PUK, KDP, Iraqi
Islamic party sign MoU in Sulaimani
Sulaimani, Dec 24, (VOI)- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said that the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK), the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Iraqi
Islamic Party signed on Monday a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in
the city of Sulaimani.
It envisages an agreement over applying article 140 of the Iraqi constitution
and denouncing the Turkish bombing on villages in northern Iraq.
After signing the MoU in Dukan resort in Sulaimani, the leaders of the three
parties: Talabani of the PUK and Massoud Barzani of the KDP and Tareq Hashemi,
secretary general of the Iraqi Islamic party, held a joint press conference.
Speaking at the press conference, President Talabani said "today a tripartite
MoU was signed between the two main Kurdish parties and the Iraqi Islamic part
to boost ties among them and to foster Iraq's unity."
For his part, Iraqi Vice President Tareq Hashemi said the agreement will have
important impacts on the political process, underlining "today is a historic day
in the ongoing political process."
The Iraqi Islamic Party is a Sunni Islamist political party in Iraq and one of
the main components of the Iraqi Accordance Front (IAF), the thrid largest
parliamentary bloc in the Iraqi Parliament, which has 44 seats out of the
275-seat parliament.
Commenting on the Turkish shelling, Hashemi said "my position is clear and the
Islamic party had denounced the bombing."
On applying article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, the head of the Islamic party
said "my position has been determined by signing the MoU, the disagreement with
Kurds was because of the timing."
Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution relates to the normalization of the
situation in Kirkuk, an important and mixed city of Kurds, Turkmen, Christians,
and Arabs. Kurds seek to include the city in the autonomous Iraq's Kurdistan
region, while Sunni Arabs, Turkmen, and Shiite Arabs oppose the incorporation.
The article currently stipulates that all Arabs in Kirkuk be returned to their
original locations in southern and central Iraqi areas, and formerly displaced
residents returned to Kirkuk.
Al-Hashemi also referred to the Presidential council's position on the execution
of the Anfal sentences, by saying "there is a disagreement between the council
and other parties. The Supreme criminal court's sentences have not been sent to
the presidential council yet and if we receive them, the council will hold a
meeting to discuss ratifying them or not."
He stressed on the importance of integrating the awakening council into the
current government.
