AFP, Brussels, 21 Dec 2011 – European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged the Iraqi government and the country’s political forces on Wednesday to address their differences through dialogue.
As Iraq’s government marked its first anniversary in turmoil, Ashton said she was ‘extremely concerned about the reports coming from Iraq regarding the internal political developments’.
‘I therefore urge the government of Iraq and all the political forces to engage in an inclusive dialogue to address political differences,’ she said in a statement.
The call came as Iraq’s premier urged Kurd officials to hand over the Sunni vice president on terror charges, in a row that has raised communal tension.
Washington has urged calm, but Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki threatened to replace ministers of the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc if they do not end a cabinet boycott, as Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, holed up in the autonomous Kurdish region, rejected claims he ran a death squad.
Lawmakers are also due to consider a call from Maliki to sack Sunni Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak, who has decried the Shiite-led national unity government as a ‘dictatorship.’
The crisis comes just days after US troops completed their withdrawal from the country.