Sunnis Threaten To Quit Cabinet

The largest Sunni Arab bloc in parliament issues an ultimatum
By Ben Worthen,  Newser User
Posted May 1, 2007 6:58 AM CDT
Sunnis Threaten To Quit Cabinet
Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi speaks during a news conference...   (Getty Images (by Event))

The largest bloc of Sunni Arabs in Iraq's parliament threatened to pull its five ministers out of the cabinet yesterday, the New York Times reports. To forestall the pullout, which would further undermine the faltering government, President Bush phoned Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni Arab vice president, to discuss their concerns.

The Sunni Arab group, the Iraqi Consensus Front, expressed frustration over lack of progress on distributing oil wealth and an end to de-Baathification, which blocks many Sunnis from government jobs. Six Shiite ministers loyal to Moktada al-Sadr resigned from the cabinet two weeks ago and have not been replaced. (More Iraqi Parliament stories.)

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