Maliki Should "Reassure" Iraqi Sunnis: Experts

"The new government should work to reach out to all Iraqis, particularly the Sunnis, to render success to its program," political analyst Nuri al-Tamimi told IslamOnline.net on Monday, May22 .

"Otherwise, sectarian tension would only gain more steam," he warned.

The Iraqi parliament approved on Saturday, May20 , Iraq's first full-term government.

The 37 -member cabinet, however, is still without ministers of defense and interior over differences between Shiites and Sunni Arabs.

Outgoing Shiite Interior Minister Bayan Jabr is a reviled figure among Sunni Arabs, who have accused him of packing the police force with Shiite militiamen targeting Sunnis.

They are determined to prevent another Shiite with ties to militias from assuming the key post.

Sectarian tension has been running high in Iraq, with hundreds, mostly Sunnis, killed in reprisal attacks triggered by the bombing of the Imam Ali Al-Hadi in Samarra in March.

The sectarian bloodshed has prompted a redrawing of some neighborhoods, with minorities moving out and going to places where they are part of the majority community.

It has also prompted many Iraqis to change names to spare themselves the sectarian hell.

"Reassuring"

Tamimi said "reassuring signs" were urgently needed to dispel fears.

"Playing sectarian slogans would be of no use, especially that the Maliki cabinet is succeeding three governments accused of fueling sectarian tension."

In his inauguration speech on Saturday, May20 , Maliki vowed to "protect and develop Shiite religious shrines."

"He made no reference to Sunni mosques destructed, burnt or seized since the Samarra bombing," said MP Nur al-Din al-Hayali, a member of the Sunni Iraqi Concord Front.

Political analyst Hashim al-Habobi agreed.

"Goodwill gestures are needed from the government to walk its way through sectarian minefields," he said.

"Reassurances should be given to Sunnis that they would not be blamed for the mistakes of the former regime," added the expert.

Maliki said on Monday, May22 , that Iraq could face civil war if militias are not disbanded.

"Weapons should be in the hands of the government and no militia should be outside the control of the government," he told a joint press conference with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"Otherwise this will lead to ... a civil war."

Iraqi Sunnis accused the outgoing government of Ibrahim Jaafari of sanctioning militia death squads against their community and condoning systematic killing of Sunnis.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has said that militias, many with strong ties to powerful Shiite leaders and well entrenched in security and police forces, are killing more Iraqis than "terrorists."

The International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report issued in February that only the introduction of significant changes to the Iraqi "sectarian" constitution and disbanding government-condoned militias can help ward off a deadly civil war.

http://islamonline.net/English/News/2006-05/22/article05.shtml