Iraq leadership in disarray as ministers quit Cabinet

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, is battling to survive a political crisis after losing almost half his Cabinet to boycotts and resignations after a spate of disputes over policy and performance. In the latest blow, four secularist ministers who are loyal to Ayad Allawi, a former interim Iraqi leader, withdrew from Cabinet meetings, less than a week after the main Sunni bloc quit. Both groups blamed a failure by al-Maliki to respond to demands for political reform. The move took away the last remaining ministers with any Sunni political affiliations, effectively robbing the Shia-led Government of the national unity status that is seen as crucial by the US. The crisis comes at a pivotal moment for President Bush as Congress awaits a report on both security and the political situation in Iraq after a hotly contested surge of US troops in and around Baghdad. "It is a big challenge to the [Iraqi] government," a Western diplomat said. "I think in some ways it is a moment of truth for how they might handle this particular problem." Seventeen ministers have walked out of the government, tendered their resignation or withdrawn from Cabinet meetings in recent weeks, frustrating efforts by al-Maliki to make demonstrable progress in reconciling Iraq's sectarian divisions in time for the US report in mid-September. Hopes rest on the leadership of the rival parties agreeing a new power-sharing deal. Al-Maliki failed to strike a conciliatory tone in an interview with Iran's Arabic language television channel Al-Alam. "The withdrawal from the government is evidence of irresponsibility," he said. "All this makes us believe that it is a sign of their lack of credibility and lack of sincerity in the political process, or a sign of a different agenda which is contrary to the political agenda we currently have." Kamaal al-Deen al-Qasem, a Professor of Politics at Baghdad University, said that Allawi's political group and the Sunni Accordance Front, which withdrew its support last week, "want the government to collapse and this is the standard means of doing so." Al-Maliki took the helm of Iraq's administration last year, with reconciliation between the country's mix of majority Shia Arabs, minority Sunni Arabs and Kurds on the top of his agenda. So far, his government's performance has fallen far short of expectations. Sectarian rivalries between political parties remain strong, security is poor, and basic services such as water and power remain patchy at best. The Electricity Ministry has warned that Iraq's national power grid is on the brink of collapse. Water supplies to Baghdad have also been cut off for long periods.