January 11, 2007

Larry Diamond confirms that an ousting of al-Sadr from the governing coalition is possible

After reassessing the situation in Iraq, the Bush administration has been pushing the governing coalition to limit the power of Muqtada al-Sadr. In an effort to deal with Al-Sadr and his anti-American militia, the current governing coalition including six Cabinet ministers from al-Sadr's faction, would be eliminated or replaced with other Shiites, moderate Sunnis, and Kurds. In the past, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was adverse to politically break with al-Sadr, who controls 30 of the 275 seats in parliament. One possible proposal has been for Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a moderate Sunni whose bloc has 44 seats, to support al-Maliki allowing him to stay in power without the support of al-Sadr. "In theory, the numbers are there," acknowledges Larry Diamond."It's possible and probably a smart move on the part of the Bush administration", said the former adviser to the U.S.-led occupation authority in Iraq.

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