Shi'ites and Kurds form new alliance

Four Shi'ite and Kurdish parties have formed a new ruling coalition in Iraq. These parties have also signed a "reconciliation" agreement with Sunni groups, but Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi's (Sunni) Iraqi Islamic Party so far has no plans to join the coalition (BBC).

It seems that the whole key to end the civil-war-like state of affairs in Iraq is to bring the Sunni Arabs on board, and I wish Maliki would try harder to do so.

Iraqi Shi'ites protest occupation

Several hundred thousand Iraqi Shi'ites (a large number in a country of 27 million) have marched in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf to protest against the continued occupation of Iraq by US-led forces. The protest was called by the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to mark the fourth anniversary of the capture of Baghdad by the Americans. In a message to Iraqis, Sadr (who is believed to be hiding in Iran) described American forces as "your arch enemy".

Meanwhile, in a visit to Japan, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, "Iraq has escaped the constraints of the past.... The country is one and the people are one" (BBC).

Now if only that were true.

As for Sadr, one wonders whether he would quickly try to seize power for himself if the Americans were to withdraw in the near future.

Iraq strengthens trade ties with Iran

Iran is accounting for an ever-increasing share of Iraq's foreign trade. According to Sami al-Askari, a Shi'ite Iraqi MP and advisor to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the more suspicious Iraq's Sunni Arab neighbours become of the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government, the closer Iraq is driven to Iran (New York Times).

Maliki visits Ramadi

Nouri al-Maliki, the PM of Iraq and a Shi'ite, has visited the Sunni city of Ramadi. He told local residents that he loved their province, which he hadn't visited in 31 years (BBC).

Assurances of love will hardly cut it at this stage, I figure.