As Sectarian Fighting Persists, Long Odds for Iraqi Consensus

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In The Media

As Sectarian Fighting Persists, Long Odds for Iraqi Consensus

By Marina Ottaway

Published on Jun 13, 2006

Source: Wall Street Journal

Violence in Iraq continues to take on gruesome new dimensions, including the killing of Shiite students grabbed from vehicles on their way to take exams, and the abduction of at least 50 people at bus stations in Baghdad. Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki has declared a state of emergency in the oil-rich southern province of Basra and expects to implement a new security plan for Baghdad.

But the prime minister still hasn't been able to reach consensus among Iraq's ethnic and sectarian parties on candidates for the powerful interior and defense ministers -- posts that must be filled in order for the government to eventually take over security from the U.S.-led coalition. And it remains to be seen when the government will be able to reduce the violence.

Marina S. Ottaway, director of the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, talks with the Online Journal about the rising sectarian and militia violence in Iraq, the new Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition's inability to cut the Gordian knot.

To read interview click here. (registration required)

About the Author

Marina Ottaway

Former Senior Associate, Middle East Program

Before joining the Endowment, Ottaway carried out research in Africa and in the Middle East for many years and taught at the University of Addis Ababa, the University of Zambia, the American University in Cairo, and the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

Recent Work

Article
Reactions to the Syrian National Initiative
- Marina Ottaway, Omar Hossino
Article
Slow Return to Normal Politics in Egypt
- Marina Ottaway

Political Reform Democracy Foreign Policy Middle East Iraq

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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