KurdistanObserver.com

Kurds, Sunnis Must Respect Democracy: Iraqi PM

PARIS, March 16, 2006 (AFP) -Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari called for Sunni Muslims and Kurds opposed to his re-election to "respect democracy", in a French newspaper interview published Thursday.

"I was elected by the people, democratically chosen by a majority of lawmakers on the list that won the elections and to which I belong, to be its candidate for the post of prime minister," Jaafari told Le Monde newspaper.

"I respect the constitution, I will remain in my position. It is up to the others, the Americans, the Kurds and the Sunni Arabs, to respect the democracy that they wanted," he said.

Three months after a landmark election brought in a Shiite-dominated parliament, Iraq's leaders have failed to reach a deal on a national unity government, as communal violence increases.

Jaafari has the support of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, which dominates the new parliament, to lead the next cabinet, but his candidacy was rejected earlier this month by Kurdish and Sunni groups.

The outgoing prime minister, whose term has been marked by a persistent insurgency that threatens to escalate into civil war, denied that he had failed to combat sectarian rivalries.

"I am not concerned with knowing if such and such a minister is Shiite or Sunni, I look for the best. In my next government, I will tolerate no sectarian minister or one linked to any militia," Jaafari said.

The prime minister also rejected charges from his opponents that he had allowed Iranian agents to infiltrate Iraqi institutions, or had permitted the development of "death squads" targeting Sunnis.

"All that is false. It is a political game, and the Sunni parties that say so are themselves sometimes infiltrated by terrorists," he charged.