. The same goes for another group of Sunnis.

And the Kurds of course Want their presidency. So if the Kurds decide who their representative or candidate is for their presidency - and we would not object to that particular person - we could have this issue resolved.

Today in the parliament the argument wasn’t with the state, the argument was within the Sunni groups themselves. They failed to reach an agreement on the representing or sending one nominee for head of the parliament. We didn’t have an issue with the Sunnis, they had an issue between themselves. That’s proof that there is a political problem here inI the middle and has nothing to do with sectarianism as some international media portrays.

Now… the danger of the Kurds moving into Kirkuk is a major danger because we expect from our experience with the Kurds, we can see a forward Israeli base in Kirkuk spying on our neighbors and spying on Iraq. We already have disturbing news of a number of Israeli officers already in Kurdistan monitoring what is happening and actually supporting ISIL.

So it’s a very complicated issue has become with Kurdistan with the Kurdish entering into Kirkuk and reaching the Iranian border from the south.

Press TV: We know that John Kerry was meeting with King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia and he said they’re going to coordinate a response against the ISIL militants. What do you think about the role the US administration is playing here?

al-Muttalibi: I think the Americans have quite an uphill battle to reverse the damage they’ve already done in Syria and that damage that effected us in Iraq. So I think this may come of certain benefits for Iraq if Saudi Arabia takes a stiffer opposition against terrorism and against some of the young people who are manipulated to work with ISIL.

In regard to Israel I must disagree with your guest (said Israel was meddling I Kurdistan region for Kurdish independence, but has no real weight) because already Israel is the main beneficiary of the Kurdistan oil. So, Israel has a bright future in cheap oil – first grade light Middle East oil – reaching their shores at a fraction of the OPEC price.

So, Israel has a great deal of interest and success on the energy factor plus to expand its operations into northern Kurdistan and to adjacent borders with Iran. We already have reports that there are actions, witnesses seeing Israeli officers try to locate positions close to the Iranian border for monitoring stations.

So I’m sure Israel would be very happy to have an independent Kurdistan supplying them with almost free oil and supplying them with clandestine stations to monitor Iran.

Press TV: Do you think the American policy failures are a result of a lack of understanding or rather deliberate? We know Rand Paul for instance saying we have been arming ISIS in Syria and we have reports of the training of insurgents in Jordan, the same insurgents who are now fighting in Iraq.

al-Muttalibi: I think the Americans really don’t know what they’re doing. They lack experience in the Middle East; they lack understanding of the Middle East. I remember giving lectures in the American embassy here in Baghdad on the differences between Shia and Sunni, why some are Shia and why some are Sunnis and why Iraq was ruled by a tiny minority for hundreds of years; and why the vast majority of Shia were never in power here in Iraq.

Again this is a thing repeated in for example in Bahrain where a huge majority of Shia is ruled by a tiny minority of Sunnis. So they do lack experience, they don’t understand what the Middle East is about; they don’t understand the structure of religion.

They do have some great scientists who understand the literature of the Middle East, but unfortunately to go deep into the personality of the Middle Eastern people I think they lack experience - unlike Britain who actually used their knowledge into creating a very unstable Middle East.
 



Source Panorama.am
Share |
Տեքստում սխալ կամ վրիպակ նկատելու դեպքում, ուղարկեք խմբագրին հաղորդագրություն` նշելով տվյալ սխալը, այնուհետև սեղմելով Ctrl-Enter:

