According to local sources, Iraq’s parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq, and al-Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi arrived in Erbil on Monday and have held talks with Kurdistan leader Massoud Barzani, who supports the bloc’s policies against Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Analysts believe that opposition groups, including al-Iraqiya, are trying to keep the atmosphere in Iraq tense in order to benefit from the situation.
They also blame al-Iraqiya for the surge in violence in Iraq in the recent months, saying that since the government of Maliki took office, al-Iraqiya has used every opportunity to undermine his authority and obstruct his path.
The Iraqiya list, headed by Allawi, holds 82 seats in the 325-member parliament and controls nine ministerial posts.
Iraq’s political crisis started after an investigative committee within the Interior Ministry on December 19, 2011 issued an arrest warrant for Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, who is a senior al-Iraqiya official, on charges of running a death squad in post-war Iraq.
Hashemi had been holed up in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region since terrorist charges were brought against him. He is currently in Turkey.
MSH/HM/HGH/AZ
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