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Sunni party to join 4-way Alliance

LINK:
http://66.111.34.180/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=67283&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1
Sunni party about to join 4-way alliance – SIIC

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Friday , 25 /01 /2008 Time 7:35:20

Baghdad, Jan 25, (VOI) – A key member of Shiite leader's Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim's Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council revealed on Friday a memo of understanding would be signed by the SIIC and the Sunni Vice President's Tareq al-Hashimi's Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) pertaining to an agreement on a host of political and security issues.

"A committee was set up from both sides to reach common understanding between the IIP and the SIIC," Sheikh Jalal al-Din al-Saghir told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

"The memo is focusing on the need to unify political views on the management of the political process as well as convergence on some other issues like security," said Saghir, noting the memo would "bring the IIP closer to join the four-way alliance."
The two main Kurdish parties – Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barazani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) – had signed a deal with two main Shiite parties – the SIIC and Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa (Call) Party – in mid-August 2007.

"The IIP had signed a memo with the PUK and KDP, and with this step the IIP has stepped closer to the alliance," indicated Saghir.

The IIP had signed a trilateral deal with the PUK and KDP in late December 2007.

On the reasons behind the IIP's dialogue with the SIIC, not directly with the ruling (Shiite) Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC), led by Hakim, Saghir replied that the SIIC has brought the parties closer to the IIP, adding "there has been historical ties between the IIP and the SIIC."

The UIC is the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with 83 out of a total 275 seats.

"The IIP is having similar dialogues with the Dawa Party to bring views closer," he said.

On the IIP's return to the Iraqi government, Saghir said the IIP is very close to join the government lineup.

"The reason behind the IIP's delay to join the government was problems within its larger coalition: the (Sunni) Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF). A delegation from the IAF would discuss with a government delegation on Sunday the bloc's return to government," he said.

The IAF, which has 44 seats, had quit the Iraqi government in August 2007 after it certain conditions including genuine participation in the decision-making process and the release of Iraqi detainees.

AE