Widgets for Webmasters
Iraq's Sunni bloc ends government boycott in move toward reconciliation By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD July 19, 2008 (AP) Iraqi children clean a bucket with water from a polluted pond inside a camp for internally displaced... Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc ended a nearly yearlong boycott of the Shiite-led government Saturday in another step toward healing the sectarian rifts that once brought almost daily bloodshed. The National Accordance Front agreed to return after parliament approved six Sunni officials to fill vacant seats in the Cabinet. But the gesture had wider implications — seen as a significant step toward political reconciliation and efforts to cement security cooperation between Shiite-led forces and armed Sunni groups that rose up against al-Qaida in Iraq. The United States has... [read full story]