Newsfeed

17:00
No Putin-Pashinyan meeting planned in St. Petersburg – Kremlin
A separate meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is not planned on the sidelines of the...
16:45
Blast at Turkey ammunition factory kills at least 12 people
An explosion at an ammunition and explosives factory in north-west Turkey has killed at least 12 people and injured four others, BBC News...
16:35
Best Armenian athletes of the year revealed
Armenia’s Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports has named the best athletes of the year. The winners have been selected...
15:54
'We only need a competent leader': Armenians deplore plans to reduce working hours
Armenia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has proposed reducing working hours from eight to seven hours per day, which would not...
15:06
Putin to attend EAEU meeting chaired by Pashinyan
Russian President Vladimir Putin has left for St. Petersburg, where he will hold meetings with CIS heads of state and government in the coming...
14:23
Ex-ombudsman: Pashinyan's team using 'peace' propaganda to stay in power
The leaders of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party has transformed the “peace” propaganda into...
13:30
Russian cargo ship sinks in Mediterranean after explosion
A Russian cargo ship has sunk in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Algeria after an explosion in its engine room, the Guardian reported on...
13:19
Yerevan City Council member resigns
Areg Gevorgyan has stepped down as a member of the Yerevan City Council representing the ruling Civil Contract faction. At a meeting of the...
12:42
Income-earning jobs amounted to 782,832 in Armenia in November
According to the income tax and social payment declarations submitted by taxpayers for November 2024, the number of income-generating jobs...
12:16
Opposition MP: Pashinyan's comments confirm Artsakh issue remains unresolved
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s latest comments on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) confirm that the Artsakh issue remains unresolved,...
11:35
Kremlin denies reports Bashar al-Assad's wife is seeking divorce
The British-born wife of deposed Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is not seeking a divorce, a Kremlin spokesman has said. Reports in Turkish...
11:15
Authorities warn of black ice on Syunik roads
The Rescue Service has warned drivers about a road closure in Armenia on Tuesday morning. In particular, the road linking the Amberd...
11:03
Armenian church commemorates St. Stephen the Protomartyr
The Armenian Apostolic Church on Tuesday commemorates St. Stephen, the first deacon and proto martyr. After Christ’s ascension,...
17:00
Artur Vanetsyan to be a guest on Imnemnimi podcast on December 25
Artur Vanetsyan, the leader of the Homeland Party and the former director of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), will be a guest on...
16:46
Dry weather expected on Monday
Dry weather is expected in Armenia's regions on Monday and later this week. Light snow is forecast for some parts of the country...
16:24
Hayakve condemns government's indifference towards Syrian Armenians
The Hayakve initiative has expressed concern about the fate of Syrian Armenians following the change of government in Syria. “We...
15:34
Politician slams Pashinyan's Artsakh claims as 'a blatant lie'
Opposition politician Eduard Sharmazanov, a senior member of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), has lambasted Armenian Prime...
14:33
Bashar al-Assad's wife reportedly files for divorce
The British wife of Syria’s deposed president Bashar al-Assad, Asma al-Assad, has filed for divorce after expressing dissatisfaction with...
14:07
Opposition MP: Armenian leaders focused on justifying themselves amid Azerbaijan's military buildup
The intensive mutual visits of Azerbaijani and Turkish military officials are largely part of a plan to reform Azerbaijan’s armed forces,...
13:30
Trump pledges to stop 'transgender lunacy'
President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday pledged to "stop the transgender lunacy" on day one of his presidency, AFP reported....
13:08
Yerevan mayor addresses criticism over expensive US trip
Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan has addressed criticism over his expensive flight tickets for a trip to the U.S. in November. The...
12:34
Famous ophthalmologist Alexander Malayan dies at 76
Renowned ophthalmologist Alexander Malayan has passed away at the age of 76, YSMU Rector Armen Muradyan broke the news on Facebook on...
12:15
Boy injured as drones fall from sky at Florida holiday show
A holiday drone show in Florida was forced to cancel its second performance due to an injury this weekend. Andrea Otero, the City of Orlando...
12:06
Armenia ballet artists perform 'The Nutcracker' in Italy
Ballet artists from the Yerevan Opera Theater have started a concert tour to Italy to perform their adaptation of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's...
11:35
Pashinyan admits 'a big mistake' over Karabakh negotiation process
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claims the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process completely focused on its return to Azerbaijan since the...
11:15
Drivers warned about icy roads in Armenia's Syunik
The Rescue Service has warned drivers about road closure in Armenia on Monday morning. In particular, the road linking the Amberd high...
11:00
Putin meets Slovak PM in Moscow
Russian President Vladimir Putin held surprise talks with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico at the Kremlin on Sunday to discuss the future of...
17:30
Expert blasts My Step Foundation's 'unacceptable' response to Panorama.am
Shushan Doydoyan, President of the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia (FOICA), has denounced the My Step Charitable Foundation’s...
16:30
US avoids government shutdown with last-minute funding bill
The US Senate has voted to pass a budget deal to avert what would be the first federal government shutdown since 2019, only hours after the...
16:01
Barack Obama's top 10 movies of 2024 includes ‘Anora' starring Armenian actors
Barack Obama has shared his favorite movies of the year, continuing what has become an annual list-making tradition from the former...

Follow us and get updates!

Most popular articles

{"core.blocks.header.spell_message1":"Selected mistake: ","core.blocks.header.spell_message2":"Send a message about the mistake?"}