Pat Dollard

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Baghdad, Jan 27, (VOI)-Former Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari on Sunday said he was poised to announce a new pluralist political movement including figures of different ethnicities and sects.

“It is not a front or military gathering, but a powerful political entity including all people, irrespective of their sectarian, religious, ethnic or political backgrounds, who meet on mutual aims”, al-Jaafari told Aswat al-Iraq-Voices of Iraq-(VOI) in Cairo.

He added “the movement includes many Arab, Kurdish and Turkomen figures as well as female politicians meeting on common political platform and principles”.

The movement, according to the premier, aims at “building a civil society, and not political quota system, committed to the democratic process in its principles and mechanisms”.

The ex-MP also noted “the name of the movement is still under consideration, but must signify reform, its main aim”.

Visiting Egypt, Al-Jaafari, a United Iraqi Coalition (UIC) lawmaker of the Shiite Dawa party, is meeting different Arab and Iraqi political figures.
On the political front, he pointed out the upholders of “the national reconciliation by addressing different armed groups aspired to shortening time and defining the fine lines of its targets”.

The MP expected “achieving national reconciliation would enable Iraq to overcome many problems, improve security and reduce violence”.
“Those who put up weapons either they opposed the presence of foreign troops in Iraq, or sought political considerations, wanted to have direct political participation”, he highlighted.

He added “there were different targets and we must sit with every group”.

Al-Jaafari also referred to the fact that “the government, leading the political process, and not only the armed groups have demands, required reciprocal commitments from the armed groups and period of time (to achieve them)”.

For the first time, the Shiite Islamist politician, conceded he “met several figures opposing the government and the current political process in Iraq during Egypt’s visits, including Baathists.”
Asked whether they had some unified demands, he said “they looked forward to setting free all unconvicted prisoners and replacing debaathification law by the accountability and justice law”.