Islamic leader arranges for meeting between Kurdistan opposition and authority leaders
Qaradakhi said he has called on the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan's President Massoud Barzani to meet with the opposition leaders.
Barzani and Talabani lead the two major parties in Kurdistan, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) which are allies in the government and parliament.
For the first time in Kurdistan's history and the ruling experience of KDP and PUK, an opposition front was created after 2009 elections. The Gorran (Change) Movement headed by the former PUK leader Nawshirwan Mustafa joined forces with the Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), the Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG) and Kurdistan Future Party (which has only one seat in parliament) in the opposition front.
Qaradakhi said he has also urged Gorran's General Coordinator Mustafa, KIU General Secretary Mohammed Faraj and KIU Emir Ali Bapir to meet together with Barzani and Talabani and agree on some common points.
Qaradakhi, who is also the general secretary for the International Union of Muslim Scholars, said he has urged the five leaders to give priority to Kurdistan not Baghdad or the neighboring countries or issues outside the circle of Kurdistan interests.
He continued "I thought it is necessary for me to demand a meeting among the leaders in the same way [I did] in 1997 when upon my suggestion the politburos of PUK and KDP met (over the fratricide war) and after 1997 no war happened between them."
The PUK and KDP fought fiercely against each other and each ruled a separate government in the three provinces of the Kurdistan Region. The parties untied just before the US-led invasion against Iraq in 2003.
Qaradakhi said he is now arranging for launching the meeting "because all parties have agreed to the meeting."
KIA general secretary demanded the ruling and the opposition parties to take step towards "real reform" and hoped the meeting be fruitful in this regard.
AKnews
