Iraq PM warns Sunni protesters, makes small concession

Iraq PM warns Sunni protesters, makes small concession

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]



Thaier Al-sudani
/
REUTERS


Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks
during the opening ceremony of the Defence University for Military
Studies inside Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone June 17, 2012.
REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister, Nuri
al-Maliki, has warned he will not tolerate Sunni anti-government rallies
indefinitely, but made a concession to their demands by promising to
free some women prisoners.



Thousands of Sunnis have been taking to the streets of Iraq for more
than a week in protest against Maliki, whom they accuse of
discriminating against their sect and being under the sway of their
non-Arab Shi'ite neighbor Iran.

The incident has once more threatened to plunge a delicate
power-sharing deal into turmoil, just as President Jalal Talabani, a
moderating influence, is in Germany for medical care after suffering a
stroke.

The cradle of the protests is Anbar province, a Sunni stronghold in
western Iraq, where demonstrators are blocking a key highway to Jordan
and Syria.

In a televised interview late on Monday, Maliki said there were
foreign agendas behind the protests, which he described as
"unconstitutional".

"I say to those who follow these agendas: Don't think it's difficult
for the government to take measures against you or to re-open the road
and put an end to this matter," Maliki said.

"We have been very patient with you, but don't expect this issue to be open-ended."

The protesters are demanding an end to what they see as the
marginalization of the Sunni minority, who dominated Iraq until the
U.S.-led invasion of 2003 toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

They want Maliki to abolish anti-terrorism laws that they say he has
used to pursue political rivals such as the Sunni vice president, Tareq
al-Hashemi, who fled after being accused of running death squads and was
sentenced to death in absentia.

Sunni anger was re-ignited when Maliki evoked memories of that
incident by detaining the bodyguards of his Sunni finance minister,
Rafaie al-Esawi, hours after Talabani was flown out.

Leading Sunni cleric Khaled al-Mullah, a participant in negotiations
between the protesters and the government, said Maliki had acceded to
one Sunni demand.


"In our first meeting with Prime Minister Maliki, he promised us that
he will write a special pardon for all women who have criminal
charges," Mullah said.

He put the number of female prisoners in Iraqi jails at 920, and said around 700 of them would be eligible for release.

Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a rival of Maliki's, voiced support
for the protesters' demands and said Iraq was not immune to the changes
transforming the region.

"I have said before: The Arab Spring is coming and Iraq's spring will
come too," Sadr told a news conference in the Shi'ite holy city of
Najaf.

(Reporting by Raheem Salman and Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by Kevin Liffey)


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]