Nice words

Maliki bleats national reconciliation but with few showing up to listen, he preached to the choir, reports Nermeen Al-Mufti from Baghdad

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The Conference of Iraqi Political Forces ended Saturday with Iraqi authorities trumpeting the slogan "National Reconciliation", though few of the political currents that matter showed up to hear it. The conference took place amid mounting political tensions and intensifying violence. A decision was made to establish four committees to tackle the crises that confront Iraq and the Iraqi people -- constitutional change, sectarian balances, disbanding the militias, and illegal political entities.

The following day, delegates at the conference staged a vehement attack on the militias. Militiamen responded by donning the uniform of the regular Iraqi police and blasting the Baghdad headquarters of the Iraqi Red Crescent. According to Mazen Abdallah, secretary-general of the Iraqi Red Crescent Society, militiamen kidnapped 25 Red Crescent personnel. Meanwhile, another like-minded militia attacked the Dentistry Department of Baghdad University, which is located next to the Iraqi Ministry of Health. Fortunately, security guards patrolling the college warded them off.

On opening day of the conference, unidentified militiamen wearing police uniforms kidnapped more than 50 merchants, traders and customers at the Al-Sank market, which specialises in vehicle spare parts. The Iraqi Ministry of the Interior acknowledged that both incidents took place, but officials could not determine the fate of those kidnapped. The following day, Alaa Mohsen, the spokesman of the Iraqi Islamic Party in the town of Iskandariya, 50 kilometres south of Baghdad, was assassinated. Sectarian killings continued unabated with militias exchanging artillery fire as they continued with their policies of forcibly removing people from one district to another. Unidentified bodies were found in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul and Al-Kut.

Before the commencement of the national reconciliation conference, and with Iraqi officials expressing their disapproval of the Baker-Hamilton report, some senior Iraqi political figures openly criticised Turkey for "gross interference in domestic Iraqi affairs" after Turkish authorities organised a conference entitled the "Triumph of the Iraqi People", which took place in Istanbul 13-14 December. The Istanbul conference was attended by a large delegation of Sunni party leaders and influential Arab and Muslim religious clerics. They were critical of the Iraqi government's performance, dismissing it as incompetent and fuelling sectarian strife.

In Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki officiated over the inaugural session of the national reconciliation conference. Iraqi President Jalal Al-Talabani feigned illness and did not attend. Kamiran Qara Daghi, Talabani's official presidential spokesman delivered a speech on his behalf.

Prime Minister Al-Maliki delivered a speech in which he made friendly overtures to ex-army officers and former Baathists. Sadrists stayed way, refusing to engage in any way with Baathists. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Reconciliation Front withdrew from the conference after the opening session, in protest that various political groups were not invited. Other groups boycotted the conference for reason that Iraqi resistance forces were not invited.

The Muslim Ulama Organisation boycotted the conference, claiming that it did not receive an official invitation. The Conference of Iraqi People headed by Adnan Al-Duleimi and the Iraqi Dialogue Front headed by Saleh Al-Matlak, as well as most opposition leaders abroad, also declined to show up at the Baghdad conference. The organiser of the conference, Ikram Al-Hakim, said that these groups did not attend because of logistical and technical reasons.

A Baathist source told Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity that those Baathists that attended the conference, and who were not mentioned by name, attended on a personal basis and not as official Baathists.

The ex-Iraqi officers, meanwhile, issued a statement declining the invitation by Prime Minister Al-Maliki for them to join the new Iraqi army. The officers insisted that a timetable for the departure of the US-led occupation must first be set before they consider joining the new army. They also insisted that the present Iraqi army be disbanded and a new force created.

Tahseen Al-Shikheili, a member of the committee for disbanding militias, said that Iraqi sovereignty should be strengthened. He disclosed that his committee had taken steps to lessen sectarian violence.

Sheikh Fassal Al-Kaoud, a member of the committee of "national balance" and increasing political participation said that his committee would look into the distribution of parliamentary seats. He stressed that parliamentarian religious affiliation should not be the only criterion for inclusion. He said that National Assembly representatives should be elected for their character and political agenda.

The surprise visit of British Prime Minister Tony Blair to Baghdad came at an opportune moment. Photo opportunities provided a moral boost to Al-Maliki after presiding over a conference that yielded little in the way of reconciliation.